Martin Clunes is a man of many talents. Best known for bringing the grumpy yet loveable GP to life in Doc Martin, he has also directed and written books inspired by his lifelong love of animals.
Appearing on Sunday’s episode of Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh, the 64-year-old actor spoke about his new book, Training John and Murray, which follows his experience of welcoming two Jack Russell puppies to his Dorset farm. He lives there with his wife of nearly 30 years, Philippa Braithwaite, and their daughter, Emily.
New additions to the family
Speaking about the puppies, Martin explained how the two brothers brought “a whirlwind of chaos” due to littermate syndrome.
“Littermates can get worse than just bad training; they can develop all kinds of weird psychological habits,” Martin told Alan. “They can get distressed with each other, or they can fight. We had two Spaniels that fought. They had to live apart eventually, they were going to kill each other.”
A touching gesture
The conversation then turned to Jim, Martin’s late Jack Russell, who previously appeared on the show. “He got to 14, which we never got one to 14 before. He had a bit of liver cancer, and it was the best end of a dog we’ve had because I knew he was going to get worse, and I was able to stop him from being sore.”
Martin went on to share the touching tribute he made after Jim was put down.
“I made him a coffin and I filled it with the little tennis balls and it was all good,” said Martin, before adding: “Emily [my daughter] came home and they were lovely vets and they saw him off at home. And whilst it was really sad, I did feel that we got it right that time, because it’s always so horrid.”
Martin’s latest TV project
Alan then asked about Martin’s latest TV role in Channel 5’s Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards, in which he portrays disgraced BBC News presenter Huw Edwards, who pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children in 2024.
When Martin first considered the controversial role, he thought it would be “interesting” and “challenging”.
© Channel 5He continued: “But it would all depend on the script and the director. Before I read the script, I noticed the director was a director I particularly admired, but had never met or worked with.
“So those are the things you look for in choosing a gig, but the script was the story. I didn’t know this caper happened. I don’t look at social media or anything. I didn’t know that that sort of world existed.”
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