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Q: I was delighted to see "Doc Martin" come back for another season. Will we have to wait as long for the next one?

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Author: 
Adam Thomlison / TV Media

Technically no, but that's not the good news it might sound like. In fact, there will be no waiting for an 11th season of "Doc Martin," because there won't be one.

The season that premiered in the fall on Acorn TV (and later on Vision in Canada), the show's 10th round, will in fact be its last.

Now you might be thinking this is just another fake-out — "Doc Martin" has, of course, always aired erratically — sometimes going dormant for years between seasons, as you point out — but that's not the case this time.

The final-season trailer states it pretty bluntly: "Doc Martin is back for one final appointment."

Martin Clunes ("Shakespeare in Love," 1998) has been playing the cantankerous doctor with a fear of blood since 2004, and so perhaps it's not surprising that, after so long in the role, he's the one who called time on it, along with his wife, Philippa Braithwaite, who produces the show.

"The series has avid fans both in the U.K. and throughout the world and we are thrilled that 'Doc Martin' has topped the ratings every time," Clunes and Braithwaite said in a joint statement. "However ... we now feel that the time has come to say goodbye to Portwenn."

Polly Hill, head of drama for the show's British network, ITV, confirmed that the decision was theirs: "I am pleased that we are making Series 10 and sad this will be the last, but respect their decision to bring it to a close."

 

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