Doc Martin revolt STOPING FILMING IN OUR TOWN!
It’s mutiny in Port Isaac as a gang of fed-up locals threaten to put a stop to filming the show forever!
Annoyed at being at the mercy of “inconsiderate” film crews, a group of angry villagers in Port Isaac, Cornwall, England, have banded together to derail the filming of hit show Doc Martin. The series has a legion of diehard followers around the world – not least in Australia, where actor Martin Clunes, who plays lead character Dr Ellingham, is a household name. But tired of blocked roads and traffic problems, residents from the formerly sleepy village have started a campaign to make life difficult for the 30-strong crew, including parking close to the set during filming and tooting horns or revving loudly to deliberately disrupt scenes. “Their behaviour in the past has been unforgivable at times,” says local resident Eileen Jordan, 73, of the production team that descends on the small town.
“They’ve blocked the doorway to my gift shop on countless occasions, sometimes for as long as 20 minutes – and customers can’t get in or out.”
Eileen claims producers have hurled rubbish bags against her door, dug up railings that were intended to protect children from the busy road and even dressed up in police uniforms, which is illegal, directing the flow of traffic.
Parish council chair David Raynor adds, “The crew seem to think they have a right to stop traffic, which of course they don’t. Sometimes it’s been made plain to them in no uncertain terms that they can’t do that.”
Another growing problem is the influx of tourists coming to visit the show’s set, which solicitor Dugald Sproull, who lives in the town, says brings “little profit”.
“I’m sorry to say the village has been totally ruined by Doc Martin. It seems everyone who holidays in Cornwall now adds on a day trip to Port Isaac to gaze at the film set. There are daily coaches from [nearby large towns] St Ives and Newquay.
“The pasty and ice-cream shops and the car parks make money, but generally those day visits bring little profit and have really made the old village a no-go area for locals at the height of the summer season.”
Still, according to our favourite actor Martin, 55, life couldn’t be peachier. He has told us he had “the best job in telly” and loves being in “the West Country surrounded by dogs and people I like”.
Fingers crossed the townspeople and the TV production team are able to reach some kind of agreement soon, otherwise Dr Ellingham’s fate will be up in the air.