Martin Clunes is full of apologies. We were supposed to be chatting a good few hours ago but he went horse riding on his 130-acre working farm in Dorset – among his cows, sheep and chickens as well as his sizeable equine contingent – and he lost all track of time
'It's just been the most glorious morning and I wanted to make the most of it,' he explains
We had hoped to catch him still in his jodhpurs. He laughs. 'I don't usually wear them
The thing is, I'm here on my own at the moment. This isn't often the case but my wife and 19-year-old daughter are up in London for a few days and when that happens – when I'm on my own with the animals – well, I tend to turn a bit feral
Sleeping with the dogs in their baskets… that kind of thing.' He's joking, of course
At least we think he is. Then again, it's not that much of a stretch to imagine him cuddled up with his four pooches – Jim the Jack Russell; Heidi May and Bob Jackson, his mother-and-son duo of Cocker Spaniels; and Penelope Jennifer the Jackahuahua, a Jack Russell and Chihuahua cross
But that's Martin and why he's loved and revered as a national treasure. And he seems to be enjoying having some alone time
His wife, Philippa Braithwaite, also produces his TV programmes, and while working and living with the other half isn't everyone's cup of tea, for Martin it's his very favourite brew
'We met while working together, it's the way it's always been for us and it's absolutely fine,' he explains
'Yes, it's nice spending a bit of time on the farm on my own, but all I know is that I'm happiest when Philippa is by my side
We usually cook together,' explains Martin. 'When we have a roast on a Sunday, for instance, I'm the one in charge of the meat and the gravy!' When Martin's busy being an actor or making animal documentaries and travelogues, he has help running the farm, but he is hands-on whenever possible
'I can go for weeks without leaving the farm,' he says. 'I like being connected to the seasons in a real way
Making hay, worrying about the grass, watching the leaves come and go, caring for the animals
I am really happy here and I never get lonely. When I'm not out with the horses, dogs or stock what I really like to do is to cut the grass, I absolutely love it and I'm a complete big head about my prowess
It takes a couple of hours to cut it all, I like to think I'm sculpting with grass rather than merely mowing
I love where I live. There's mud everywhere. You pick up your clothes in the morning and say, "That's dirty, that'll do
" No point putting on anything clean. And I'm happy as a pig in the proverbial.' Is Philippa also by his side doing the farming chores? 'She doesn't really work on the farm apart from seeing to the horses, which are her passion
' And it seems that passion has rubbed off on their daughter, Emily. Instead of following Mum and Dad into the TV industry, she has chosen a career with its roots firmly embedded in the countryside
'She's studiously avoided everything we do,' Martin laughs. 'In September she starts her Equine Science degree with her horse Dennis in tow
They are both going on to further education together – how dreamy is that?' When Martin's not perfecting his lawn, or herding cows, he's doing a great job of cornering the market when it comes to playing grumpy, rude types on screen
Think Doc Martin , the intolerant Cornish GP he's been playing for years. And now there's a grumpy, rude driving instructor called Warren in the soon-to-be-aired BBC One sitcom of the same name (see our box out, below)
In real life, though, Martin's not in the slightest bit grumpy. 'Maybe playing these kind of characters is like therapy for me,' he ponders
'It's certainly liberating and maybe gets most of my anger out. I don't know about Warren yet, but people really respond to Doc Martin – even though he's not very likeable
It's not for me to say why he is so popular, but people love him – loads of them write to me to tell me
Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that we'd all secretly like to have a bossy, posh man in a suit telling us what to do and trying to fix everything
' Martin admits he is also incredibly humbled to hear from many people who say Doc Martin has helped them through tough periods of their lives
'I hear time and time again that people find watching the show extremely comforting when they're going through really challenging life experiences, such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy
The wife of a friend of mine, who has sadly died, apparently found that watching Doc Martin was the only thing that could raise her mood and make her laugh towards the end
' Martin, Philippa and the rest of the cast and crew are heading down to Cornwall next month to film series nine of the comedy drama
He previously said the show would end with the eighth series, which finished in November 2017
But it seems he's had a change of heart. 'I'm un-ending it,' he laughs. 'We probably plan to do one every other year now
I love playing the grumpy Doc and I like all the people. There's a kind of love affair among the whole cast and crew
We're so tight and so fond of each other. The area around Port Isaac – which doubles for the fictional town of Port Wenn in the show – becomes our home from home and it's glorious, especially during the spring and summer when we film
I've said it many times, but I'll never get a better job!' In The Driving Seat. 'I play Warren,' Martin tells us
'He's an opportunist, extremely rude driving instructor from London who's moved up to Preston to live with his northern girlfriend, Anne, and her two teenage sons
There's a lot of north-south rivalry and, from Warren, a kind of northern racism
The whole premise doesn't hang on that, but it's really humorous and has never really been done before
Warren himself is an awful bloke but very, very funny. I hope everyone else thinks so, or it will be very embarrassing! I didn't think I'd want to do another sitcom but then I was sent the script
I couldn't stop laughing and liked it so much I didn't want anyone else to play him
He's a nightmare, but very relatable – maybe there's a bit of him in all of us. I wish I had his confidence and certainty that he's right all the time
' How do you spend your Sunday? Couch potato or out and about? Out and about
I like being outside when it's daylight. Hungover or fresh as a daisy? That depends on what I did on the Saturday night – usually it's supper at home with a few drinks
Throughout January I was fresh as a daisy because I was doing a Dry Jan. Normally I'd say it's somewhere in-between
Up with the lark or lazy lie-in? I don't do lie-ins – not even on a Sunday. I can't remember the last time I had one
There's always too much to do. I have to start feeding the animals first thing in the morning
Everyone on the farm gets the weekend off so we have to get the horses in, get the horses out… I also generally try and do all the farm maintenance on Saturdays and Sundays
It keeps me in touch with everything. Pub lunch or home-cooked roast? It might be either
Depends on how we feel. We have a couple of favourite pubs doing fantastic food close to where we live
Sunday night TV or night at the cinema? TV! We love watching Sunday night television at our house
I don't binge watch, though. I can't watch two dramas back-to-back. Binge watching for me means watching one episode one night and the next one the night after
Philippa is on the BAFTA jury, so we're lucky enough to watch all the latest films at home
We have a room full of beanbags with a drop-down screen, and our dogs come to watch with us
That's more fun than going into Yeovil to the multiplex. Watch Martin in Islands Of America on ITV, 9pm, and in Warren, BBC1, Monday 25 February, 9pm Read More Notebook magazine celebrity interviews
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