We didn’t expect to see Martin Clunes or any of the cast of “Doc Martin” when we went to “Port Wenn” (otherwise known as Port Isaac) and we didn’t see him. They don’t film in winter. Nevertheless, we have been staying so close on our mini-break in Cornwall that it would be a shame not to see the picturesque village where our favourite British comedy series is set. It was a bit colder and more misty than it ever looks on “Doc Martin” but we recognised the place all the same.

Our first port of call was “Doc Martin’s” surgery up the hill. What do you know? A little dog ran out to greet us! Not the usual little dog – the scruffy one that loves the doctor – but a dog attached by a lead to a very plain man, and an ugly gurning woman (obviously the middle-aged bachelor’s mother – well he couldn’t be married!). The man smiled and approached with his mum in tow.

“Do you live here?” I asked.

“Oh no, but we come here quite often,” he began, “and I’m just showing my mum around. She loves ‘Doc Martin’ too. I’ve met all the cast, of course…”

“Are they nice?” I humoured.

“Well, I must say I had to put Martin in his place more than once,” he said.

“Why was that?” I wondered.

“He’s a bit high and mighty, he is, that one,” the plain man tilted his fat chin.

“Oh dear,” I said.

“Yes,” he said, “but Eric (Ian McNeice) is a very nice man. He’ll let you have a photo with him for a pound and he’ll give it to the life boats. They asked me if I’d like to be an extra – you know they clear out the town for filming – but I don’t want to do it, even though I’m a big fan, because you have to be here at seven in the morning. But they pay eighty pounds.”

“Eighty pounds a day…” I weighed it up (thinking of myself – being such a fan) “no, I don’t think I could manage it from Dawlish, even for eighty pounds.”

Before parting I didn’t tell the man and his gurning mother that I used to do “extra” work myself years ago and was in the remake film of “Poldark” in the nineties – I didn’t like him that much.

“Eighty pounds a day…” I pondered.

And Chris and I went to “The Golden Lion” for a coffee and cheesy chips where we were served by a young man with a Welsh accent. The lad was having a try out day working at the pub – it was his first day so he didn’t know that the village was famous for “Doc Martin”.

“Cold, isn’t it?” I asked by means of making conversation (and excusing my runny nose).

“But not as cold as Wales,” he laughed, “nowhere is as cold as Wales.”

“Aren’t you Welsh?” I asked.

“No, I’m not,” he said in his Welsh accent, “but I know it’s the coldest place in the world.”

I hope he gets his job.

Today we went to Poldark territory. Yes, I’m something of a fan.