Doc Martin’s glorious coastal scenery will be missed by viewers and cast alike after the final series ends tomorrow night – but not by star Joe Absolom.
Because Joe, 43, moved to Cornwall 14 years ago while filming the show and has no intention of leaving now.
The actor, who has played plumber-turned-restaurateur Al Large in the ITV comedy-drama series since it started 18 years ago, took the decision to quit his native London when his eldest daughter was five.
Joe, who is dad to Lyla, 16, Casper, 11 and Daisy, nine, says: "I remember sitting on the beach in Cornwall with [Lyla] on a day off from filming.
"She was asking where the tide had gone. I made up some sort of hare-brained father’s explanation.
"We drove back to London the next day and unfortunately a teenager had just been murdered outside our local supermarket.
"There were lots of floral tributes and my daughter said, 'what does RIP mean?' Within hours we’d gone from talking about where the tide goes to what RIP means."
Joe, who spent three years in EastEnders as Matthew Rose, adds: "I began to think that maybe there was more to life than city life."
The final straw came in 2013 when the family’s South London home was burgled by a gang of teenagers while Joe was away filming in Romania and his wife Liz was at home with their two eldest children.
He says: "She told me and I said, 'We live in London, it happens'. When I was a kid people would come into our house and nick things. It didn’t bother me, but Liz was really affected by it."
The next year they moved to Cornwall, where Doc Martin was filmed in Port Isaac.
Joe says: "I’m not saying London is awful and that there’s no crime in Cornwall, but the idea of going to the beach and jumping in the sea whenever I want, or going for a run along the coast path, really appealed." And now he does not want to leave.
He says: "My children’s lives are in Cornwall now. Daisy was born here – she’s got clotted cream in the blood."
The last episode of Doc Martin airs tomorrow night, ahead of a Christmas special farewell, and Joe admits it was emotional filming the ending with star Martin Clunes.
"We made a list of all the things we wanted to do together as a cast," he says. "We agreed we’d jump in the sea and have a pint of a very strong local cider, Rattler. Me and Jess Ransom, who plays my wife Morwenna, were filming by the sea.
"It was a lovely way to finish – a sunny day, in a rock pool, by a cliff. Martin was there with his wife and it was emotional, because we realised it was the last summer that we’d all be together in Cornwall.
"For days afterwards I couldn’t think about it because I’d get sad."
Joe is now playing prisoner Andy Dufresne in a stage version of 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption.
He tells of his opening night terror, saying: "I fumbled my lines, because I had this little devil on my shoulder saying, 'You don’t know this bit'.
"I kept thinking, 'Why have I done this?' We start the play naked with just our belongings to hide our modesty; nerves do a strange thing to the body!"
Joe had to learn 120 pages of script – a contrast to Doc Martin. He says: "That’s really easy, I usually stand at the back and say, 'The fun run starts at 11, Doc!' or, 'Oh, come on, Doc!'"
In fact, modest Joe has began acting since he was nine – first appearing in a peanut butter ad and the video for Paul McCartney song Birthday.
He went on to roles in police drama The Bill before in 1997 he landed the EastEnders role. But he insists: "Nothing in my life really changed. I didn’t get seduced by the bright lights."
The Shawshank Redemption is now on in Guildford, Surrey, followed by Salford and Birmingham. Book at kenwright.com
