“I had no traction in the fake snow!” Martin Clunes reveals he was in an “accident” with a car while filming Doc Martin’s Christmas special
Martin Clunes has revealed he was involved in a car accident on set while filming the final series of Doc Martin.
The 61-year-old actor, who portrays lead character Doctor Martin Ellingham on the series, opened up about how he suffered the accident after spinning the car in artificial snow.
Martin, who appeared on BBC’s The One Show, said he had “very little” to share about the final episode, which will air on Christmas Day.
Mishap: Martin Clunes has revealed he was involved in a car accident on set while filming Doc Martin
McFly star Harry Judd asked Martin what fans could expect from the finale, and the actor said it was like a “Marvel movie”.
Discussing how he “accidentally crashed,” Martin added, “There’s a grumpy doctor, there’s a lot of snow and there’s a real turkey! It’s like a Marvel movie! There’s a stunt, I accidentally crashed a car.’
Harry asked, ‘Are you using that in the episode?’
Martin said: “Well I should pull up to the camera, they leave the camera and I should get out of that shot.
Accident: The 61-year-old actor, who portrays lead character Doctor Martin Ellingham on the series, opened up about how he suffered the accident after spinning the car in artificial snow
“And then the next shot they cut to was a stuntman driving into a tree, but I turned around, I had no traction in the artificial snow.”
The actor added that he was “gilded into the tree” but insisted he wasn’t hurt, saying he “kind of saw it coming and it’s fine.”
Co-host Alex Jones then said: “This episode is everything you could wish for in a Christmas Day finale, but of course Doc Martin comes along and ruins the Christmas spirit.”
In the Christmas special, the grumpy doctor closes the grotto because he fears Santa has something contagious that is upsetting his son James (Elliott Blake) and the other children.
It was revealed earlier this year that Doc Martin would be ending after 18 years, with the final series consisting of eight episodes and the Christmas special.
Martin said: “There’s a stunt, I accidentally get into a car accident. I should drive towards the camera, they leave the camera and I should get out of this shot.
In announcing the end of the show in late 2020, Martin and producer Philippa Braithwaite stated that they had decided to end Doc Martin now to give fans a chance to celebrate the show and its titular character with one final series.
They said: “We loved doing nine series of Doc Martin. When we launched the series in 2004, we never imagined how much our loyal viewers would love the grumpy Doc.
“The series has adoring fans both in the UK and around the world and we’re thrilled that Doc Martin has topped ratings every time.
“However, after 16 years, we feel it is time to say goodbye to Portwenn.
“We will be filming the tenth and final series in 2021 and are very much looking forward to returning to Cornwall to film it.”
Interview: The actor added that he was “gilded into the tree” but insisted he wasn’t hurt, saying he “kind of saw it coming and everything is fine”.