Martin Clunes – Extraordinary Entertainer
As an enthusiastic admirer of Mr. Martin Clunes, a frequent effort is made to acquire as much of his published work as possible. For someone living on another continent with different media requirements, current plans include buying a low-cost region free portable DVD player so all your UK released DVDs will work wherever you go.
What’s so good about Martin Clunes? Assuming you’re not familiar with his work, here are some very basic details about him.
First of all, he is a British comedic actor and entertainer that many people around the world really enjoy watching, especially women; although there may be many men who are also fans. The characters he portrays tend to resonate with a part of us that sympathizes with men who are somewhat socially inept but have other redeeming qualities. For example, Martin is very handsome in the Nordic style; quite tall, muscular, and has a wonderful voice both rich and deep. So, he’s physically attractive to a wide gender and age demographic, which is pretty redeeming and works well in the scripts.
Inside Doc Martin lives a sad child who does not know how to give or receive love; that is what has been revealed in the plot and the performance of Martin Clunes as the main character, Dr. Martin Ellingham. There’s a need to his portrayal of Doc Martin that’s as endearing as it is problematic. That’s why Louisa Glasson’s character is drawn to him but repelled. Louisa is in the daily company of young children at her job as a teacher. She doesn’t want an adult relationship with the boy, but she is physically attracted to Martin. That is a small snippet of the many well written conflicts within the story.
It was the lonely and cranky Doc Martin who first introduced me to Martin Clunes. ‘Doc Martin’ is a British television series centered on the lives of some interesting ‘local’ characters living in the fictional town of Portwenn and filmed in the real town of Port Isaac in Cornwall, UK. Doc Martin wants to be respected as a general practitioner, but is unaware of the normal social interactions that other people expect every day, and is used to a higher level of existence in busy London.
The Doc Martin character is a laconic loner who seems willing to keep any unmet need in a neat box on a well-dusted shelf. But in daily life with the people of Portwenn, tranquility is illusory. It’s a fun show to watch and listen to the language, see the beauty of the surroundings, and enjoy the various twists and turns of the plot.
After enjoying the ‘Doc Martin’ series, my natural curiosity led me to seek more information about Martin Clunes. It was fascinating to discover his work history in various British television series since his first guest star role as Lon in a four part episode of ‘Doctor Who’ called ‘Snakedance’ in 1983. You can find it online.
Mr Clunes has worked on a number of successful British television comedy series, including his most famous role in the UK in the original version of ‘Men Behave Badly’, where he played Gary Strang. The show ran from 1992 to 1999 and made Martin Clunes a household name in Britain. Gary Strang is your typical irresponsible, non-committal thirty-something man who isn’t particularly interested in relationships so much as experimenting with biology, chemistry, beer, and BS.
Martin currently stars as Reggie Perrin in a remake of the 1970 British TV sitcom series, ‘The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.’ The first season has been released on DVD in the UK and the second season will shoot in 2010. But fear not Doc Martin fans: a fifth season of ‘Doc Martin’ is scheduled to film in 2011.
In addition to his two successful British television comedy series, Martin Clunes has hosted some wonderful documentary programs that have tremendous mass appeal. ‘Martin Clunes: Islands of Great Britain’ is a three part series where Martin travels to various memorable islands in various parts of the United Kingdom. Each episode is less than an hour long, but captures the pace of life in three geographical areas of the British Isles. In part one, Martin visits the northernmost islands of Great Britain, then travels west in part two and concludes with the southern isles in part three.
‘Martin Clunes: A Man and His Dogs’ is a two-part documentary that studies man’s relationship with dogs. Martin travels the world to find the origins of today’s many dog breeds while learning a lot about his own dogs.
Known for his love of animals, Martin has completed a third documentary on man’s relationship with horses. In ‘Horsepower’, Martin travels the world to explore the story of man with horses. Horse riding is a participatory sport for the entire Clunes family and an area of growing interest for Martin as the new president of the Longines Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead.
Martin Clunes is also a movie star! You may remember him as Richard Burbage in 1998 Academy Award-winning Shakespeare in Love; Or maybe you saw him portray Dr. Martin Bamford in the 2000 comedy film ‘Saving Grace.’ He has starred in many TV movies, including 1994’s ‘Staggered’ and 1999’s ‘Hunting Venus’, both of which he also directed. Incidentally, Hunting Venus was the first Buffalo Productions, Ltd. production to have produced the Doc Martin series. Búfalo Producciones, Ltd. is owned by Martín and his wife.
Other TV movies (most available on DVD) starring Martin Clunes include ‘Neville’s Island’ and ‘Acid House’ filmed in 1998, ‘Sex ‘n’ Death’ filmed in 1999, ‘Lorna Doone’ and ‘Dirty Tricks’ released in 2000, ‘Global Heresy’, ‘A is for Acid’ and ‘Goodbye, Mr. Chips’ were in 2002, ‘The Booze Cruise’ and two ‘Doc Martin’ movies with Dr. Martin Bamford in 2003, ‘Beauty ‘ in 2004, ‘Losing It’ in 2006 and ‘The Man Who Lost His Mind’ in 2007.
In addition to all other accomplishments, Martin is a published author. In June 2009, he published ‘A Dog’s Life’ about his passion for dogs and his global journey to learn about the ancestors of today’s dogs. He also writes about solving problems with his own three dogs, Mary, Arthur, and Tina. One review stated, “Better known as an actor, he’s also an excellent storyteller, and at times the book is laugh-out-loud fun.”
“With his trademark warmth and humor, Martin describes how he met a worldwide cast of canine characters and how humans have shaped the world of dogs as we know it today. One thing is for sure: you’ll never see Mary, Tina and Arthur in the form in the same way again”. He gave another comment on ‘A Dog’s Life’.
Yes, it’s that “trademark warmth and humor” that has made Martin Clunes the unforgettable, powerful and often moving performer he is today. He has touched many of us in some way, be it through his acting, his documentary appearances, television appearances or his charity work with The Born Free Foundation, Weldmar Hospicecare Trust and his own Buckham Fair. .
We may never meet the man in person, but he feels there’s a lot of his own personal Martin style of comedy in everything he does. There is a warm and gentle character that he carries with him that stands out in the genuine smiles and laughs from him. There are moments in the film where he is himself that make him seem like a normal guy and even approachable. He comes across as a happily married and quite private family man and that’s more appealing than anything else about him.
It’s worth noting that Martin Clunes’ growing body of work is not who he is, but the result of his impressive work ethic, talent, planning, and passionate creative abilities combined with the empowering partnership of his wife. We only see glimpses of the real Martin Clunes in his work. Martin and his family are working behind the scenes to build a wonderful life by combining his talents, abilities and interests. We benefit from the results achieved by Buffalo Productions, Ltd and Philippa Braithwaite in partnership with Martin Clunes. Kudos to them for many great accomplishments on and off camera.
Not just another pretty face, Martin Clunes is an example of what a man can become and achieve over time in a life well lived, with a wife well loved. He is still a young man with many questions to answer and many roles to play. And that’s at least the beginning of what’s great about Martin Clunes.
