It is with some trepidation one approaches this interview with Martin Clunes. He is about to turn 50 on Monday, and let's just say that based upon what we know of his TV alter ego, Doc Martin, and how little it takes to set him off on a frightening tirade, we fear that the man might be in a most ornery mood.
Such is the power of the tube. And such is the power of the performance Clunes brings to the character that one has trouble separating the two.
"I'm just fine about (turning 50)," says a laughing Clunes, over the phone from London. "It's just an-other day."
The man turns out to be rather mellow. And Doc Martin, as cantankerous a character as there is on TV, turns out to be just another role. But a role that has won Clunes the British Comedy Award for Best TV Comedy Actor.
Those who have caught Clunes in past series like Men Behaving Badly and Reggie Perrin already know about his versatility.
They probably wouldn't even recognize him now. In Doc Martin, he sports tight, ill-fitting suits and a constant frown. His hair is also closely cropped, accounting for that nasty - albeit anal - Roman emperor look. In Men Behaving Badly, Clunes lets his hair and his guard down. Apart from some loutish bar-room behaviour, he is mostly amiable. Also much younger, since the latter series was done about 15 years ago.
Clunes, however, is amazed with the fan-base Doc Martin has, particularly in North America.
"It's quite curious having an over-seas following," he says. "It's so different from here. In England, it's on (mainstream TV - ITV), so people really have no choice. We just don't have that many channels.
"But it always seems like such a surprise when another country sort of chimes in wholeheartedly, in a kind of epicurean way. Especially the way it has been picked up in Canada and the U.S. in almost cultish fashion. You're not going to be a cult in England when you're on mainstream TV."
The show's popularity in North America is a little surprising in that it really runs counter to the norm for TV series featuring physicians. On this side of the pond, we've been force-fed a slew of milquetoast medical men, from the avuncular Marcus Welby to the benign Dr. Kildare. Doc Martin even makes the abusive and truculent House look warm and fuzzy.
"Doc Martin really is just so wrong, isn't he?" an amused Clunes notes.
Quite. In Season 5 - which just debuted on VisionTV - Clunes's character, Dr. Martin Elleringham, plans to leave the English coastal village of Portwenn to take up practice in London. This in spite of the fact that his estranged partner, Louisa, has given birth to their son.
The doc seems devoid of a heart. He also has the sort of quirks one wouldn't expect of a physician, such as having an aversion to blood.
"It's really such a liberating role. It's nice to be rough with the elderly, violent with children and generally rude to everyone," he says, possibly tongue-in-cheek. "But audiences seem to like it, wondering what kind of outrageous thing he will say or do next.
He could have also added that the doc is less than kind to dogs, as well. The point is that he has few re-deeming qualities. Clunes doesn't disagree, "apart from the fact that he is a brilliant diagnostician and doctor.
"I must admit, though, that it's fun having the baby to be wrong with this season," he adds. "I must also point out that no babies were hurt in the making of the program this season."
And animals? "A little bit," he jests.
And what's with that coif of his? A few years ago, Clunes was quoted as saying he wanted a break from the series because he wanted to grow his locks back. "The hair is as wrong as a giant car. It is just so wrong on my head. Like every-thing else on the show, it's all about wrongness."
Clunes denies that the inspiration for his part is Ebenezer Scrooge or any other screen villain. "It's really quite simple. What I do is just the opposite of right. But the hard part is getting him written. It's never simple when you have a main protagonist who doesn't like anybody, and nobody else likes him. No one has yet been able to draft a complete Doc Martin script in one shot. They've al-ways required five or six drafts to get it right with a character who never says he's sorry."
Yes, but it's precisely that kind of British wrongness that North American TV execs have been cot-toning to of late, in the hopes of re-making their shows on this side of the ocean.
"There had sort of been a rumbling of that for Doc Martin for a while a few years ago. But we now sell it to so many territories that North American producers might wonder who they would sell their version to."
Not that this would be a deterrent. Then again, the Americans did at-tempt a remake of Men Behaving Badly, and let's just say the show performed badly.
"I only saw one episode, but it really didn't take off," Clunes says.
No surprise, really. That series was lacking the acting touch of Clunes and his fellow thespians, who had a better knack for playing likable boors and throwing caution to the wind.
Although Clunes plays a doctor on television, you would be wrong to stop him on the street and consult him for medical advice. In fact, he's not particularly fascinated by or interested in the field.
"Honestly, as I get older, I find it really hard to remember words like 'polymyalgia rheumatica.' Some of these medical terms I can't even get out of my mouth. Some have to be written on the walls behind the characters with the diseases."
Clunes acknowledges that there will "probably" be a Season 6 for Doc Martin, but that is likely to be the final one.
When not doing Doc Martin these days, Clunes hosts and narrates nature shows on subjects he - unlike his medical TV persona - absolutely adores: dogs and horses and even manta rays.
"At heart, I'm really a bunny-hugger," confesses Clunes, who is married to Doc Martin producer Philippa Braithwaite. "On our farm, we have three dogs, two cats, 14 horses, a flock of sheep, five head of cattle and many chickens."
Pastoral bliss, perhaps, for Clunes, but utter hell for Doc Martin.
Season 5 of Doc Martin airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on VisionTV.
bbrownstein@montrealgazette.com
twitter.com/billbrownstein
"I must admit, though, that it's fun having the baby to be wrong with this season," he adds. "I must also point out that no babies were hurt in the making of the program this season."
And animals? "A little bit," he jests.
And what's with that coif of his? A few years ago, Clunes was quoted as saying he wanted a break from the series because he wanted to grow his locks back. "The hair is as wrong as a giant car. It is just so wrong on my head. Like every-thing else on the show, it's all about wrongness."
Clunes denies that the inspiration for his part is Ebenezer Scrooge or any other screen villain. "It's really quite simple. What I do is just the opposite of right. But the hard part is getting him written. It's never simple when you have a main protagonist who doesn't like anybody, and nobody else likes him. No one has yet been able to draft a complete Doc Martin script in one shot. They've al-ways required five or six drafts to get it right with a character who never says he's sorry."
Yes, but it's precisely that kind of British wrongness that North American TV execs have been cot-toning to of late, in the hopes of re-making their shows on this side of the ocean.
"There had sort of been a rumbling of that for Doc Martin for a while a few years ago. But we now sell it to so many territories that North American producers might wonder who they would sell their version to."
Not that this would be a deterrent. Then again, the Americans did at-tempt a remake of Men Behaving Badly, and let's just say the show performed badly.
"I only saw one episode, but it really didn't take off," Clunes says.
No surprise, really. That series was lacking the acting touch of Clunes and his fellow thespians, who had a better knack for playing likable boors and throwing caution to the wind.
Although Clunes plays a doctor on television, you would be wrong to stop him on the street and consult him for medical advice. In fact, he's not particularly fascinated by or interested in the field.
"Honestly, as I get older, I find it really hard to remember words like 'polymyalgia rheumatica.' Some of these medical terms I can't even get out of my mouth. Some have to be written on the walls behind the characters with the diseases."
Clunes acknowledges that there will "probably" be a Season 6 for Doc Martin, but that is likely to be the final one.
When not doing Doc Martin these days, Clunes hosts and narrates nature shows on subjects he - unlike his medical TV persona - absolutely adores: dogs and horses and even manta rays.
"At heart, I'm really a bunny-hugger," confesses Clunes, who is married to Doc Martin producer Philippa Braithwaite. "On our farm, we have three dogs, two cats, 14 horses, a flock of sheep, five head of cattle and many chickens."
Pastoral bliss, perhaps, for Clunes, but utter hell for Doc Martin.
Season 5 of Doc Martin airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on VisionTV.
bbrownstein@montrealgazette.com
twitter.com/billbrownstein
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/bunny+hugger+behind+heartless+Martin/5770993/story.html#ixzz1epTo02mH
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