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Alexander Martin Clunes OBE (born 28 November 1961) is an English actor, director, and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Martin Ellingham in the ITV comedy-drama series Doc Martin, Gary Strang in the BBC sitcom Men Behaving Badly, and William Shawcross in William and Mary. Clunes has narrated a number of documentaries for ITV, the first of which was Islands of Britain in 2009. He has since presented a number of documentaries centred on animals. He has also voiced Kipper the Dog in the preschool animated series Kipper.
Clunes was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 Birthday Honours for services to drama, charity, and the community in Dorset.
While Clunes was appearing on stage at the Hampstead Theatre, Harry Enfield came to see him; the acquaintanceship developed into a friendship where Clunes played characters in Enfield's sketch shows (most notably one of the Rugby Players). Enfield then recommended Clunes for the role of Gary in the sitcom Men Behaving Badly, written for Enfield by Simon Nye, for which Clunes won a British Academy Television Award for Best Comedy Performance in 1996. He played the part of Group Captain Barker in the two-part TV mini-series Over Here that same year. In 1993, he played Dick Dobson in Demob about a pair of demobilised soldiers who have to adjust to civilian life after entertaining Second World War troops with a raunchy cabaret act.
Since 1994, Clunes has frequently appeared on the BBC One panel show Have I Got News for You as a panelist or a guest presenter. Clunes has since appeared in films and television shows such as An Evening with Gary Lineker, Staggered (starred and directed), Hunting Venus, The Booze Cruise, Saving Grace and Jeeves and Wooster. In 1998, he was featured in Sweet Revenge and appeared as Richard Burbage in the film Shakespeare in Love. Clunes has also acted frequently for the radio, including a guest appearance in the BBC Radio 4 series Baldi.
In 2001, he played Captain Stickles in the BBC adaptation of R. D. Blackmore's Lorna Doone. In 2002, Clunes played serial killer John George Haigh in a Yorkshire TV production A Is for Acid, and took the lead in ITV's production of Goodbye, Mr. Chips. Clunes was one of the eponymous leads in the 2004 ITV comedy-drama William and Mary, with Julie Graham. Clunes had worked with Julie Graham previously on Dirty Tricks (2000). From 2004 until the conclusion in 2022 Clunes played the lead role of Dr Martin Ellingham in the ITV comedy drama series Doc Martin. In August 2007, Clunes starred in the ITV/TVNZ co-production The Man Who Lost His Head.
Clunes is a regular voice-over artist and is the voice of Kipper in the animated children's series Kipper the Dog, and Stripy in Little Robots, another animated children's series. For six years (1993–1999) he also did voice acting for Safeway adverts; he provided the voice of Harry in Safeway's 'When Harry Met Molly' advertising campaign during said years. Clunes appeared in a television dramatisation of Fungus the Bogeyman playing Jessica White's father. Between 2009 and 2010, Clunes starred on BBC One television in the title role of Reggie Perrin, a re-make of classic 1970s British situation comedy The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin. In 2015, Clunes played the role of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the ITV mini-series Arthur & George. In 2018, Clunes played the role of DCI Colin Sutton in the ITV drama Manhunt (first screened in 2019). In 2019, Clunes returned to sitcom with the BBC1 series Warren, saying "It was just so funny, I couldn't turn it down". In 2025, Clunes played the part of a farmer affected by County Lines drug gangs on a Welsh farm in the ITV drama Out There.
In 2011, Clunes voiced the mischievous dog Dudley in the short film Me or the Dog, starring Edward Hogg and directed by Abner Pastoll. Clunes then starred in the 2014 film .
On 31 January 2013, Clunes narrated ITV documentary Secret Life of Dogs. Then, on 2 and 3 June 2014, he narrated two more follow-up documentaries, Secret Life of Cats and Secret Life of Babies. On 4 April 2014 Clunes hosted a one-off ITV documentary called Martin Clunes & A Lion Called Mugie, following the work of conservationists in Kenya as well as tracking the progress of a lion called Mugie. The documentary was filmed over three years. In August 2014 Clunes narrated ITV's three-part documentary series Kids with Cameras: Diary of a Children's Ward which saw Newcastle's children's ward through the eyes of its patients. In April 2015, Clunes narrated Carry on Forever, a three part documentary series for ITV3. It was shown over the Easter weekend.
In May 2015, Clunes presented Man & Beast with Martin Clunes, a two-part factual series for ITV, which looked at the relationship between humans and animals. In 2016, he narrated Rising Damp Forever, a two-part documentary series for ITV3. He also voiced ITV programmes Secrets of Growing Old, Secrets of Growing Up and Britain's Favourite Dogs. Also in 2016, (also known as Islands of Oz) was released as a three-part Australian documentary television series produced by Prospero Productions for the Seven Network that "follows acclaimed actor and comedian Martin Clunes as he explores the most diverse, intriguing, remote and spectacular islands that surround Australia." In 2019, Martin Clunes: Islands of America was released as a four-part documentary where he travelled to remote islands across the United States.
Clunes supports Weldmar Hospicecare Trust in Dorset and is a Patron of Julia's House, the Dorset and Wiltshire children's hospice. Weldmar Hospicecare Trust, weld-hospice.org.uk. Accessed 14 October 2022. The Buckham Fair is organised in support of these charities. In January 2011, Clunes became a patron of Animal Care in Egypt (ACE). Animal Care in Egypt web site
Clunes was a patron of the Born Free Foundation, and had filmed several adverts for the charity. However, he was dropped by the foundation in May 2019, after he was filmed riding an elephant in an episode of the ITV documentary series My Travels with Other Animals. He has also been involved in the Comic Relief charity which funds Survival International and African Initiatives, two organisations working with the Maasai people on indigenous land rights issues. He is a supporter of The Dog Rescue Federation.
Bournemouth University awarded him the honorary degree of Doctor of Arts (D.Arts) on 9 November 2007. He has been president of the British Horse Society since 1 June 2011.
In 2024, Clunes was named as the inaugural Chancellor for Hartpury College.
Film
Clunes played Brock in the 1990 film The Russia House. He played a character called Martin in the 1992 film Carry On Columbus; Richard Burbage in the 1998 film Shakespeare in Love; and Anthony Staxton-Billing in Sweet Revenge the same year. In 2000, Clunes played the role of Dr. Martin Bamford in the film Saving Grace, and the follow-up to that film Doc Martin the following year (2001), he played James Chancellor in Global Heresy.
Documentaries
In 2008, Clunes presented Martin Clunes: A Man and his Dogs, which was aired on 24 August 2008.
In 2009, Clunes presented a three-part ITV series Islands of Britain, which saw him travelling around several of the country's lesser known islands. In 2010 Clunes presented ITV mini-series Horsepower about man's relationship over time with the horse. This was followed by Heavy Horsepower which aired in 2013. "Horsepower With Martin Clunes" ITV web site, 22 August 2010 In January 2011, Clunes presented documentary Martin Clunes: Man to Manta. In June 2012, Clunes presented a documentary series on ITV about the of Madagascar called Martin Clunes: The Lemurs of Madagascar.
Personal life
Clunes's first marriage was to actress Lucy Aston in 1990. They divorced in 1997 and Clunes married future Doc Martin producer Philippa Braithwaite later that year. In 1999, Braithwaite gave birth to their daughter.Chloe Scott-Moncrieff in conversation with… Martin Clunes.(Interview) Geographical, April 2005 by Scott-Moncrieff, Chloe SouthwestTrains.com Clunes and his family live in Beaminster, Dorset, where they run a farm with Draft horse. Around Dorset: Martin Clunes BBC Dorset – 11 October 2004
Charity
A sponsor of numerous charities, Clunes made a short on-line film with Stephen Fry about HIV discrimination for the Terrence Higgins Trust.
Filmography
1982 The White Guard Unknown 1983 Doctor Who Lon Serial: Snakedance 1983–86 No Place Like Home Nigel Crabtree 1986–87 All at No 20 Henry 1990 Never Come Back Luke 1990–94 Harry Enfield's Television Programme Various characters 1991 Jeeves and Wooster Barmy Fotheringay Phipps 1992 Inspector Morse James Balcombe S6 E2 "Happy Families" 1992–98 Men Behaving Badly Gary Strang British Comedy Award for Top TV Comedy Actor (1995)
BAFTA Award for Best Comedy Performance (1996)1993 Demob Dick Dobson Lovejoy Anthony Drury 1994 Under the Hammer Hector Bovington Have I Got News for You Guest presenter/panellist 1995 Moving Story Earl Pangbourne 1996 Over Here RAF Commanding Officer 1996–2000 Roger and the Rottentrolls Narrator 1997–2000 Kipper Kipper (voice) 1998 Touch and Go Nick Wood TV film 1998 Neville's Island Angus TV film 2001 Merlin the Magical Puppy Merlin (voice) 2002 A Is for Acid John Haigh 2003 Doc Martin and the Legend of the Cloutie Martin Bamford 2003–05 William and Mary William Shawcross Little Robots Stripy Robot (voice) 2004–22 Doc Martin Martin Ellingham British Comedy Award for Best TV Comedy Drama (2004) 2006 Losing It Phil MacNaughton TV film 2007 The Man Who Lost His Head Ian Bennett 2008 Martin Clunes: A Man and His Dogs Presenter 2009 Islands of Britain Presenter Three-part series 2009–10 Reggie Perrin Reginald "Reggie" Perrin 2010 Martin Clunes: Horsepower Presenter Mini-series 2011 Martin Clunes: Man to Manta 2012 Martin Clunes: The Lemurs of Madagascar Mini-series A Mother's Son Ben The Town Len Robson Room on the Broom Dog (voice) 2013 Sebastian Grey Martin Clunes: Heavy Horsepower Presenter One-off episode 2013–17 Secret Life of Narrator 2014 Kids with Cameras: Diary of a Children's Ward Three-part series Martin Clunes & A Lion Called Mugie Presenter One-off episode 2015 Arthur & George Arthur Conan Doyle Drama series Carry On Forever Narrator Three-part series Man & Beast with Martin Clunes Presenter Two-part series 2016 Rising Damp Forever Narrator Secrets of Growing Old One-off episode Secrets of Growing Up Britain's Favourite Dogs Les Dawson Forever Two-part series 2017 Presenter Mini-series Morecambe & Wise Forever Narrator Two-part series Tommy Cooper Forever 2018 Vanity Fair Sir Pitt Crawley Drama series 2019–2021 Manhunt DCI Colin Sutton 2019 Martin Clunes: Islands of America Presenter Four part series Warren Warren Thompson Sitcom 2021 Scotland: Escape to the Wilderness Himself Episode one of series 2022 Farewell to Doc Martin One-off special 2022, 2024 Martin Clunes Islands of the Pacific Two series; six episodes 2023 Mel Giedroyc & Martin Clunes Explore Britain by the Book One-off travelogue special with Mel Giedroyc Martin Clunes: A Dog Called Laura One-off documentary 2025 Out There Nathan Neil & Martin’s Bon Voyage Himself Travelogue miniseries with Neil Morrissey Martin Clunes: Islands of the Atlantic Travelogue miniseries 2026 Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards Huw Edwards Two-part factual series
1990 The Russia House Brock Film debut 1992 Carry On Columbus Martin 1993 Dancing Queen Donald Swing Kids Bannführer 1994 Staggered Neil Price Also director 1998 The Acid House Rory Shakespeare in Love Richard Burbage The Revengers' Comedies (a.k.a. Sweet Revenge) Anthony Staxton-Billing 1999 Hunting Venus Simon Delancy TV film Sex n' Death Ben Black 2000 Saving Grace Martin Bamford 2002 Global Heresy James Chancellor Goodbye, Mr. Chips Mr. Chipping 2014 Jeremy Shepherd 2026 Mr. Earnshaw 2026
Books
Awards
Honours
Clunes was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Civil Division on 13 June 2015 in the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours List. He was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant (DL) of the County of Dorset on 19 June 2019.
External links
Categories: 1961 Births, Living People, 20th-century English Male Actors, 21st-century English Male Actors, Actors From The London Borough Of Merton, Best Comedy Performance Bafta Award Winners, Deputy Lieutenants Of Dorset, English Broadcasters, English Male Film Actors, English Male Television Actors, English Male Voice Actors, English Television Personalities, English Television Presenters, Film Directors From London, Male Actors From London, Officers Of The Order Of The British Empire, People Educated At The Arts Educational Schools, People Educated At Royal Russell School, Television Personalities From Surrey
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