British TV dramedy 'Doc Martin' renewed for two more seasons

LONDON, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- The Cornwall-set dramedy Doc Martin -- starring Martin Clunes and Caroline Catz -- has been renewed for an additional two seasons.

"We are very excited to be able to confirm that we will be making two more seasons of Doc Martin. Season 8 will shoot and be broadcast in 2017 [in the United Kingdom,] then we'll be taking our usual year off to plan, write and tune the scripts," Buffalo Pictures producers Philippa Braithwaite and Mark Crowdy said in a joint statement. "Season 9 will shoot and be broadcast in 2019 [in the United Kingdom] and air around the world in 2020. It's then our intention to bring the series to an end. We've had the most incredible time making this show that we love and care deeply for, and feel very privileged. We'd like to thank our audience around the world for coming on this great journey with us and really hope you enjoy these next two seasons and think they're the best yet -- it's certainly what we're aiming for!"

Syndicator American Public Television said it expects Season 8 to reach public-television audiences in the United States at the end of 2017 or early 2018. Season 9 will likely debut at the end of 2019 or early 2020.

The show follows a brilliant, but insensitive, London surgeon who returns to the tiny town where he spent his boyhood holidays to practice medicine after he develops an irrational, debilitating fear of blood. Catz plays his wife Louisa.

Previous seasons of the series are now available for streaming via Acorn TV.