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All good things must come to an end. Even so, could Martin Clunes ever have imagined we’d be discussing the tenth – and final – series of Doc Martin when he first conceived the idea back in 2004? “No,” he laughs. “I could never have predicted it would take off in the way that it did.” So how then does he explain its success? “I think that may have something to do with the fact there are no murders or rapes or darkness in it,” he smiles.
“Also, there’s an underlying good humour. The whole set is deliberately constructed to be a little too small for my frame. It means I’m forever bashing into doorways. Tom Conti once came up to me and said that Doc Martin was the only witty programme on television.”
Conti was duly rewarded with a guest role in a subsequent series. So, why is Martin pulling up the drawbridge?
“Because we’d only start getting repetitive. We were very conscious of wanting to close the circle rather than allowing it to drift into being an ongoing soap opera.”
For those late to the party, Martin stars as Dr Martin Ellingham, the misanthropic GP with a brusque bedside manner and a phobia of blood, practising in the idyllic (fictional) hamlet of Portwenn in Cornwall.
Picturesque Port Isaac again provides the beautiful backdrop for this tenth series, with all the regular cast members reprising their roles. Caroline Catz plays Doc Martin’s wife, Louisa, who resigned from her job as local headmistress to pursue a career in child counselling.
Also returning for the finale are Dame Eileen Atkins, the doctor’s formidable Aunt Ruth. Ian McNeice is back as Bert Large, with JoeAbsolom as his son, Al.
John Marquez is PC Joe Penhale, Jessica Ransom is the doctor’s receptionist, Morwenna Newcross, and Selina Cadell returns as pharmacist Mrs Tishell, she of the permanent neck brace.
There’s never been a shortage of splashy guest stars which, this time round, include Fay Ripley, David Hayman, Ben Miller, Lesley Nicol, Hermione Norris, Kenneth Cranham and Rupert Graves.
But perhaps most surprising of all was when Hollywood star Sigourney Weaver fetched up in the show. A friend of Selina Cadell from their days at drama school, Sigourney made it clear there was nothing she’d like better than a guest role in Doc
Martin. “And she was wonderful,” says Martin. “In fact, she appeared more than once.” It didn’t end there. Harvey Keitel, another fan of the show, also expressed an interest in following suit.
“Very flattering but we didn’t have a part for him.” And, sadly, it’s too late now.
“But we found a role for Caroline Quentin who played a lesbian homeopathic vet, Angela Sim. Obviously. She’s cornered that particular market.”
The two have remained close since they appeared together in the long-running TV comedy hit, Men Behaving Badly, her Dorothy to his Gary.
“She’s my best friend. She and her family live not far from us, down the road in Devon.”
This final series sees the Doc making efforts to overcome his phobia and beginning to question whether he made the right decision about resigning. He and Louisa have also welcomed a baby daughter, Mary Elizabeth, a sister for four-year-old James Henry.
There will also be a Christmas special, the storyline kept firmly under wraps for now.
It is very much a family affair, Doc Martin produced by Martin’s real-life wife, Philippa Braithwaite. Does it make it tricky that husband and wife are working together on the same project?
“Not really and we anyway have very different jobs. I always maintain that, as the producer, there’s so much more pressure on Philippa to deliver eight hours of television on time to the network.”
Their daughter, Emily, was a baby when Martin first started filming in Port Isaac in 2000 for the movie from which Dr Martin Ellingham evolved.
“She’s 23 now. She was born during the shooting of the film, Saving Grace, and a toddler when we made the Sky film which preceded the beginning of Doc Martin.
“She came to Cornwall with us and went to the local nursery school inWadebridge; now she drives herself down to Port Isaac.”
But despite her pedigree, there’s no question of Emily following her parents into the profession.
“She’s a novice event rider who manages the rehab centre in a very smart equestrian yard.” And if she’d said she wanted to be an actress? “I’d have beaten her,” he deadpans.
“It’s the only language these people understand. Seriously, whatever she wants to do, she has my full support.”
The pattern of filming has been five months every other year for 18 years, producing enough footage each time for two series. In all those hours of screen time, what sticks in his memory?
“Abseiling down a cliff wearing a suit, normal shoes and carrying a medical bag. That was out on the cliffs with dear old Richard Johnson.
“I had to do an emergency trepanning (perforating a person’s skull) with a drill into the guy’s head. I did the abseiling myself – I wouldn’t have a stunt man – walking out over the edge of the cliff. Quite alarming. I had the drill in one hand and the medical bag in the other.” Johnson, who played retired Colonel Gilbert Spencer, sadly died in 2015.
One of the recurring themes in the show is that Martin, an inveterate dog-lover, plays a doctor who can’t stand canines, every last one of which, of course, gravitates to him unbidden.
In real life, on their Dorset farm, Martin and Philippa have four dogs – two Spaniels, a Jack Russell and a Jackahuahua – to be joined later this year by a retiring guide dog, a Labrador. Such is the popularity of the show all over the world that it has spawned a devoted fan club called the Clunatics.
“One lady from Holland is given to sending me Lego models of myself complete with syringe and dog. You know you’ve made it when you’ve been Lego’d.”
Clearly, the tentacles of Doc Martin reach far and wide. Closer to home, the Cornish dectin
Tourist Board are on record as saying that, in almost two decades, Doc Martin has brought an estimated £100million into the county.
Moreover, a trust fund has been set up from overseas sales of the show, dedicated to doing good things for Port Isaac – typically, the upgrading of the town’s car park.
The local Co-op, meanwhile, once threatened with closure, has remained open all year round thanks to the unending influx of Doc Martin fans.
The shooting schedule is such that Martin has plenty of time to pursue other TV projects. So what comes next?
“I’m going back to the Pacific because we only made three out of four travel films before the world shut down. Now, there’s going to be one in Papua New Guinea and the Trobriand Islands, and then two more on the New England Islands, and the Philippines.”
He first got the travel bug when appearing on the Holiday programme. “I proposed to Philippa when filming an edition in Hawaii.”
Drama will follow in the shape of a story based on the county lines drug network, set in rural Wales. “I’ll play a farmer with a young son who gets caught up in the gang turf wars.” Might it spawn further series? “Never say never,” he says.
Last November, he turned 60. Did he mind? “I did, rather, although I suppose I’ll get used to it. The free prescriptions help.” What about unfulfilled ambitions? His father, acclaimed classical actor Alec Clunes, died when Martin was still in single figures.
“But his attitude, I remember, was that acting was just a job, no more than that. Like him, I’m not on a mission.” He was forced to take a year out because of the pandemic.
“I had the dogs and two horses I like to ride. There’s always a fence down on the farm. I’m quite handy. And about 10 years ago, I reached an age when grass matters. So, I like to keep that looking good.”
Needless to add, he remains relentlessly upbeat.
“Well, I’m a very fortunate man. My heart still lifts when I see my wife walk on set. I have a daughter I’m constantly amazed by, the bravest person I know. And I live on this glorious farm in Dorset. What a shame we’re not allowed to be smug.”
- Doc Martin returns to ITV mid- September.
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