By Tom Eames
Doc Martin was once again top of the Monday night ratings, as its finale episode brought in over 5 and a half million viewers.The ITV Martin Clunes drama was seen by an average overnight audience of 5.88m (26.6%) at 9pm (346,000/2.3%), down around 100k from last week.
Excerpt:
He is best known for playing socially inappropriate and hopeless-in love anti-heroes. From Gary Strang in Men Behaving Badly to the eponymous lead in Doc Martin .The real Martin Clunes however, is far more charming and lucky in love.”I get a lot of criticism in my own home for taking an interest peoples medical conditions,” says actor Martin Clunes, who for the past 11 years has been wooing fans worldwide with role as Dr Martin Ellingham.”Particularly their medications, I always want to know what they’ve been prescribed. My daughter in particular always goes ‘you’re not a doctor! Shut up.'”
See all…
By Niall Johnson
Excerpt:
Returning after a two year absence with a notably shrunken fan base, a Gary and Dorothy reunion and the most random cameo ever, last night saw the still-very-successful seventh series of Doc Martin (9pm) come to an end with a spot of light-hearted kidnapping and bondage.After seven episodes of continuing curmudgeonry and straining marriage troubles, Monday night’s finale saw the sour puss Doc wake up in a bit of a fix - bound and gagged by a ‘kooky’ local who tried to force the doctor to perform surgery on her dying husband.
Daily Star - Seagulls terrorise Doc Martin TV town
THE village where Doc Martin is filmed has declared war on wild seagulls.
Excerpt:
Marauding birds are attacking locals and tourists drawn to the area by the telly hit.Councillors have now applied to Natural England for a licence to cull the birds in Port Isaac, Cornwall.It will allow landowners to damage or destroy nests but it would still be an offence to kill herring gulls.The village serves as the fi ctional town of Port Wenn in Doc Martin, which stars Martin Clunes, 53.
TV Times Cover
Keeping love alive: The stars of Doc Martin + Joanna Lumley: Elvis and Me
Excerpt:
Every week TV Times talks to the biggest stars and goes behind the scenes of the nation’s favourite shows. Exclusive photo shoots and interviews, the latest TV news, unrivalled soaps coverage, pages of film reviews, the best of the day’s viewing previewed and rated - plus 42 pages of easy-to-read listings make TV Times the essential and comprehensive guide to the week’s TV. England edition.
The Stage - Selina Cadell: ‘Having a big budget makes me nervous’
As she makes her Royal Shakespeare Company directorial debut, Selina Cadell talks to Maureen Paton about coaching Sigourney Weaver and lessons learned from a four-decade career
By Selina Cadell
Excerpt:
In a strikingly varied career, the actor, director and drama teacher Selina Cadell has an intriguing sideline: as an occasional acting coach to Sigourney Weaver. Who knew that the star of four Alien films, three Ghostbusters films, Gorillas in the Mist, The Ice Storm et al would need, or indeed want, to be coached? Yet it has emerged quite naturally out of her 42-year friendship with Cadell, who explains: “I’ve noticed that some directors are very loath to direct big stars, so I think just to have someone they can sit down and talk the story through with is very valuable – since stars have to carry a film and there’s a huge amount riding on their shoulders.” (Sigourney Weaver later confirms to me over the phone from New York that “directors are afraid to direct you if you’re well-known because they assume you think you know everything - but we all need to be directed. When I played an autistic woman in the film Snowcake, Selina’s advice gave me a lot of courage.”)
Penny Post - Nicholas Lumley in Doc Martin
Excerpt:
I had a coffee this morning with charming Hungerford actor Nicholas Lumley to find out what his experience was like acting in the popular Doc Martin series with Martin Clunes. “The casting call was for an eccentric old farmer with an accent based loosely in the West country. At the audition the director told me just to ‘talk pirate’. I was delighted to get the part, as there is always lots of competition. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but the sun always shines in Doc Martin. This is deliberate – any grey skies are edited out in post-production. This creates a holiday destination atmosphere on set even when it is wet and windy filming.
By Niall Johnson
Excerpt:
For the umpteenth time in its current run, Monday night saw regional grumpy-fish-out-of-water show Doc Martin (ITV) steal away the 9pm slot from its competitors, although this time the irritable medical practitioner had a little help from a friend.It was business as usual for much of last night’s trip to the ‘delightful’ fictional seaside town of Portwenn - Mrs. Doc Martin still reviled her difficult husband, a minor character had to struggle through a weightless B story and a new ‘kooky’ arrival ruffled a few local Cornish feathers.