Original subtitles

CAROLINE CATZ: 'In winter, the north coast of Cornwall

'is a pretty inhospitable place,

'battered by wind and rain coming in off the Atlantic.

'The villages and towns that are so popular with tourists in the summer

'are quiet, waiting for the weather to turn.

'But every other year,

'in one village, a transformation takes place.

'The pub changes its name... the fudge shop becomes a chemist...

'the fish market's name is changed,

'a restaurant returns to what it once was: a school.

'One large holiday cottage becomes a police station.

'This place is Port Isaac,

'but it becomes the world-renowned village of Portwenn.

'And here, with his family,

'lives a certain doctor, Dr Martin Ellingham.

'I'm Caroline Catz,

'and I play Louisa Ellingham, who's married to the Doc.'

Whoa! Whoa!

'Portwenn's been our home for the past 18 years.' Morwenna!

'So much has happened here for all of us, as you can see.

'But there's also a lot about the show that you might not know.

'I want to let you in on some of our secrets

'and take you behind the scenes to meet the cast and crew,

'so you can see just how we make Doc Martin.

'It's February 2022 and the first day of the shoot.

'We're back on the farm, which is our production base.

'The finishing touches are being made

'to sets, costumes and even me.'

It's been great to be back.

It's just like we've never been away, yet it's been three years.

'But I also have mixed feelings, as this tenth series,

'which includes a Christmas special, will be our last.'

WHINES

Now that it's sort of about to be complete,

I can approach it as a whole,

and allow myself some pride in it,

which I don't know why I haven't before.

But I've enjoyed its success,

and the way it's caught on in the different countries

and the feedback we've had has been really gratifying, but I...

The word pride has only just popped into my little brain, so...

'Let's go back 18 years to 2004,

'to the very beginning of our story.'

You've got a problem.

'But the show's not only about us.'

It has to work on four or five different levels simultaneously.

So you've got medical drama, people are dying.

Martin has to get there before they die.

Mrs “shew? Oh, I'm up here, Bod.!

Wonderful (!)

Doctor! Don't move.

So you've got situation as a comedy,

you know, with Bert and Al and all those characters.

"Bodmin". That's an endearing local term for barmy, right? Well...

Daphne du Maurier paints Bodmin Moor

as a Gothic symbol of murder and madness.

All granite skies and howling winds.

Ha! You'll be going "Bodmin" yourself in a minute, boy!

But, Dad, not that one. No!

But at the real heart of it, on the top layer,

is this really fantastic love story between Martin and Louisa.

She wasn't really a huge part of the first series.

We didn't think she was gonna be a big love interest, particularly.

We just put a possible love interest in there.

Had no idea it was going to become what it became.

There was sort of an instant attraction/aversion thing going on,

wasn't there? Yes.

It was sort of a... But very interested.

They were both very interested in one another, weren't they?

Yes. Yes. That's a good way of putting it, yeah.

They sort of piqued each other's curiosity.

What?

Nothing. No, say it.

I'm assuming you have a regular dental hygiene routine.

Pardon? Are you being serious?

Well, you know, Louisa's bad breath was diagnosed,

and then we sort of walked away from that.

We decided her breath was definitely sorted out.

Couldn't keep going on about her appalling breath.

Would he have put up with it? Probably not.

I said, "No talking."

That's rubbish, anyway.

Rubbish, the things people say. Martin.

You're so beautiful.

You're so very beautiful, do you know that?

OK.

If that's what you're gonna say, I don't mind you talking.

Two people who unexpectedly have found each other.

They're both very different,

but I think the reason the show works

is that you really believe they love each other.

Right, now they have to live together... Yeah.

...and that's... that's what we'll explore now. Mm.

We just agreed to get a dog. Do we still have to get a dog?

Is that relevant? I don't know.

That's when we thought it had run its course,

when we got them together and they got married,

and then we found all sorts of ways to keep it fresh.

And they kind of realise that they couldn't be together,

because they just didn't...

They just weren't made up in that way.

And it was really, really sad,

but they'd sort of made this decision to be apart

and yet still sort of share a child.

She wasn't thinking straight. She was pregnant.

I need a break from you, Martin.

What do you mean?

I'm not HAPPY-

I'm not making you happy, am I?

Happy?

Why does everybody have to be happy all the time?

And it seemed that,

once they decided to accept each other's differences,

that they could probably go on.

Go to your basket!

Mary, go to your cot. James!

That's no way to speak to your little sister.

She's not a dog.

Now we've got two children. Yeah. And a dog.

They definitely are the driving force of the show.

Now, I know you told me not to... but...

...| bought you a present.

'I may be married to Martin in the series,

'but in real life he's married to the show's producer, Philippa.'

I was developing things, and then we had the office together,

and we thought, "Well, why don't we just work together?"

And I think if we had met differently socially

and then decided to have a company together,

it might not have worked so well,

but because we already had a working relationship,

we could park it and just... Ancl we do different jobs.

I can't act. Me neither. He can't produce.

HE LAUGHS

20 years ago,

I wrote and produced a film called Saving Grace and met Martin.

Any idea who the father is?

I think I know. I looked at the test slides.

Some of the chromosomes had little kilts on.

Very funny. I do have some bad news, though.

What? There's a slight risk of ginger hair.

They do these test screenings... Mm.

...and the character that came out the...

you know, was the most popular was the doctor.

Look, don't mention the baby yet, OK?

I just wanna tell him when the time is right.

What baby? Have a sweetie.

Philippa and Martin were very friendly with, erm...

Nick Elliott. Nick Elliott,

who ran ITV at that point.

The drama, yeah. Yeah.

Ancl he said, "Sure, I love it," but, you know,

"Love everything about it, keep everything the same,

"but we want a different character."

'So they set about inventing a different doctor.'

it just sort of came out of a... trying to sort of wring,

wring out of Dominic Minghella, the first writer.

I said, "What car does he drive?" and he said, "An MG".

I said, "Oh, no." Ancl then just struck with the thing of being...

wrong at every point.

It's wrong to wear a suit in the sea.

MARTIN LAUGHS

'It's wrong to drive a car that big in Cornwall.'

Ancl I do remember Nick Elliott calling me

after he saw the first rushes the first week,

and he said, "I think he's too grumpy."

You, get off the telephone and find the stopcock.

And you, either get back to Delabole,

wherever that may be, and don't come back,

or go and find a mop and work out how to use it.

So I said, "Nick, hold your nerve." Yeah.

He went, "OK." THEY LAUGH

The set, every single doorway,

is designed to end there, and the one...

That slanty thing in the hallway, going up to the kitchen...

YELPS 'I can hit that angle at any speed.'

Ancl it's all been sort of designed so that I'm wrong.

'Then they needed an expert for the medical stories.'

Dominic Minghella approached me.

So we took an exercise book and a biro,

and we wandered down the Kensington Park Road to Cafe Rouge,

and we sat down one lunchtime,

and we wrote six pages of funny stories,

real things that had happened to me.

Ancl the one that springs to mind most of all

was the story of the man who had grown little breasts.

Wow.

Ancl this was a real event that had happened in my medical practice,

where a man had been exposed to his wife's oestrogens.

Oestrogen is a female hormone.

Used to excess, it's possible, during intercourse,

some may have transferred and, erm...

MUMBLES

Dominic thought this was marvellous and said,

"Got any more stories?" Ancl they rolled out.

The more you think about them, the more odd stories would come out.

And that was the foundation of that first series.

He's fantastic. Like, reams of ideas.

And we'll go, "Yeah, that's great.

"That one won't work. That's great."

And then we start integrating his ideas with the writers' ideas.

The story always demands the doctor's doing something

other than sitting at a desk with a prescription pad.

'Our gifted make-up designer, Alice, has the daunting task

'of making realistic prosthetics for Martin's handiwork.'

I made a hand

by taking a life cast of the actress's hand

and made a mould,

made the hand from silicone, painted it.

I put one layer in and then build it up

so that you can get the veins underneath the skin.

I put a hole through the finger

and stuck this end of a really tiny tube onto the nail

for the blood to be able to come out.

Ready? Ooh.

Oh!

Then we used it, and it worked very well.

So that I can make an oblique anastomosis

with a large enough diameter.

Good. Very good.

DR MARTIN SCURR: Taking out somebody's gall bladder.

There was an outstanding prosthesis that was created for that,

and best of all, the nurses involved and the theatre sister

that was handing the instruments across,

they were the genuine team from that operating theatre.

And I think they probably loved doing it,

and they made a really good job of it.

Pulse rate stabilised at 105. Blood pressure restored.

There's a lovely story here,

where Louisa's father...

...has been allowed out of prison and turns up unexpectedly...

Er, hello, love.

What are you doing here?

...but this man arrives with motor neurone disease,

which everyone knows has an inevitably declining prognosis,

sadly resulting in the death of the patient.

And so he's come to say goodbye to the family.

Is your hand all right? Fine.

But this man has some sensory symptoms.

He's got some numbness, some tingling.

You say you have tingling and numbness in your hands and feet.

I wouldn't expect to find that with motor neurone disease.

Doc Martin spots this,

and he does a nerve biopsy, called a sural nerve biopsy,

takes a little pinch of a nerve,

using an aesthetic from down by the ankle,

and it gets sent off to the lab...

...and we get the new diagnosis:

chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.

Another reason to send Martin a voice file for how to say it.

According to the biopsy,

it's intense inflammation of the endoneurium,

which is causing demyelination.

It's, er, CIDP, Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polynesia.

MARTIN LAUGHS

LAUGHTER CAROLINE: Sorry!

Well, I really struggled with birds hot chorioretinopathy,

which is what Anne, Anne Reid had.

Not only do you have arcus senilis,

you also have birds hot chorioretinopathy.

Is that good or bad?

And I couldn't get it out on the clay, and she laughed at me,

which is unprofessional of her.

But then, but now I can say it at the drop of a hat.

And how he does it, I don't know,

because Martin is just... Doesn't even hesitate on them.

Ancl actually, quite charmingly,

we had a letter from the Birds hot Chorioretinopaphy Society,

saying, "Thank you for shining a light on our disease.

"Nobody can... Nobody's heard of us or can pronounce us."

MAN: Do people come up to Martin and ask him for medical advice?

He gives it, without even being asked.

If someone's been given antibiotics,

he says, "What have you been given?"

You're not a doctor! SHE LAUGHS

We haven't had your father in yet. Yeah, we have! Kevin Doyle.

Oh, what was wrong with him?

No, it was my mum.

She had something, and then it was something else...

...that came from Africa.

But I healed her? That's the main thing.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, you sorted it all out. Don't you worry.

You see, we remember it all really crystal clear.

We were in Paris,

and there was a whole load of middle-aged women who went past

and on these huge Segways in the centre of Paris.

And we just heard this scream, and she went flying into a wall,

just really hurt herself, covered in blood,

and Martin just turned into Action Man.

Went flying over the road. It's like, "What are you doing?"

Bent down to her. She's sort of semi-conscious.

And she just looked up and went, "It's Doc Martin!"

SHE EXHALES HEAV“)!

Yep, that's it. The heart's got a rhythm.

CAROLINE CATZ: 'This is the last-ever Doc Martin read-through,

'traditionally held in Port Isaac's village hall.'

Get down from there!

Doctor Ellingham! LAUGHTER

He has to stay!

'But getting the scripts to this stage can take two years of work.'

On Doc Martin, we kinda bounce ideas

backwards and forwards for stories, for the series, for the characters.

I put an idea in for an episode or an idea for a medical story.

I wouldn't necessarily write it, it might go to another writer,

but it's quite a collaborative process.

It's very, very hard finding writers who can write comedy,

not that we're full-on comedy, but who can write with wit.

There's just not many...

...writers who can do that.

No other show written like this on British television.

We take an awful long time to write it,

and I think that shows in the end product, I think.

Because the scripts are good, and that's gold dust in this business.

You know, it's easy to play somebody

who's got such an overriding impulse,

which is simply love of the doctor.

I could just eat him with a spoon.

What's happened to your face? My face?

Nothing. Oh, unless you mean my new lipstick.

I thought I'd try a different shade. Right.

'She genuinely believes that they were meant to be together,

'and one day, they will.' It says Martin on it.

Yes.

Martin.

Oh... Thank you.

It was a pleasure. HE GRUNTS

SMACKS LIPS

We came up with the idea that Mrs Tishell,

who's obviously a pharmacist, was stealing her own medication,

which made her go a little bit loopy,

and her already predisposition towards Martin got out of hand.

So, basically, there's a drugged-up lunatic on the run with your baby.

We wanted for Martin to finally be able to declare to Louisa

that he loved her.

Ancl Martin does this big speech at the end to Louisa.

It was a really great scene, great speech,

brilliantly delivered and written. And I do hate Portwenn.

I hate the people, their pinched faces and their ridiculous accents,

and their unerring knack of catching any virus

that comes within a five-mile radius.

They spread contagion like a bushfire.

But it's where I wanna be...

...because you're here... because of you.

Cos if I'm with you... nothing else matters.

What I'm trying to say is...

...| love you.

Oh, my God. BABY BABBLES

I love you, too.

Give me one last chance. Please.

That poor deranged woman will probably throw herself

out of the window now as an expression of her love.

'And thanks to great scripts,

'I have the privilege to work with some fabulous actors.'

Darling, she's coming down.

I said to my husband... "They've asked me to be in this.

"Let's just have a look a one of them."

We put one of them on, and we both finished,

and we both looked at each other and said,

"It's lovely, isn't it? It's so charming."

I said this, and he said, "Let's have another one on."

And we sat and we watched three all in a row.

And he said, "Well, I think you'd be terribly silly not to do this."

Kenneth Cranham plays Louisa's dad, and his name is Terry.

Terry Glass on. Glass on. That's a...

I don't believe that name at all, do you? Glass on.

Well, that's what his name is, so... OK, fine. There we are.

Deal with it. TH EY CH UCKLE

'We've had Caroline Quentin as a vet.'

Well, you still need a licence. So pack it up.

Pig. What?

Gimme the pig. TOY GRUNTS

'Claire Bloom as Martin's mother.'

You would see me homeless, destitute, cast out in the streets?

Of course not.

Well, thank you.

I wouldn't see you. I'd have no further contact with you at all.

'Ben Miller has been in three series.'

Oh, Ben Miller. Yeah. Yeah, we've had great guests.

He wouldn't be able to live with himself!

How would he live with himself?!

'Vincent Franklin is in this last series

'and has been in the show from the start.' Listen...

...| backed you coming here.

And I get him and interview him cos I think he'd be great for this job,

or, at least, we're desperate for GPs and he's better than nobody,

cos he is a bit of a weirdo.

I've told you, go away.

All right. 'And then, of course, there's Sigourney Weaver.'

Yeah.

Well, Sigourney and I have known each other for 40 years plus,

and we're very, very close friends.

Ancl Selina said, "Could Sigourney be in it?"

So I sort of laughed and walked away.

And then Martin rang and said, "Sigourney wanted to be in it?

"Do you think she really meant it?" I said, "Yeah, of course."

What is this? Both of you? Yes, they do.

You both want each other. You can make it work.

So we wrote a part, and then she wanted to come back and do it again.

Ancl she was just delightful.

Just go away, please.

We particularly wanted to have a physical fight

cos we thought that'd be very funny.

He thinks you're nuts as well, you know that, right?

No, that's a lie. No, we have a very special relationship,

the doctor and I. In your dreams.

No! Take that back. It's the truth. It is not the truth.

Deal with it. No. Let go of me, you psycho!

THEY SHRIEK

It was great, I mean, I really had a go at her,

I really took a slug at her.

Cos she's trying to get the doctor, I think.

What's not to like? Lots (!) CHUCKLES TO SELF

'Then there are other four-legged stars.'

Stay there. Taffy, stay there!

'They need a bit of direction from Martin.'

I like animals, so it was always fun to put lots of animals in.

Of course, we've got Buddy. Unfortunately, I had the episode

where Martin almost put Buddy down as well.

So I seem to get all those sort of things.

LOCK CLICKING Come through.

This way.

There was a rubber dog, last series. A rubber Dodger.

And, erm... I did operate on him, that was quite...

HE WHEEZES Seeing this.

Ancl they'd made the thing so beautifully,

and I could actually, literally, cut the little dog's tummy open

and it would open and it would bleed slightly.

It was such an amazing piece.

Ancl poor Sonia, Dodger's owner,

when she came in and she saw the little thing,

she started crying. HE CH UCKLES

Ancl it was very, very tense.

Ancl Dodger was so good in that whole story.

This is Taffy.

He is the new dog that's taken over

from the very experienced old guy here, Dodger, who's retired.

They are all rescue clogs. So, here they are, in their Winnebago.

Have you come to see your friends? EXCITED BARKING

THEY CHUCKLE How are you?

I'm all right, I'm fine, thank you. Ooh! Ooh!

It just struck me as funny that somebody who didn't like dogs,

if they really liked him. They would follow him,

regardless of his loathing for them.

Er, hello, old boy. HE CH UCKLES

Anybody who seems to come to Port Isaac to watch the filming

brings their dogs with them.

If I want to find Martin on a busy clay, I'll just follow the clogs

cos I know that, at the end of all these leads,

he's gonna be there and he always is.

You can't stop filming. I can.

We've lost him for half an hour while he says hello to all the clogs.

Brolly? A collie, collie springer.

'Martin certainly charms the dog owners.'

You're very welcome. Thank you very much.

'But what is he actually like to work with?'

Quite unbearable at times, but...

Oh, come on. SHE CHUCKLES

She has a massive crush on the doctor, and everybody knows it.

Yeah, we're telling people about the subtext that we've been developing.

'Filming outside the surgery always draws a crowd,

'but having all these people around can cause problems.'

This is a public highway and we can't close it.

So, every five minutes, 20 people have to walk through.

Ancl the more it happens,

the more cross and grumpy I get with him, and it's not his fault.

When we're in the village, working, you'll find people

from all over the world come to see it. It's like a Mecca.

Big Americans, Australians...

Big Americans? That's rude. All shapes and sizes.

"Do you realise, I've come all the way from Australia?"

And then, you say... But then 'R's funny

cos sometimes you get people who say, "We've come from Somerset."

Ancl you think, "Well, they've come from Texas, mate, so..."

Priscilla and Gary, and we're from Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Ancl they've found themselves at the sort of end of Cornwall,

in this tiny little village, and they're just so happy to be here.

But it's so cool. This is all real. Like, this is a real place.

Hi, I am Gloria Gare from Cincinnati, Ohio.

And, about six years ago, I started a club called

The Bert Large Lovers Group.

But now are up to almost 5,000 members.

Ancl every Thursday night, we have a dinner, which Bert attends,

and, every Sunday afternoon, we have a tea party.

I just wanna show you this book because, inside it,

it's got all these people in America who have got pictures of me,

and they've placed them in all sorts of places,

like in gardens, sausages, there.

I feel like, with Bert, he's the type of friend everybody would want.

If you said, "Bert, I want you to meet me at 3AM on the plat,

"bring dynamite and candy." He'd show.

'Bert's not the only one with his own fan club.

'There's a rival club, appropriately named The Clunatics.'

I've watched the show

from the first series to the ninth series seven times.

Ancl each time you watch it, you find something that you missed. Mm-hm.

Yeah. Anita Bush. Iona Castle. Iona Castle.

Helen High water. I mean, you just go on and on.

Nick de Silver. Yeah, Nick de Silver.

Chegg. Scott Chegg. Scott Chegg.

Anita Bush.

No, Doc, this is my mum.

Iona Castle. Go through.

Helen High water.

Albert Ross. About time.

Mr Gleballs is next. He can wait. Sit down.

Sorry, Dan.

I had never been abroad until 2018.

I took a step, you know, that I probably would've never clone

had it not been for Doc Martin, Martin Clunes.

In all honesty, I'm sure if Martin Clunes emigrated to America,

they'd make him the president cos they absolutely love him out there.

They really do.

2% of people come to Cornwall just because of Doc Martin.

That's been worth way in excess

of £100 million, but another 7% say

that it actually had a great influence on them coming.

So you can see that, over a decade, this has really been worth

hundreds of millions of pounds to the economy of Cornwall.

'People come from across the globe to Port Isaac,

'as the UK series is now shown in hundreds of countries.

'But some even make their own,

'and often, shot-for-shot, just copy ours.'

You've got a problem.

Vous avez un probleme?

Arretez ou 'ye hufle'.!

Wat is je probleem?

Pero tu, de que vas?

'Back in Port Isaac, Ian makes the most of the many visitors.'

Ian charges for photographs,

and collects an awful lot of money for local charities,

and the lifeboat.

He's got a little bucket there. "Oh, can we take a photograph?"

"Well, you can, but I would like something put in there

"and paper would be preferable."

This lady has just given us £20 for the lifeboats,

I think that's fantastic. Absolutely, thank you very much.

'Like all the fans,

'there's one person in particular who doesn't want the series to end.'

Sta-a-ay!

Ple-e-ease!

'Mrs Tishell is desperate.

'Only she can stop Doc Martin leaving Portwenn... she thinks.'

'Back in frosty February, the crew started planning

'a complicated sequence for the end of episode one.'

This is where, er, Abigail... Is that her name? Yeah.

Her car goes off the edge

and ends up hanging over this bit of the edge here.

Is it safe to put the actress in the front seat of the car?

Yep, that will be while it's on the roof. No, it's fine.

Yeah, oh, yeah.

Did you get that? It's safe. THEY LAUGH

'The actor is Fay Ripley.

'Luckily for her, she won't be doing the driving.

'Here's her stunt double

'making final adjustments on the day of filming.

'And, yes, that is a wig.'

Are you happy? Yeah. Do you wanna do one more?

No, I'm happy with that. You're happy? Yeah, yeah.

TYRES SCREECH

I worry about that car going over with the stunt woman in.

Oh, and there's a drop. I really worry about that.

The deal is if they... they make sure I'm all right,

and I'll buy them a beer tonight,

and then that's, that... It all kind of works out.

I don't want it to go too far, but I don't want it to go not far enough.

I want it just right. I know you do.

It hasn't quite travel led as far as we'd like,

so Nigel would like the front door driver's side

to be sort of teetering with a bit more jeopardy over the cliff.

We didn't quite get that, so we're gonna have another go,

extend the cable slightly further, and hopefully, this time,

we'll achieve a bit more jeopardy, so.

TYRES SCREECH

Hydraulically, now, we can tilt the car, using a remote mechanism

to exact angle we want.

So when we're shooting in there,

it's gonna look like the car is moving and tilting on the edge.

Hopefully! Maybe it won't, and then I'll lose my job.

When I got asked to sort of hang over a cliff,

I did check that I had a legal will.

I then got very blase. I've been having a cup of tea in there.

He needs to get the tube up her nose. Nose.

Ancl kind of sort of wiggle it in... Exactly. ..into position.

It's a trick that he... only Doc Martin can do.

Luckily, that's who we have.

Does it matter if that's puffing up my nose?

MARTIN: Don't be difficult. Use the other nostril.

THEY LAUGH

The other nostril's your own.

MARTIN LAUGHS

I want my agent (!) THEY LAUGH

And then he attaches a hag to the other end of the tube. Yep.

Which is helping her breathe

because the myozenia... gravis... Gravis.

...has, erm, stopped the muscles of the diaphragm working.

That means that all the muscles

associated with breathing have stopped.

Ancl have you clone this in a car perched on the edge of a cliff?

Not often. No? No.

Have we made this up? Yeah.

Because some of the dialogue doesn't really sort of work with the...

with the physicality of where we are, and what we're doing.

Am I getting notes on camera? MARTIN LAUGHS

It's just not working what you're doing.

What's going on?

Really nearly pulled it off. Have I got dead eyes?

No, you can use... use the puffer bag.

So, we're just having a little break for our lunch,

but of course, it's not a break,

we're still working, aren't we, Nigel?

Are we? We are. Well, I am, anyway.

So, with a sequence like this, Nigel will have done his shot list.

Nigel will also have a storyboard, erm,

that is done which is each shot that we do.

Caroline does all this kind of paperwork,

so we know where the shot is, so we can find things.

But most importantly,

everybody out there is worrying about the lighting,

worrying about the sound,

or worrying about this and that and the other.

She's my second pair of eyes, and somewhere in here...

in this extraordinary brain, erm, she's trying to keep track of it.

'In my opinion, we have some of the funniest

'and most creative actors working today.'

I mean, you've got Selina, Mrs Tishell,

or you've got john Marquez, or, erm, you know, erm...

Martin Clunes? Martin... Oh, is he in it?

Yes, yes. Oh, God, I keep forgetting.

Erm, and they're always coming up with stuff.

SIREN

That's not good. Call an ambulance.

Martin's selling the fact we're on a cliff edge here. just watch.

So, there's no cliff here.

But, look, you kind of feel there is

because he's selling it and, you know,

that's when you're really grateful to the cast.

She's not out of the woods yet.

Ancl if you think acting is glamorous...

if you think, "Oh, I'll be an actor, I get pampered,

"and it's all so easy." No.

You try spending a whole clay with a...

a plastic tube up your nose.

DIRECTOR: Action!

Another problem is that when we shot Martin standing there,

the sun was out.

When we shot this going, erm, the sun had gone in.

Ancl we'll be able to cut that car out,

and place it within that sunny shot of Martin,

and it'll be a seamless car going over a cliff

on a sunny afternoon in Cornwall,

as opposed to a cloudy one that we've ended up with.

'Once Nick and Nigel have finished the edit,

'it's over to Colin, our composer.'

SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC

When the car is hanging over the cliff,

and they're inside trying to rescue the lady,

to get her out and, erm, you...

you pointed out quite rightly that I put a Psycho thing in there.

It was quite Psycho. It was.

It was, because I always... You can imagine that I'm trying to think,

"How far do you push that drama?"

PC PENHALE: On a count of ten... Ten?!

Right, no, five will be better. It's much quicker.

Actually, now I think about it, we could just do three...

Well, just do it now! Ready? OK. Go!

I know where we're going with this, and if I come off-piste,

which I sometimes do, I think, "Oh, I might try something."

Philippa will say, "No, come on, you need to be over here."

So that's all good.

A couple of moments I did, where I was really pushing too hard for a...

for a comedy joke, and you know,

I still cringe when I think about them.

So, if an actor comes in and starts doing a big comedy performance,

I have to shut them down.

You know, just explain that, you know, watch Martin,

he can be incredibly funny, but always...

you feel like he's the character.

I think the thing about Dr Martin is, he's terrible at small talk,

and he's fantastic at the big talk.

Like, when you're in real trouble, and you ring him

because you are about to drown, he will drop everything and come.

And, er, we all need friends like that, don't we, you know?

But, er, what is, I think, a real testament to this show

is that most of this crew I've worked with before.

Ancl I don't mean last time I was here, but the time before that,

and the time before that.

Because if you are happy,

if you're prepared to spend six months of your life here,

surrounded by this monstrosity of a place,

you sort of become a little unit.

It's not like some hideous showbiz family nightmare

where we're sort of going to The Ivy.

It's like, it's, it's here in a... Do you know what I mean?

With the Angry Anchovy for a good pizza and a good bit of shouting.

Yeah, Wednesday night, quiz night.

It's great, because, er, you know, we always win.

CALLER: Number 35!

What is PC Pinhale's police number that he wears on the show?

ALL: Oh!

What?!

Come on, John, you've gotta get this one!

In the script... I'll come to you in a minute.

LAUGHTER

Number 31...

'How was it this village became the right home for Doc Martin?'

Well, Port Isaac we inherited because of Saving Grace,

but there was a time when we went round Cornwall

looking for a new village.

Came back to Port Isaac and thought, "It's just perfect,"

because it's the right size, you get that amazing view in the harbour.

It has fantastic views, fantastic light, brilliant cliffs,

and some fantastic architecture.

When we write the scripts, think, "Well, yeah, it's fine, it's good,"

and then you see the actors do it - A, they're brilliant,

so it always brings the script to life,

and then you see the backdrop - wow!

So we are very grateful to this backdrop.

'But the village hasn't always been happy to be turned into a film set.'

There was a couple of series where it was a bit sticky, erm...

But then, I think once they realised it was a good setup,

it was kind of a two-way street.

There's always a small contingent,

and there always will be wherever you go filming.

You won't want film crews there.

So, Martin and Sandy and one or two said,

"Well, look, tell you what we'll do -

"if the series makes money, Port Isaac makes money."

Buffalo set up a trust, and they backdated it as well.

They didn't have to do that.

They showed willing and understanding as well.

They stipulated when we got it

that it should be particularly for the old

and the young of the village.

There'll always be a fund in Port Isaac

to use for the children for whatever they want to do.

'The show's unique look is down to the skill and artistry

'of our production designers.'

Well, we're blessed with Anthony and Jane

because we just know they are going to take care of every detail.

I do tease them that there is a colour called mouse back

that just tends to pop up on every... Mouse back? Yes.

Well, we had to locate our key character's houses,

or in the case of the surgery, so we looked at various places,

and we settled on the house that we've now used

which is beautiful and has that view across the harbour.

I rented it initially off of a lovely couple,

and we did change their lives.

They had to sell because the mad people looking in the windows,

and I did feel guilty for that because I did cause that.

But of course, it's very small inside,

as most of the cottages are in the village.

So we decided to build a couple of the rooms,

and over the years, over the series, we've increased it

until we rebuilt virtually the whole house now.

Upstairs, downstairs, including the roof for the Christmas Special.

All right, Leonard?

We always have to work with the village

and try and let their normal life and work flow as much as possible.

So as many places, particularly the chemist,

which in Port Isaac is the fudge shop,

so we have to dress it very quickly often,

and then redress it and strike it

so it's always back as fudge shop for the weekends.

Because I know we have changed the village, I do know that,

and I do understand that that's not always a great thing,

but it won't go on forever, I don't suppose that it'll be that busy.

But I think it's... it's been a good thing.

I think it's been a good thing.

Having local examples of people that have started as a runner

and worked through to be juniors in a department,

and work their way through

is really, really exciting for those people.

Yep, my daughter, erm, did

a couple of years work experience with Doc Martin.

We're rolling, quiet, please!

Ancl now she's a runner in this series.

So, yeah, very HAPPY-

Certainly, it's interesting as they know we're going,

real feelings come out.

And the... the warmth and the genera...

The people are being... are so generous to us

and so appreciative of what we've clone for the village.

Now that we're going, they can say it.

So, we leave. The village will miss us,

and I think we'll... we'll miss the village...

particularly the (Io-op. LAUGHTER

It's a very good shop.

'For the finale of episode three in this series,

'there are plans for Martin to fall into a deep hole.'

So, it's quite a complicated, layered operation with stunts,

special effects, us, actors, the whole caboodle.

If he's super happy, and he feels safe,

and he looks confident, then... then Martin will do it.

It's, it's not a big fall. It's just a matter of...

of landing safely.

Shall we look at one? Let's do it.

Come on, then.

You've got to take that step

as if you would just walking normally

and selling that, even though you know in the back of your mind

you're gonna be falling.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Perfect. That's great.

If you were to run, you'd go in like this... Yeah.

Can Martin... He won't be running. But he'll be walking with intent.

I know, but, that's what I'm saying -

they've just gotta sort this intent out... He won't be running.

...cos I know what Martin's like.

Jamie, how Long's it take to reset it each time?

I reckon, 30 minutes. Oh, wow.

The guys will have to replace the boxes if they get flattened,

and then we have to redress the tarpaulin with the leaves.

And we've got three men in the woods collecting bags of leaves,

so we're ready to go.

Man, if we get this clone, we can go down the beach and have a swim.

And we can do the hide while you're swimming.

We'll carry on working. Did you get that?

Ancl then this is the net. This is the net. So this is...

Two, one... There you go.

Whoa. That's great!

Yeah, that's really good. Yeah. Yeah.

Ancl that's just picking up. Oh, OK.

Now you're onto another rig.

Right. So on action, it, it literally takes him up.

Stewart... He's got a knife!

I haven't! Oh, hang on, yes, I have.

LAUGHTER

Whoosh!

I'm less concerned about hurting myself than making it look right.

Do you know what I mean? That's what...

But I suppose it's not like a disposable kind of stunt

where you only get one go.

I can try and fall in the hole better, but it'd be a big setup.

You can do another take while I'm in the ambulance.

LAUGHTER

We had some lovely weather the last few clays,

but yesterday, it started to get pretty dark,

and so it's very hard for the focus pullers to keep things sharp.

But, er, Luke's doing a fine job,

and, erm, confident that we're gonna get it.

It's been a good week, though. We've got some great stuff, and, yeah,

it should... This sequence should just top it all off.

It's a nice way to finish.

Again, just as long as the weather is kind to us.

Raining.

Stuart! He's got a knife!

No, I haven't! Oh, yeah, sorry. Yes, I have.

Whoa! Bloody hell!

Oh, my God. Stop! Help!

CRASHING No!

I think I am the least-appearing regular character

in the longest-running TV show.

Ancl the girls, I mean,

those girls that just hang out giggling all the time.

I mean, what is that about? You're very perceptive.

And you can see them getting on really well,

and it's all going very well

until he says that he's got his giant squirrel standing beside him.

Oh, Anthony, this is Doc Martin. I was telling you about him?

And then, suddenly, of course, he found himself held prisoner.

Stuart is always taking people pfisonen

BLAST

Did you see that?! The audacity!

In some ways, it feels like I, I never left.

It sort of feels like time travelling 18 years, yeah.

'In the last week of the shoot in each series,

'we all get together for a cast and crew photograph.'

CHEERING

'This one is a special one.

We know it'll be our last.' CHEERING

Great picture! CHEERING

APPLAUSE

We had the weather as usual.

The difficulty of the location of getting all the gear down there,

Martin being such a difficult actor, and, you know,

such a prima Donna (!)

Er, he didn't hear that. So...

Erm, we have the normal weather problems.

Ancl in addition to that, you have the tide.

We need to set certain levels of...

HE LAUGHS

I've just been fired. Erm, this is my P45.

Feels very strange for it to be finishing.

Erm, particularly to be finishing...

Cos I think my last scene will be here as well,

so that's quite nice.

It will be a sad moment. It's Port Isaac, isn't it?

Put it on the map worldwide.

'And now we've reached the end.'

Scene complete, guys.

Caroline Catz and Eileen Atkins

and Elliot and Rupert... "Scene Pete!"

And Taffy and Willow and Betty, and all the kids...

Guys, that's their last scene. APPLAUSE

MUSIC: 'Warwick Avenue' by Duffy

Little did I know when I was on the interview panel on the first scene,

and I said, "When we get to the end, I'd like to be in the last scene,"

so this is it. THEY LAUGH

Yeah. 18, 19 years.

I've been in every episode, every series, except the second one.

Yeah, it's a shame to... that it's coming to an end cos...

cos it will never happen again. This will never happen again. No.

'Sad as we are,

'I was thrilled to receive an award from the sound department.'

And this is because I rig my own mic.

Parts complete on Ian McNeice, folks.

Angela, Buffy...

Imogen, Alice and Rose, guys.

That's pretty significant. APPLAUSE

CHEERING

'We only live about ten minutes down the road from each other.'

I'm never gonna see Robyn again. I'll never speak to her again.

I keep remembering it every like, every 20 minutes,

I sort of think, "This is the final day."

Erm, but, erm, yeah, it's quite... quite significant.

So now we're just waiting for Mart...

Monsieur Clunes to, er, do his Lexus work.

Other cars are available.

Erm, and then it'll be... I think the whole, everyone,

the whole team is wrapped, the whole shoot is wrapped.

Been a really good... Forever and ever.

Luckily, with a crack team,

erm, and the crew as well,

we've managed to get it done, I think.

And we're, we're suitably, erm, and rightly ending with a shot of Martin

running butchly from his car in a manner of an action hero.

DIRECTOR: Cut there! Check it.

Come on in, guys. Come on in for a sec.

Most of us aren't accepting this is the end.

We're waiting for a Bert spin-off.

Just wanna thank everybody for everything over the...

I'm gonna cry.

I couldn't think of a better place to end our very, very last scene,

and thank you, all.

You're all fantastic. We're gonna miss you.

Come on, Martin! Go on, Martin.

I'd like to do a bit from River dance, please?

LAUGHTER

Erm, I can't actually dance.

I know what each and every one of you does,

and I really love the way each and every one of you does it.

So thank you from the bottom of my heart

for making this show such a joy and a pleasure and a success. Ta-ta!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Oh, man. Good man.

Funny, the things that... that you, erm...

It's just, erm, it's...

It's emotional, walking through here with it all... gone.

I don't know why it makes me so emotional.

I think it's just cos everything that we built,

everything we started was here, and it's all now been taken away. Yeah.

That's really sad.

It's, it's... It really gets me. Aww.

So, this is it. We'll never see it again.

I'm OK with that. I know, you're fine. Yeah, I know.

You cry at Britain's Got Talent, but you're not worried about this.

Cos it's sort of exciting now, it's exciting.

Because it's like, erm, well, you have to tear...

tear the circus down in order to move it onto the next town.

But this circus has been here for 20... 18 years! I know.

It's been a long-stander.

It's... Yeah. ..very sad.

It's like taking your house down, that's what it feels like.

It feels like demolishing your house. It's all over.

Yeah. Good night.

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