As filming for Series 7 of Doc Martin gears up, US fans of the hit Brit comedy-drama (a.k.a. Clunatics) can ease the wait for more of our favorite curmudgeonly GP and quirky Portwenn villagers with a new behind-the-scenes special: Doc Martin’s Portwenn.
If you were to host a British TV-themed trivia night, then watching Doc Martin’s Portwenn would give you lots of fun facts with which to stump players and dazzle them with your insider knowledge of the series.
For example, you could ask, “How many toddlers play Martin and Louisa’s son, James?” And “Which item in Dr. Ellingham’s consultation room is a mystery to many viewers?” Plus “Which building used as a set in Doc Martin is actually someone’s summer home?”
The answers might surprise you. And they are part of the behind-the-scenes fun of Doc Martin’s Portwenn, the new special from American Public Television (APT) that many public TV stations are broadcasting during their upcoming pledge events.
Hosted by APT’s Eric Luskin and David Rubinsohn, and shot on location in Port Isaac, England, during filming of Doc Martin‘s sixth season,
Cast members who offer up tidbits about characters, costumes, and storylines include Martin Clunes (Dr. Martin Ellingham), Caroline Catz (Louisa Glasson), Joe Absolom (Al Large), Ian McNeice (Bert Large), John Marquez (PC Penhale), Jessica Ransom (Morwenna Newcross), and Felix Scott (Mike Pruddy). A few also reveal their experiences of auditioning for the series. (In the words of one, “I nailed it.”)
Doc Martin producer (and wife of Martin Clunes) Philippa Braithwaite, series co-creator and executive producer Mark Crowdy, and director Paul Seed, along with location manager Johnny Bamford, prop manager Dempsey Cook, video editor Nick McPhee, and costume designer Les Lansdown, give fans the inside scoop on what it takes to make the series — from the challenges with wind, water, and seagulls while filming, to the ways in which production is busier and more frantic than shooting a feature-length film.
The special also features interviews with Port Isaac locals. One is John Brown of Port Isaac Tours, whose mini history lesson about the very-old village known to millions of viewers as Portwenn is quite enlightening. (There are more trivia goodies during this segment, too, such as why the streets of Port Isaac are so narrow, what goes into the making of a true Cornish pasty, and what Mrs. Tishell’s pharmacy is in real life.)
Doc Martin’s Portwenn is a delightful watch, and it begins airing on 27 February 2015, on the public TV stations listed below. Check your local listings or contact the station that serves your area for broadcast dates and times.
| STATE | CITY | STATION |
|---|---|---|
| ALASKA | Anchorage, Bethel, Juneau |  |
| ARIZONA | Tucson |  |
| ARKANSAS | Arkadelphia, El Dorado, Fayetteville, Ft. Smith, Jonesboro, Little Rock, Mountain View |  |
| CALIFORNIA | Eureka |  |
| CALIFORNIA | Los Angeles |  |
| CALIFORNIA | Sacramento |  |
| CALIFORNIA | San Francisco, San Jose, Monterey, Salinas, Watsonville |  |
| COLORADO | Colorado Springs, Denver, Durango, Grand Junction, Pueblo, Steamboat Springs |  |
| CONNECTICUT | Fairfield, Hartford, New Haven, Norwich |  |
| FLORIDA | Tampa |  |
| GEORGIA | Albany, Athens, Augusta, Chatsworth, Cochran, Columbus, Dawson, Macon, Pelham, Savannah, Waycross, Wrens |  |
| IDAHO | Boise, Coeur d’Alene, Moscow, Pocatello, Twin Falls |  |
| ILLINOIS | Champaign, Urbana |  |
| ILLINOIS | Chicago |  |
| ILLINOIS | Peoria-Bloomington |  |
| INDIANA | Bloomington |  |
| INDIANA | Indianapolis |  |
| IOWA | Council Bluffs, Davenport (Quad Cities), Des Moines, Fort Dodge, Iowa City, Mason City, Red Oak, Sioux City, Waterloo |  |
| KANSAS | Topeka |  |
| KENTUCKY | Ashland, Bowling Green, Concinnati/Covington, Elizabethtown, Hazard, Lexington, Louisville, Madisonville, Morehead, Murray, Owensboro, Owenton, Paducah, Pikeville, Somerset |  |
| LOUISIANA | Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, Shreveport |  |
| MASSACHUSETTS | Boston |  |
| MICHIGAN | Grand Rapids |  |
| MICHIGAN | Lansing |  |
| MINNESOTA | Minneapolis, St. Paul |  |
| MISSOURI | St. Louis |  |
| MONTANA | Billings, Bozeman, Great Falls, Kalispell, Missoula |  |
| NEVADA | Las Vegas |  |
| NEW HAMPSHIRE | Durham, Hanover, Keene, Littleton |  |
| NEW MEXICO | Albuquerque |  |
| NEW YORK | Buffalo |  |
| NEW YORK | Rochester |  |
| NORTH DAKOTA | Bismarck, Devil’s Lake, Dickinson, Ellendale, Fargo, Minot, Valley City, Williston; Crookston MN |  |
| OHIO | Cleveland |  |
| OHIO | Columbus |  |
| OHIO | Dayton, Portsmouth |  |
| OKLAHOMA | Cheyenne, Eufaula, Oklahoma City, Tulsa |  |
| OREGON | Bend, Corvallis, Eugene, La Grande, Portland |  |
| RHODE ISLAND | Providence |  |
| TEXAS | Dallas |  |
| TEXAS | Lubbock |  |
| WASHINGTON | Kennewick, Pasco, Pullman, Richland |  |
| WEST VIRGINIA | Bluefield-Beckley, Charleston, Clarksburg-Weston, Grandview, Huntington, Morgantown |  |
| WISCONSIN | Green Bay-Appleton, La Crosse-Eau Claire, Madison, Menomonie, Park Falls, Wausau-Rhinelander |  |
| WISCONSIN | Milwaukee |  |
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