OPERATION BLOCK MARTIN!
THE cobbled alleyways and whitewashed cottages which line the picturesque harbour of Port Isaac are reassuringly familiar to viewers of television drama Doc Martin.
Perched on the cliff of Roscarrock Hill, overlooking the fishing boats which every day land their Atlantic catch of lobster and crabs, is the stone house used as the home and surgery of the disgruntled Dr Ellingham, played by Martin Clunes.
Further around the secluded bay is the Georgian pub, The Golden Lion, where – both on and off screen – the cast gather for a welcome pint with a view of the sea.
It is thanks to the enduring popularity of the ITV show, which is currently in its eighth series, that hordes of tourists now make their pilgrimage to the quaint Cornish village which stands in for Portwenn, queuing to have their pictures taken outside Dr Ellingham’s surgery.
Yet for all tourists and the Doc Martin memorabilia cramming the gift shops, not everyone is happy.
Indeed, frustrated by the constant upheaval, blocked roads and traffic problems, there have been angry arguments and complaints about the film-makers, with one tussle between townsfolk and crew said to have been close to blows.
And now comes an extraordinary admission from the producer of the series: that the locals have mounted a campaign of open insurrection, with vans parked close to the set during filming, some tooting horns or revving up loudly as they pull away in order to deliberately disrupt the filming – payback for supposedly arrogant and inconsiderate behaviour by the 30-strong crew.
In an interview with genteel magazine The Lady, Philippa Braithwaite, who is also Martin Clunes’s wife and co-owns the production company, Buffalo Pictures, with him, confessed that ‘ wherever you film there are going to be a few people who don’t want the crew there and we have issues sometimes with a few sections of the community.
‘Generally, I think they’re welcoming and friendly and there’s a lot of income generated from it. But I don’t think we’re ever going to please everybody.’
Certainly, she has her work cut out when it comes to placating the likes of 73-year-old Eileen Jordan, one of the most outspoken critics of the production crew, as The Mail on Sunday found when we visited last week.
Mrs Jordan, whose family have been in Port Isaac for seven generations, said: ‘Their behaviour in the past has been unforgivable at times.
‘They blocked the doorway to my gift shop on countless occasions, sometimes for as long as 20 minutes so customers could not get in or out.
‘ One morning I woke up to find Martin Clunes and a crew on my front patio. I went down and gave them what for and told them they could at least have sought permission to use it.’
Mrs Jordan, who has lived in the main street for 44 years, claimed the crew had hurled her rubbish bags against her door and tried to dig up railings which protected children from the busy road.
She said the council sent an official to investigate after she complained. She said the official ‘had to go all through the village turning round the road signs which they had twisted to face away from the cameras’. Perhaps most seriously, Mrs Jordan claimed one of the crew had dressed up in a uniform similar to a policeman’s in order to stop traffic during filming. ‘I asked to see his warrant card and told him it was a criminal offence to impersonate an officer. He blushed, looked sheepish and promised not to do it again.’
Disruption to the traffic is the most persistent complaint. Tempers flared once again this spring, with reports of roads being closed without authority for filming to take place, leaving a fleet of angry delivery drivers unable to unload supplies.
Andy Penny, a local builder, said he had been blocked from trying to drive his van through the village one night by a ‘big floodlight’ in the road which the crew refused to move.
Port Isaac has always been a fixture on the tourist trail. It is situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty on the North Cornish coast
‘Port Isaac has been totally ruined by Doc Martin’
near upmarket Padstow, treasured not just for its quaint streets, but the magnificent natural amphitheatre of its harbour.
But the success of Doc Martin, which began in 2004, has led to an additional influx of visitors – and heightened tensions between crew and locals.
While hoteliers, restaurateurs and shopkeepers were making a tidy profit, and trendy boutiques and smart galleries muscled in, those born and brought up in the area found themselves priced out of the market.
It is a problem felt in other tourist traps in the county, too, such as St Ives, Rock and Porthleven.
Solicitor Dugald Sproull, who was born and bred in the town, has reluctantly become something of a mouthpiece for this discontent, claiming that, while some people in the town make good money from the series, most locals miss out.
‘ Most of the crew are really friendly and co-operative but some of them are full of their own importance and think that everybody should be in awe of them,’ he explained.
‘I am sorry to say the village has been totally ruined by Doc Martin. It seems everyone who holidays in Cornwall now comes on a day trip to Port Isaac to gaze at the film set. There are daily coaches from St Ives and Newquay.
‘The pasty and ice-cream shops as well as the car park make money but, generally, the day visitors bring little profit and have really made the old village a no-go area at the height of the season.
‘The sleepy fishing village that used to be is no more and, although every time the film crew come they say this is going to be the last time, I understand arrangements are well in hand for them to come back again.’
Yet there is no doubting that Port Isaac has benefited in some ways – and not just thanks to the tourists. Thanks partly to Mr Sproull’s campaigning, Buffalo Pictures made a £50,000 payment to the village. The Mail on Sunday understands a second similar amount has been paid since then after profits from the series rose.
Janet Townsend is a trustee of the Doc Martin Community Fund, which receives regular royalties depending on the success of the series. ‘ I know there are some people who have been delayed by filming who need to get through in a hurry and have got angry,’ she said.
‘But I think the worst of that is in the past. I’d like to think it’s behind us now anyway.
‘The fund, and by association the programme, production company and crew, does so much good. Their money pays for the primary school pupils to get a bus to Wadebridge every week to go swimming.
‘And we have had a lift installed at the village hall so the elderly can get in to regular meetings because the steps up to it are very steep and one Christmas someone couldn’t make it in to the festive dinner.
‘It has also paid for the nursery to have all sorts of bits and pieces and it has allowed the school to set up a breakfast and after- school club which helps those parents who have to work and have struggled with childcare.
‘The twinkling lights around the harbour which go up every December and make Port Isaac look simply beautiful and add to the atmosphere come from Doc Martin money too.
‘There is absolutely no doubt in my mind they want to put something back. Sadly, for some people, that is still not enough. You will always get someone who would rather moan.’
Parish council chair David Raynor is sympathetic with both sides of the argument. He said: ‘Yes, some people do get a bit annoyed when they can’t get down the road or carry on as normal, on both sides.
‘ The crew seem to think they have a right to stop traffic, which of course they don’t. Sometimes it has been made plain to them in no uncertain terms that they can’t.
‘ On the other hand, there are people who cannot wait a few minutes for a take of a particular scene to finish. It’s not that much to ask, is it? Business is booming but there are residents who don’t think they see any benefit.’
Filming takes place every other year when the crew and cast take over a raft of holiday cottages between March and July.
Mr Raynor added: ‘There can be this feeling that they are taking over. There can be as many as 30 crew, I would think, and quite a large cast. They eat out, they’re in the pubs and some people welcome that. Some don’t.’
Even builder Mr Penny conceded that ‘on the whole’, they were ‘great company’ despite the disruption.
He added: ‘ Martin Clunes is delightful and I haven’t heard a single bad word about him. So different to his on-screen persona. They are all out and about, eating, drinking and making merry and I like that and am happy to join in.’
It seems that, this year at least, things have improved a little.
A spokesman for ITV said: ‘There have been a number of isolated incidents in the past but things are better now.
‘Certainly the economy there has benefited since we began filming in 2004. We have a loyal audience all over the world and we make sure funds are put back in to the local area.’
Even the irascible Mrs Jordan seems willing to hold her peace for the moment.
‘Speak as you find,’ she said. ‘This time they have been as good as gold as far as I’m concerned. Perhaps they have finally learned their lesson.’
Whatever the outcome, Doc Martin’s team seem to have been given a taste of their own medicine.
Crew told ‘in no uncertain terms’ not to stop traffic