Residents of the Cornish tourist town of Port Isaac celebrate the end of ITV’s Doc Martin series
Residents of a small Cornish village celebrate after ITV announced it would be scrapping a popular TV show – Doc Martin.
The drama about a general practitioner in Cornwall, starring Martin Clunes, 62, is coming to an end after 18 years.
The TV show explores the life of GP Martin Ellingham, who started working as a doctor in the fictional Cornish seaside village of Portwenn after his aversion to blood ended his career as a surgeon in London.
Those who live in the real village of Port Isaac, where the show is filmed, however, are excited to see the back of the program, hoping it will bring quieter streets and less traffic.
ITV’s Doc Martin will end after more than 18 years. The popular show was filmed in the Cornish village of Port Isaac. While many are disappointed to see the program leaving screens, Cornwall residents are happy to see the back of it
After filming the final episode in July, Clunes (right) said he would miss ‘the people of Cornwall, and Port Isaac in particular’ who were ‘always so helpful’ when the crew made the series
Since the series debuted in 2004, the show has attracted an average audience of eight million people and has aired in 18 countries, drawing hundreds of tourists to the village each week.
The village, whose house prices have quadrupled in the past 20 years, is so crowded during the summer months that some residents even avoid going to its center.
“We met people from all over the world,” said John Trayhurn, a retired teacher. The temperature.
“They start at 9.15am and we get our first load at 9.45am.”
Although he greets dozens of tourists outside his home every day, even providing bowls of water for thirsty dogs wandering through the village, Mr Trayhurn avidly avoids the center of Port Issac during the winter months. hottest summer.
He added: “I haven’t been down since March. I stay at the top and drive inland for a walk.
Real estate prices in Port Isaac have quadrupled in the past 20 years and it gets so crowded during the summer months that some locals even avoid going to its center.
Businesses in the region have also had to adapt to the way they operate due to the large number of tourists.
A fishmonger told The Times that he is now offering free delivery to his customers to save them having to travel to crowded parts of the village, but also to save on expensive parking.
Popular sea shanty band Fisherman’s Friends, which started playing in Port Isaac Harbor in 1991, had to end their shows in 2019 as thousands showed up to see them.
The singing group, which has starred in two feature films, wrote on its webpage: ‘It was no longer safe or considerate for the people of Port Isaac to have over 4,000 people show up to hear us sing.
“So it was with heavy hearts that we had to stop.
Popular sea shanty band Fisherman’s Friends (pictured), which started playing in Port Isaac Harbor in 1991, had to end their shows in 2019 as thousands showed up to see them
One of the band’s singers, Jeremy Brown, said while he welcomes tourists to the Cornish village, he doesn’t want loads of people showing up.
He told The Times: “We have 70 people marching past, rushing to ‘surgery,'” he said. “They take a picture and go back up again.
“It’s not good for business.”
Since the series debuted in 2004, the show has amassed an average audience of eight million people and aired in 18 countries, drawing hundreds of tourists to the village each week.
Tourism is now the main industry operating in Port Isaac with only two fishing boats remaining, as many locals have been driven from this popular location by soaring property prices.
The village is now full of more than Airbnb’s despite having a population as small as 721. Over the past year, properties in Port Isaac had an overall average price of £794,038 according to online property portal Rightmove.
Earlier this year, the iconic cottage billed as Doc Martin’s GP home and surgery went on the market for £1.25million.
The Grade II listed building, called ‘Fern Cottage’, overlooks the village harbor and has been used as a holiday rental for over £200 a night when not in use for filming.
The TV show explores the life of GP Martin Ellingham, who started working as a doctor in the fictional Cornish seaside village of Portwenn after his aversion to blood ended his career as a surgeon in London.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Clunes said that while the show could easily continue due to its skyrocketing ratings, he doesn’t think it would be as good.
He said: “It would be great to continue, but I don’t think we could keep it that good.”
“It’s tempting to keep going because it’s fantastic work, but we want to keep the quality high.
“At the end of series nine, we thought we had one more series left just to keep it fresh. Ten felt like a good time to end it, and we were lucky enough to be given a special Christmas too, which allows us to end the series in a very nice way.
While filming the final episodes in July, Clunes said he would miss “the people of Cornwall, and Port Isaac in particular” who were “always so helpful” when the crew made the series.
When announcing the end of the show at the end of 2020, Martin and producer Philippa Braithwaite explained that they had decided to end Doc Martin now to allow fans to celebrate the show and its main character with a last series.
Doc Martin’s latest series begins at 9 p.m. Wednesday on ITV.
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