CROWDS gather on the streets of the idyllic fishing village of Port Isaac, in North Cornwall, as the TV film-makers go about their work. They want a glimpse of the star – Martin Clunes.

“It’s great for any actor seeking approval, isn’t it? The fans are so nice, so onside,” he says.

Hardened fans sidle up to ask for an autograph or photograph, Some have travelled from as far as Australia and New Zealand to visit the set of Doc Martin, which returns to ITV1 tonight.

Since its debut back in 2003, this gentle show about the pompous Doc Martin (Clunes), who settles in the sleepy village of Port Wenn, has garnered an international fan base.

“The Americans are coming to see us now, too. Just this year, it’s really picked up a following,” says Clunes.

“They’re not just holidaymakers who’ve stumbled across us, they’re actively seeking us out. There are websites that tell them when we’re out and about filming. They’re terribly friendly and quite easy to manipulate.

“When you film on a street in London, I personally feel quite vulnerable and exposed.

People drive by and beep their horns or yell at you to mess the shot up, but here it has always felt like the most natural thing in the world.”

Now in its fifth series, the show picks up after the birth of the Doc’s baby.

“It’s uncomfortable because they’d [Doc Martin and on-off partner Louisa] split up. But the baby throws them together and a lot of things are up in the air and unspoken; it’s all a bit of a pickle,” he explains.

Though his character is brilliantly abrasive, socially inept and a little arrogant, Clunes reveals that “surgeons have told me he’s too nice”.

“It’s always hard to get it right when you’ve got a main protagonist who does not like anybody and nobody likes him.

But I think there’s something quite liberated about his lack of social grace. It frees him up to say what he wants and get to the point, which few of us do.”

Given he’s the least likely father figure, it should prove entertaining to see how the Doc takes to fatherhood.

“He’s terribly Victorian and old-fashioned.

He believes any progressive thought is American and to be frowned upon, but in secret they [he and the baby] get on very well and he reads out the medical journey to the baby.”

Ignoring the old showbusiness adage that you should never work with children or animals, Clunes says: “Oh it’s great, we’ve got loads of babies, so the minute one cries, you hand it back and get the next one.”

He clearly loves the location. In fact, he and his wife, Philippa Braithwaite, with whom he runs Buffalo Pictures, the production company behind Doc Martin, actually considered buying the house used in the series as the doctor’s surgery. “Only briefly though,” he stresses.

Instead, they’ve kept their secluded farm in Dorset, to which he returns every weekend during filming.

“When we first bought our house, there was some curiosity and some horror. I’ve been there 15-odd years now, so I’m not a novelty any more. Whether I’ve been accepted or not is not for me to say, though,” he says.

Making Doc Martin is “my favourite type of acting,” he says, “out of town, everything off the lorry, somewhere nice.

There’s a lot of hanging around for an actor, but you could never get bored here.

There’s always something to do or see.”

During the school holidays, his 11-yearold daughter Emily comes to visit the set, but has no desire to follow her dad into acting. “She sees the hours and doesn’t think it would be much fun. She loves singing and has a lovely voice, but wants to be a vet, which we’re trying to encourage,” he says.

That should come in handy considering that, at the last count, the family own 14 horses. “It sounds quite extravagant but I actually bought one down here, so I have something to ride when I get a day off.”