Ian McNeice a.k.a. Bert Large confirms series 8 of ‘Doc Martin’ in 2017/2018


While word has not directly come from ITV (who does pay the bills, after all), I’m taking the word of Bert Large to the bank when he says there will be an 8th series of Doc Martin headed our way in 2017. Ian McNeice came through town recently to participate in WhoFestDFW3. You may recall that McNeice has portrayed Winston Churchill in several episodes of Doctor Who over the years.

I had the great good fortune to sit down for a few minutes and interview the absolutely delightful co-star of Doc Martin during his weekend stay in North Texas where he talked Doc Martin, Doctor Who and all things in-between.

Ian McNeice confirms Doc Martin S8

While the entire interview with Ian will be featured on Tellyspotting in the not-too-distant future, one important bit of information is too good to hold on to any longer. On the topic of will there be more Doc Martin or have we seen the last of Dr. Martin Ellingham, McNeice spoke of a very interesting dinner with ITV suits.

We were all invited by ITV to a dinner to thank us for the ratings we had in October and November for series 7. They were the best we have had so far with seven million viewers – on par with Downton Abbey and everybody was thrilled about that. Everybody in the cast was there and then the Head of ITV gets up and says ‘We love Doc Martin and as a vote of confidence we would like to give you one more show’.

Until that moment, however, both Ian and series star, Martin Clunes, had feared that series 7 would be the last. “At the end of the series we had a wrap party with the best drinks and food ever and we were thinking ‘is this goodbye’? We were getting a little nervous. Then we had a cast and crew photograph and we had never had that before, and it was slightly unnerving that the end of this series we wrap things up nicely.

According to Ian, plans are to return to Port Isaac with a Autumn 2017 transmission date on ITV and a January 2018 premiere on public television stations in America. More with Ian McNeice later this week….


In: Drama

  • Phyllis DeLong

    When will the January 2018 be on PBS in America?

  • Soudio

    Just watched Doc Martin 2019 theree 8th season was worth waiting for here in California. I do have a serious question, didn’t Bert actor Ian McNeice have stomach cutting surgery to help him lose weight? And after such surgery being then able to only eat small portions to feel full and lose weight, why is he in 2019 so large… What happened? He looks as he looked plus a bit more Large. Hope he is okay and that he finds exactly what weight loss idea works best for him, everyone is so different physically and mentally. There is something out there for him, I just know it, Garcinia Cambogia worked for me I lost 78lbs taking twice the dosage for 3 months. I do hope and pray Ian finds what works for this creative actor!