At the wrap party for the first series of Doc Martin, its star, Martin Clunes, said he wouldn’t mind playing the role for another 10 years.
“I sort of lightheartedly said that,” he said. “And here we are 18 years later.”
The lighthearted medical drama has been a ratings hit but now, after nearly two decades, it’s finally coming to a close.
“It just felt right for everyone involved,” said Clunes. “We would love to come to Cornwall and work here but we can’t do every job down here.
“It certainly felt – with this many episodes in, coming up with the stories, not just the individual stories but the through lines with the characters across the series and their journeys throughout it – it has just been done now, and I think we would be repeating ourselves.
“It just closes the circle. I will never get a job as good as this again…in terms of what it has done for us personally, but also just in the sheer joy of it, not being in a city to film it, and being allowed to make something funny in front of a camera, which is my favourite work experience.”
The role of the city surgeon who moves to Cornwall has been regular employment, but Clunes is now looking forward to new opportunities now that filming has ended.
“Any employment takes you off the employment market doesn’t it?” he said. “I have been lucky enough to have done other things whilst doing this as well. Because it is every other year we film, it doesn’t take such a chunk – five months out of 24 is a lot less than five out of 12. I don’t think I will work as much again. I will be surprised if I do!”
The character of the abrupt Martin was fun to play for so many years, and Clunes even once described him as loathsome.
“He is sort of loathsome, but it has defined itself as the series has gone on,” he added. “Sometimes a writer will write the Doc being unkind, but he isn’t. He doesn’t reach to be unpleasant to people. There is a dryness to him. It’s fun to play.”
When asked about his favourite memory, Clunes struggles to pick one out; the day-to-day of working with the same crew in a field is something he has treasured.
“That is when I am happiest, because I just love the way a film crew works,” he added. “I know what everybody does and appreciate the way that they do it. To be amongst like-minded friends is just jam.
“I was happy in the field, but to have other people liking what we made as well in the way they have around the world…it’s mental. And, of course, the fact that I get to go to work with my wife (producer Philippa Braithwaite), and to be down here in Cornwall.”
Doc Martin, ITV, Wednesday, 9pm
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