IT'S been a long time coming, but fans of Doc Martin will finally see the wedding they've been waiting for.
After an aborted attempt to head up the aisle in season three, Dr Martin Ellingham (Martin Clunes) will marry on-of girlfriend and mother of his son, Louisa Glasson (Caroline Catz), as the sixth season opens.
Martin Clunes says writers are simply responding to demand.
"It's what all the people who come up to me in the street say: 'When is the doc getting married?'" smiles Martin, 51, when we meet in a London hotel to chat about the series.
"So we decided that we'd start of with a wedding. That'll be their challenge - to stick at it as man and wife."
The ITV comedy drama about an irascible GP in a remote Cornish hamlet is staggeringly popular, attracting more than nine million viewers.
This eight-parter sees the return of regulars such as Eileen Atkins as Aunt Ruth and John Marquez as PC Joe Penhale, while Annabelle Apsion joins the cast as Jennifer Cardew, the new pharmacist and former fame of restaurateur Bert Large (Ian McNeice).
They were all guests at the wedding, filmed at St Nonna's Church in Altarnun, near Launceston, Cornwall.
"It was absolutely freezing," recalls Martin, who reveals Caroline Catz's wedding dress had thermal layers sewn into it.
The scenes reminded Martin of his own 1997 wedding to Doc Martin producer Philippa Braithwaite, with whom he has a 14-year-old daughter, Emily. Te pair own Buffalo Pictures, which produces the series.
"It did bring back memories, especially seeing a beautiful lady in a nice white dress and lots of flowers. Of course, people have shorter marriages than our on-screen relationship, so I can safely say that neither me nor the doc were unmoved by seeing Caroline appear in the doorway.
"She looked beautiful - she always does - and her dress was gorgeous."
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