Having finally hung up his stethoscope in 2022 after nearly two decades of healing ailments on the Cornish coast as Doc Martin, Martin Clunes hasn’t strayed far for his follow-up role. Still on ITV, he has hopped across the Bristol Channel to rural Wales (although his accent may have taken a few diversions along the way).
In Out There, instead of a countryside doctor, Clunes is now a widowed farmer, Nathan Williams, facing down the many threats to modern agricultural life. Farms around his are being bought up by people with no intention of continuing to farm (one is being turned into a gaudy funfair) and developers are circling as debts build up. There’s also a group of local environmental activists protesting animal testing who seem unlikely to become farming allies any time soon.
And while real-life farmers might be angry about inheritance tax changes, the bigger issue of succession for Nathan may be the disinterest of his son Johnny (Louis Ashbourne Serkis, son of Lorraine Ashbourne and Andy Serkis, no less).
Johnny is a typical 15-year-old, absorbed in video games, flaking out at school and making bad calls because of someone he fancies. In this case, it’s agreeing to hold on to an extremely suspicious-looking package for his dodgy mate Rhys.
It is a rare accusation to be levelled at an ITV Sunday night drama that it may be too subtle, but Out There warrants such a critique. It is extremely slow-moving, dwelling over beautiful languid shots of golden light breaking over the hills and valleys and Clunes working hard on the farm.
Based on the first episode, the series is about the justified anguish many farmers are feeling over their precarious livelihood and dwindling finances – the climactic plot of the opener is the truly tragic (and sensitively handled) suicide of Nathan’s elderly neighbour, unable to see a way out of the mounting pressures.
But according to the show’s publicity, it is Johnny’s shifty pal and incriminating parcel that will prove to be the main thrust of a story about the creeping danger of county lines drug gangs, something that is not made clear here.
For example, the first episode heavily features Nathan’s paranoia over drones that he keeps spotting hovering over his land, which I initially took to be related to the greedy potential developers but apparently seem more likely to be connected to the drug gangs.
Severance season two is better than everything else on TV
Read MoreThis is an excellent idea for a Sunday night drama – how refreshing for it not to be a murder mystery – and Out There strikes a gritty tone that might surprise Doc Martin fans expecting a cosier watch.
Clunes is (accent aside) convincing as Nathan, a kind but firm father and largely a sensible man harbouring unshakeable values and valid concerns that could lead him to reckless behaviour, whether it is taking out an ill-advised loan to buy his neighbour’s now-vacant farm or perhaps something related to the rifle he carries everywhere. Ashbourne Serkis is also impressive as a teenager teetering on the verge of terrible decisions, and the father-son relationship between him and Clunes is tender and believable.
But the show’s beginning does not do nearly enough to establish its purported central premise, which sounds genuinely exciting and potentially crucial for drawing attention to a problem that it is all too easy for much of the country to ignore.
If county lines is indeed to be at the show’s core, it needs to be bedded in early on to convince viewers to come back. As it is, though a perfectly fine episode of television, Out There just doesn’t do enough to stand out from the pack.
‘Out There’ airs on ITV1 at 9pm on 19 January
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Martin Clunes’ Out There might surprise Doc Martin fans )
Also on site :
- Apparent car explosion rocks Palm Springs, damages fertility clinic
- Top 10 Summer 2025 Nail Trends, According to Celebrity Manicurists
- Werenoi dead: Rapper dies aged 31 just hours before gig after being rushed to hospital as tributes pour in