ARTICLE AD BOX
Doc Martin star Martin Clunes has announced the death of the show’s much-loved dog, Buddy.
The 63-year-old actor starred as Doctor Martin Ellingham in the popular ITV comedy-drama series, which ran for ten series between 2004 and 2022. Clunes’ character is portrayed as a gradually softening, but irritable man, who does not like dogs.
In the fourth series, which aired in 2009, he was joined by animal actor and Rough Jack Russell Terrier, Dodger, who plays Buddy. Dodger appeared in ten series before he was diagnosed with dementia in 2019 and retired from the show.
Clunes, an animal-lover who owns a farm in Dorset with six horses, two cats, nine hens, and three cows, shared the news in an interview on The One Show while promoting his forthcoming book, Meetings with Remarkable Animals.
“Your character was always irritated by his dog, but you had quite a good way of getting around that,” commented host Roman Kemp.
Clunes replied: “Oh Dodger, oh yeah! He was fantastic, that boy. Sadly, no longer with us.”
The actor commented on his character’s affectionately troublesome dynamic with his pet, saying: “That was the joke, I thought ‘Who hates dogs?’, [so] there’s someone who hates dogs, but they all love him, and they just hang out with him.”
Doctor Ellingham shouts at Buddy out of frustration throughout the show, and Clunes shared his special technique of not alarming the real animal during scenes.
“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 explained.
“Me and Sonia Turner, his trainer, and Dodger, we just had such fun on that, you know? Pushing the limits of what we could do with him, and he was fabulous.”
Some fan theories suggested that Buddy’s growing relationship with Clunes’ character mirrors his developing connection with Louisa Glasson (Caroline Catz). For the final series, he was replaced by a dog of the same breed, named Taffy.
Announcing Dodger’s death in 2023, dog trainer Turner revealed to fans: “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.”
English (US) ·