TV star Martin Clunes is back in Out There as a farmer facing off against drug dealers in rural Wales.
Martin Clunes plays Nathan Williams, a man who runs a farm in Wales which has been in his family for generations, caught in a numbing rhythm of work and grief following the death of his wife, Sabine.
With concerns about his teenage son Johnny (Louis Ashbourne Serkis) and reconnecting with his friend and local drug dealer Rhys (Gerran Howell), farmer Nathan finds himself trying to protect his farm and local community from County Lines drug operations.
The new drama airs on ITV 1 at 9pm on Sunday (January 19) with the complete box set available for streaming on ITVX on the same date.
It’s the latest TV show for Clunes after enjoying success as Doctor Martin Ellingham in ITV’s Doc Martin, Gary Strang in Men Behaving Badly and broadened his acting CV with the portrayal of DCI Colin Sutton in the ITV murder drama Manhunt.
Outside of TV, Martin Clunes enjoys a quiet rural life with his TV producer wife and also supports various local charities and causes.
Ahead of the new series Out There, here’s everything you need to know about Martin Clunes.
Alexander Martin Clunes was born in the south London suburb of Wimbledon in 1961. He comes from a show business family, being the son of actor and theatrical manager Alec Clunes.
His first television appearance came in an adaptation of The White Guard for the BBC Play of the Month, and the actor made various appearances on British TV, theatre plays and sketch shows.
Martin’s career stepped up a gear after Harry Enfield recommended him for the role of Gary in the sitcom Men Behaving Badly. He later won a BAFTA for his role as Gary Strang and later appeared in Staggered, Hunting Venus, The Booze Cruise, Saving Grace and Jeeves and Wooster and The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.
His career experienced another high when he took on the role of grumpy Doctor Martin Ellingham in Doc Martin in 2004. Fans fell in love with the character, who moved to the fictional seaside village of Portwenn (Port Isaac, Cornwall, in real life) after developing a fear of blood.
Having been almost ever-present on British TV for three decades, Martin Clunes’ net worth has been estimated at around £11 million by celebritynetworth.com, a website which draws data from public sources, private tips and feedback from celebrity representatives to calculate the net worth of celebrities.
Martin Clunes and his family live in Beaminster in Dorset, where they run a farm. The 130-acre working farm is home to horses, cows, sheep, chickens, dogs and cats.
Martin is widely known in West Dorset as a very approachable and charitable man, who previously hosted Buckham Fair to raise money for local charities.
He also made the headlines in 2021 when he planted six acres of sunflowers in a field to grow and sell them for Julia’s House hospice. Martin Clunes explained he hopes his sunflowers will help raise much-needed funds for the charity, which has seen a number of its fundraising events cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
During an appearance on the One Show, he said: “All the fetes, dog shows and pony shows, they have all been cancelled and they’re big sources of income (for the charity). We used to have a fair on our farm so I just thought we never planted anything on our farm other than grass.
“We never ploughed a field so we thought it was worth a go. I was out there this morning picking them. I am just selling them locally in Bridport, Beaminster and Rampisham.”
The 63-year-old supports Weldmar Hospicecare Trust and is also a patron of Julia’s House, a Children’s Hospice in Dorset and Wiltshire.
In recent years, the TV star turned on the Christmas lights at a family home in Bridport. Hundreds of residents gathered for the event, which was in aid of Julia’s House Children’s Hospice.
“You don’t want to hear children and hospice in the same sentence but I have spent a lot of time in there and it’s one of the nicest places I’ve been”, he said. “The people who work there are special and very unique and they do a wonderful job.
“I think we are lucky to have a special charity in our county and thank you so much for coming to support the work they do as they are struggling as everyone else is at the moment and they need donations. They are the lifeblood.
“I wish you all a very happy Christmas and I will probably switch the lights on now.”
Martin Clunes is currently married to Phillippa Braithwaite, who has worked as a producer on Doc Martin and Out There. The couple also collaborated on Manhunt where Clunes is also the lead and Braithwaite the producer.
They also worked together on the comedy film Staggered and the documentaries Martin Clunes: A Man and His Dogs and Martin Clunes: Islands of Australia. The couple married in 1997 and have a daughter, Emily, who was born in 1999.
Emily Clunes is now in her twenties and pursuing a career in equestrian. She did once star alongside her dad Martin in an episode of Doc Martin. She had a small speaking role in episode eight of Doc Martin series four.
Before marrying his current wife, Clunes was married to actress Lucy Aston from 1990 to 1997. But just three years later, the pair called it quits after the “final straw” hit at a clash over dinner.
Martin later claimed he and Lucy had mended their relationship enough to become “friends”, claiming: “We had a problem enjoying each other but now I can enjoy Lucy again. We are friends and can appreciate each other.” But in 2008 he called their marriage “rotten”.
He told the Mail’s Weekend magazine: “I don’t know if I was searching for anything. Maybe I was. I kind of found it without looking.
“When I met Philippa I was coming out of a rotten marriage, and was very resistant to the idea of getting involved again.”
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