Martin Clunes’ epic ITV return revealed – and gritty drama is worlds away from Doc Martin
DOC Martin star Martin Clunes is set to make an epic return to ITV with a new series Out There.
This gritty crime drama is worlds away from Martin Clunes’ popular medical comedy-drama, Doc Martin, which ran from 2004 to 2022.
Out There is a six-part drama set in the British countryside that stars Martin, 61, as a widowed farmer whose livelihood is threatened by county lines drug dealing.
Set in the British countryside is this new six-part drama, Out There, which stars Martin as a farmer confronted with dark forces seeping into his rural community.
Commenting on the series, Martin teased: “Out There couldn’t be more different from Doc Martin.”
“It’s pretty dark, but definitely a story worth telling,” he added.
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Martin’s character, Nathan Williams, runs a farm which has been in his family for generations, but his work has lost all meaning since the death of his wife Sabine two years earlier. He is also a single parent to teenager Johnny, played by Louis Ashbourne Serkis.
With the county lines drug dealing invading the surrounding countryside, Nathan must accept that his idyllic rural life is gone and that his son, who’s been swept up in it, is in grave peril.
Per the show’s official synopsis, “Nathan is uniquely placed and possesses enough pent-up energy to take on the gangs that threaten to engulf his son.”
As a result, Nathan “embarks on a personal journey” that takes him out of his everyday routine and ends up doing whatever it takes to protect his family and his home.
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“Martin Clunes is wonderful as Nathan, in a drama full of surprises, as he tries to navigate the best way to save his son, in a world he doesn’t understand,” commented ITV’s Head of Drama Polly Hill.
Martin also shared that he is “very happy” to be reunited with the team behind his 2019 BAFTA-nominated ITV drama Manhunt — writer Ed Whitmore and director Marc Evans.
Ed, whose previous credits include Silent Witness and The Walking Dead, was excited about getting stuck into this series.
He said: “The fundamental premise of Out There – a widowed farmer who discovers that his son has fallen foul of county lines – immediately spoke to me as a story I wanted to tell.”
Ed continued: “County lines is a particularly vicious and ruthless wave of drug dealing that uses fear and violence to coerce, often vulnerable, young people into working as runners and dealers. It has become a serious and rapidly increasing problem across the whole of the UK, so it felt like an important and timely story to tell.”
Welsh-born director Marc added that was thrilled to film the series in his home country. “We are able to explore beautiful and rarely seen areas around the Black Mountains and to use local talent for our cast and crew,” he said.
Alongside Martin and Louis, the cast includes Mark Lewis Jones as Caleb Williams, Natalia Kostrzewa as Eva, Carly-Sophia Davies as Sadie and Gerran Howell as Rhys.
Doc Martin producers Phillipa Braithwaite and Evie Bergson-Korn are also on board.
A release date hasn’t been announced for the series yet, but Out There will premiere on ITV1 and be available to stream on ITVX.