Vanity parade as Doc Martin dons a wig
WHAT a makeover for Doc Martin star Martin Clunes.
He looks a world away from the grumpy Cornwall-based GP as he assumes the role of an MP in Vanity Fair.
He revealed his surprise at being asked to portray Sir Pitt Crawley in the ITV series, which starts a week tomorrow, and said he assumed someone else had withdrawn from the show.
The 56-year-old star said he was delighted to appear in the period drama, an adaptation of the 1848 novel by William Makepeace Thackeray. It has been created by the production company behind Poldark and Victoria and features a famous ball scene on the eve of the battle of Waterloo. Clunes said: “My initial reaction was, ‘I wonder who let them down?’ Then just deep joy.
“Becky Sharp (played by Olivia Cooke) is probably the best character female or male in British literature. She’s phenomenal. I love her.
“Vanity Fair is brilliant because it isn’t tied to a dated plot, like how well will someone marry. It’s much more interesting than that.”
Suranne Jones, 39, also shows off a new look as snobbish headmistress Miss Pinkerton, who heads an academy for “young ladies”. She honours those who have money and status and detests young Becky, who aims to claw her way out of poverty and scale the heights of English society.
Frances de la Tour and Michael Palin, who plays Thackeray, are among the cast. Executive producer Damien Timmer said: “Vanity Fair is a massive rollercoaster of a story and we’ve assembled a cast of real range to do it justice, from fast-rising stars like Johnny Flynn and Tom Bateman to stage legends like Simon Russell Beale.”
Vanity Fair begins at 9pm on Sunday, September 2, on ITV.