Martin Clunes paid tribute to a dear co-star of his who appeared with him in the hit ITV comedy Doc Martin, during a chat on The One Show
Martin Clunes has announced the death of his beloved Doc Martin co-star.
The 63-year-old actor and ITV star starred in Doc Martin for 10 series from 2004 to 2022. He played Dr Martin Ellingham, who quits as a surgeon and moves to Cornwall, for 18 years.
He paid tribute to his “fantastic” fluffy colleague Dodger during an interview, after working with the dog for a decade on the ITV show. Dodger played Buddy, the canine companion of Martin’s character Dr Ellingham.
Dodger first appeared in the fourth series of the medical comedy-drama, which was broadcast in 2009. He’s understood to have remained on the show until the ninth series in 2019.
Dodger was forced to retire as he was diagnosed with dementia, and it was announced that he wouldn’t be in the tenth and final series, which aired in 2022.
Martin appeared on BBC’s The One Show on Thursday (May 1) and revealed to hosts Alex Jones and Roman Kemp that Dodger has since died. He paid tribute to the dog – whose trainer announced his death on social media in 2023.
Host Roman said: “Your character was always irritated by his dog but you had quite a good way of getting around that.” Martin replied: “Oh Dodger, oh yeah! He was fantastic that boy. Sadly no longer with us.”
Martin went on to chat about his character, who wasn’t particularly keen on dogs. He said: “That was the joke I thought … ‘Who hates dogs?’ … that someone who hates dogs, but they all love him, and they just hang out with him.”
Speaking about Dodger, he shared: “So I had to yell at him, throw him around, do all sorts of things but I never shouted really at him. I just waved my lips around and added in the shouting later.”
He continued: “Me and Sonia Turner, his trainer, and Dodger, we just had such fun on that, y’know? Pushing the limits of what we could do with him and he was fabulous.”
Sonia announced Dodger’s death in 2023. She later thanked everyone for the condolences that she had received over the news.
She wrote in a post on Instagram: “A huge THANK YOU to everyone who has taken the time to remember Dodger and send their condolences. Tom and I are truly touched and amazed that our little chap had been taken to heart by so many people, both here and abroad. Bless you Dodger.”
Martin had previously confirmed that Dodger had retired, explaining that Buddy had been replaced in the final season of Doc Martin. The actor told Yours in 2022, h: “Dodger who played Buddy is still with us and he’s happy. It’s just that his trainer Sonia decided to retire him because he has doggy dementia.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
