Time To See The Doctor

Martin Clunes returns to our TV screens as Cornwall’s most irascible family doctor in the latest series of Doc Martin where Port Isaac remains the star

- Susan Griffi

Doc Martin is back for a ninth series, which is an incredible feat and one that Martin Clunes can’t quite believe himself. “It’s a very hand-to-mouth life, my game, so I wasn’t thinking of anything like that when we started, but we’re all still enjoying it. It hasn’t become a slog, like, ‘Oh god, we’ve got to go and do this now,’” says the actor who plays the curmudgeonly Dr. Martin Ellingham in the hit show.

“Most of the crew have worked on it since the beginning and our children bump into each other every two years as they grow up. There’s a sense of family because you work such long hours with everyone and there’s a good level of hardship and endurance come to the end, but this was a very happy shoot.”

Set in the fictional fishing village of Portwenn and filmed in Port Isaac on Cornwall’s north coast, Doc Martin is widely regarded as one of the cushiest gigs in the industry. Notably, Hollywood star Sigourney Weaver enjoyed her cameo in series seven so much, she returned two years later, and Martin admits people have petitioned to appear.

Inspired by the 2000 Brit flick Saving Grace, the series first aired in 2004, and although the TV landscape has changed considerably since then, the show’s stayed faithful to its original premise, and its fans have remained loyal in return.

“We just carry on and we’re very oldfashioned in a way because we’re one of the few programs that still shoots on film. People have always said how much they like the look of it, and we do too, but it’s quite an expensive and laborious process,” explains Martin, 57.