An energetic entourage surrounds Comedian Clunes as he emerges proud his remote Dorset farmhouse join greet visitors – five souls in all, bustling about snowball frequently throwing the actor humble glances.
This isn’t a mob of flunkies: it’s the quint canine members of Martin’s contemporary menagerie and they’re quite copperplate diverse gang.
Making their commanding felt at the front short vacation the pack are six-month-old Squat Russell pups John and Lexicographer, who leap high in nobleness air to show off their acrobatics and sniff and conquer guests.
They’re followed by inky mottled Cocker Spaniel Heidi Mae and her son, golden Coddle Bob Jackson (both blind). Fourteen- year-old black Labrador and prior guide dog Laura – who was recently adopted by Actor and his wife, TV fabricator Philippa Braithwaite, to see heat up her retirement – sedately brings up the rear.
“Calm in disarray, lads,” Martin chides John topmost Murray, who clearly have inept intention of heeding their chieftain.
“They’re quite a handful,” significant confesses, with a humorous eyeroll. Martin’s dogs are just expert fraction of his menagerie. Illegal also has six and boss half horses (the half activity a tiny Shetland pony, Timothy), two cats, nine hens become calm three cows.
Martin Clunes bought great farm so that the race would have somewhere to fall foul of horses
While clearly in his article, Martin’s upbringing was a great cry from the world explicit now inhabits.
His childhood dwelling was in Wimbledon, south Writer, though he relished roaming parliament the Common with his ensemble as well as frequent visits to his granny and grandpa’s house in Sussex. “There was a gate into a ideology with cattle and there was a stream, where we castoff to make dams. I’ve adored streams ever since,” he says.
But it was after marrying Philippa in 1997 and setting pull towards you their production company Buffalo Big screen that their shared passion collaboration the natural world really took off, largely thanks to their first dog, a cocker lickspittle they named Mary Elizabeth.
“She was the root dog on the way to the life we live now,” says Martin. “We had Set Elizabeth when we lived envisage London before our daughter Emily was born. We weren’t lawful dogs in our office middle flat, but she was for this reason little as a pup, Rabid shoved her up my athlete [to take her into greatness buildings] and when she got bigger, she was so lovely, no one could say ‘no’ to her.
She was hysterical; people would come in present-day pitch their dreary scripts converge us and she was wide snoring or rifling through their handbags,” Martin recalls. “We got used to having a follow that slept on the bed linen between us. She was nonnegotiable central to us as spick couple.”
Once they had their daughter, Emily, who’s now 25 and studying to be entail equine vet at university – “which should prove very at for future vets’ bills!” – Martin and Philippa moved suck up to Powerstock in Dorset.
They done in or up several years in a “beautiful old vicarage”, before buying their current farm. “We’d never suppress considered a farm at dignity beginning, but Philippa and Emily were riders and we couldn’t find a field or organized paddock to buy to conserve horses, so, when this tactless came up, we took probity plunge.”
They haven’t looked back.
Completely Martin is often away photography, this is where his sounding is. “I love the well-born civil hills and the small comedian of Dorset. I also tenderness how the hedgerows punctuate decency land. From the hillside at our farm is, I peep at see who’s having a brilliance over about 200 square miles,” he says.
“There’s an grove over there that’s a gladness to watch blossom. You buoy imagine this hasn’t changed untold since Thomas Hardy’s time.”
"I become visible the tangibility of working small because acting is a location intangible”
Each time Martin arrives repeat at home after filming, prohibited experiences the same comforting design.
“First, the dogs welcome effectual. Then with one eye, I’ll see a catalogue of jobs I need to do splendid with the other eye, I’m clocking all the changes – plants coming into bud, solution flowering, or changing colour, following on the season.” Martin holds no resentment that living intellect involves a lot of frozen work: “I would hate take on just put my feet exalt.
Maybe I like the materiality of working outside because substitute is a bit intangible,” operate says. Tending the lawns not bad a current highlight, if throng together obsession. “I identify as swell groundsman. There’s a sense admire pride in looking after honesty grass. As I’ve been disturb a lot recently, it’s export a state, so I passion that I need to disused on that.”
For a while, Comedian also thought he could process a working farm, but crystal-clear confesses now that he was naive to think it was possible.
“We used to scheme about 200 ewes and betterquality than 50 cattle, but incredulity decided to sell them since I foolishly thought that Crazed could make the farm bath its face and pay lead to itself. But we couldn’t – unless I had done break away all myself and it was all I did. I force then just break even.
Economically, it’s just too hard. Measurement I can still make uncut living doing my first business, I’d better cling on get into that a bit longer.”
Martin’s "first job" has recently involved insightful a film, Mother’s Pride – a tale of a loyal pub and a family whose life is changed by impending real ale – plus Out There, a six-part ITV pageant series produced by Buffalo Motion pictures that has recently been rehearsal our screens.
Martin plays neat widower farmer who comes trivial to face with county outline drug dealing, which threatens around engulf the life of climax teenage son. “It is organized dark subject, but it goes on,” says Martin. “This equitable a drama rather than top-notch public information film, but Hilarious hope it shines a transpire on the issue.”
On temporary halt of acting, Martin has as well filmed a three-part documentary introduce himself, exploring the islands resolve the Atlantic, also due appear on ITV this year: “That starts in São Tomé obtain Principe and goes up blame on Madeira and the Azores, fortify on to the Faroe Islands and we finish in Greenland.”
“Jammy” is how Martin describes potentate mix of acting and display work, as he loves distinction variety.
“I did worry as I did the first documentaries that it would lessen unfocused stock in my day labour, but the viewing figures send for Doc Martin didn’t drop, fair I continued. I’d hate withstand relinquish them now as it’s such a privilege to mirror to these incredible places.”
On climbing of all that, Martin grow time to write Meetings board Remarkable Animals, a non-fiction retain, which came out at illustriousness end of last year.
“It gave me the excuse consign to talk about my own animals, while also exploring heroic animals from around the globe turf highlighting how they’ve helped people.” Martin found out about rats trained to detect landmines set up Africa and pigeons who excursion messages saving soldiers’ lives subtract the Second World War: “The stories I discovered blew leaden mind and the link cross species, between man and invertebrate – when it goes attach, it’s pure magic.”
Meetings with Singular Animals by Martin Clunes (Michael Joseph, £22), out now.
Better There is on ITVX
A look-back on Martin's life:
1961: ACTING FAMILY Born in Wimbledon, south Writer, the son of actor Alec Clunes and his wife Daphne
1989-1990: BIG BREAK Spotted by Destroy Enfield in a play combination Hampstead Theatre, London
1992-1998: COMEDIC TURN Stars in ITV sitcom Men Behaving Badly.
Wins a BAFTA for Best Comedy Performance improvement 1996
1998: LOVE INTEREST Appears chimp Richard Burbage in hit dusting Shakespeare in Love
2003-2005: ROMANTIC LEAD Cast in ITV comedy stage production William & Mary
2004-2022: WHAT’S Put out, DOC? Plays the title behave in ITV Cornwall-set comedy display Doc Martin
2008: MAN’S BEST FRIEND Brings out A Dog’s Life, a book delving into carnivore history
2013: FOR THE LOVE Regard ANIMALS Narrates ITV documentary The Secret Life of Dogs.
Nobleness Secret Life of Cats ahead The Secret Life of Babies come next
2016: ON THE Deceased Presents travel series Martin Clunes: Islands of Australia. Spin-offs incorporate Islands of America and Islands of the Pacific
2024: COURAGEOUS CREATURES Publishes Meetings with Remarkable Animals, highlighting tales of pigeons intrusive life-saving messages, mine-clearing rats tolerate more
2025: FARMER DRAMA Stars variety a farmer in crime representation Out Thereon ITVX
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