Martin Clunes

ITV welcomes back everybody's favourite grumpy GP Doc Martin for a seventh series. The big difference in this first episode is the fact that Martin (Martin Clunes) is without his wife Louisa (Caroline Catz) who is currently living in Spain with their son. It's clear that Martin isn't coping well with this temporary separation as he isn't sleeping at all and hasn't even agreed to see a therapist. However the mostly idiotic population of Portwenn are causing him to miss various appointments due to the fact that none of them can seemingly make a good decision. This episode's patient of the week was decorator and lifeboat volunteer Steve (Daniel Ryan) who faked a urine test to garner a medical certificate from Martin. However, later he collapsed at the wheel of his lifeboat after suffering a mini-stroke causing Martin and company to come out to sea to save him. I've found that Doc Martin is a show that you have to just go with in order to enjoy as it's incredibly easy to poke holes in especially when it comes to the poorly-written supporting characters. Luckily, the series is well directed by Nigel Cole who made the lifeboat sequence the star of the show as Martin desperately tried to revive his deceitful patient. Clunes was also on form here especially as he's constantly able to make the audience sympathise with his misanthropic GP. The scenes I particularly enjoyed were the ones in which Martin was visibly trying to hold back the emotional pain that Louisa's departure had caused. I'm also looking forward to the rest of the series due to the fact that the brilliant Emily Bevan has joined the cast as Martin's straight-talking therapist Dr. Rachel Timoney. I do feel that Martin may have met his match in Rachel and I suspect that the scenes between Bevan and Clunes may provide the highlights of this series. Despite a few changes, Doc Martin is pretty much offering the same combination of lovely exterior shots, quirky supporting characters and a brilliant central turn that has kept a loyal audience tuned in for six years. However it does seem that this audience is slowly diminishing so I do wonder if this might be the end for Doc Martin especially if the viewing figures continue to dwindle.

There are few real ratings bankers on television but Doc Martin is one of them. The cranky, haemophobic doc (Martin Clunes) in the chocolate box Cornish village has been around for more than a decade now, and is about as safe-a-source of 9  million viewers as a picture of Kim Kardashian's bottom.

Yet nothing actually happens in Doc Martin. It is a drama that negates drama. This new series opener managed to jemmy in a boat crash that was genuinely shocking, if only because so entirely unexpected. Yet within minutes the tone of gentle gaiety was re-established.

Looking at this week's offerings it occurs to me that there are really just three types of drama on television today - the ones where you know what's going to happen, the ones where you don't, and the ones where nothing happens. I leave you to draw your own conclusions from the fact that the dramas that exist mainly to reassure - New Tricks, Death in Paradise, Doc Martin - are by some way the most popular.

A return for the Cornwall-based comedy-drama starring Martin Clunes as the medic with a personal life so chaotic it could figure as a metaphor for the NHS itself. With Louisa still taking time out from their marriage, the curmudgeonly doc is considering therapy with Aunt Ruth (Eileen Atkins). However, his plans for self-improvement are thwarted when a local lifeboat training exercise runs into trouble. Meanwhile, Al struggles to get his B&B ready for its first guests.

Martin Clunes's guide to Doc Martin's Port Isaac

As ITV's much-loved curmudgeon returns for a seventh series, here are its leading man's top five places to visit in north Cornwall...

Martin Clunes reveals how Sigourney Weaver signed up

The news of Sigourney Weaver's guest appearance in Doc Martin took many fans by surprise earlier this year, and now Martin Clunes has revealed how the Alien actress signed up for the drama.

Martin Clunes interview

Back after a two-year break, Doc Martin is one of TV's best-loved shows. Martin Clunes reveals...

Martin Clunes rules out Men Behaving Badly return

Neil Morrissey would love to bring the show back but an unconvinced Clunes quips: "He's doing it on his own!"

Martin Clunes: the 'Clunatics' still love Doc Martin

Martin Clunes is about to star in the seventh series of Doc Martin - but always gets home in time for farming, horse monopoly and riding his Clydesdales.

Men Behaving Badly reunite after 15 years

It was television's first introduction to a 'bromance.' And now, the loveable rogues of the nineties Gary and Tony have rekindled their flame as Martin Clunes and Neil Morrissey reprise their roles for a one-off comedy sketch.