'Doc Martin's Final Season To Premiere on PBS Passport in November

When the character of "Doc Martin" was initially introduced as Dr. Martin Bamford in the 2000 film Saving Grace, it is highly doubtful that actor Martin Clunes thought he'd be playing the character nearly a quarter century on, let alone that his role would have become a beloved one on both sides of the pond. However, all good things must come to an end, and in 2022, Clunes hung up the stethoscope and cranky pants and retired the series Doc Martin with the series' tenth season, having been on and off the air nearly two decades since 2004.

It always takes a minute for British series to make their way to American TV, but with streaming, that's been upended a bit in the last few years. (Nowadays, Call the Midwife and Doctor Who even have day-and-date broadcasts!) In the case of Doc Martin, the rights had been snapped up by AMC Network's Acorn TV, a streaming service with a small but fiercely loyal audience. (It's famous among streaming services as having the least amount of monthly turnover in the business.) However, there's a key factor here: Small. That means, for many Doc Martin fans, that final season might as well never have made it to American shores.

Luckily, PBS has always been a second-run receiver of Doc Martin episodes, and that hasn't changed, even with streaming. Now, it just comes to PBS Passport as well as PBS stations. Doc Martin Season 10, the show's last, will debut on PBS Passport on November 1, 2023.