October 2025
Actor and author Martin Clunes is quite a familiar face in these parts, as he lives in the countryside near Beaminster with his family and pops into Bridport fairly regularly.
He is appearing at this year’s Bridport Literary Festival talking to Jo Willett about his latest book, the delightful Meetings with Remarkable Animals.
We caught up with Martin in advance of the festival to learn more about the book and to hear how important animals have been to him throughout his life and career.
The Bridge: Your book Meetings with Remarkable Animals is full of examples of animals enriching human lives with their loyalty and intelligence. Which story did you find the most moving?
Martin Clunes: The book is filled with stories that I find extremely moving, but without doubt the one that strikes a chord with me is the letter written by a soldier in the trenches to his family saying goodbye as he dies from his injuries and taking comfort from a similarly wounded pigeon that he holds tight. This sums up the point of the book, which is how we benefit immeasurably from sharing our life with animals. When I was recording the audio book, and we got to the section where I tell of putting our old mare down and showing her corpse to her field mate, my old boy Chester, it took me a few takes to get through it without choking up.
TB: Do you think dogs have a sense of humour? Have you seen it in your own dogs?
MC: I don’t think dogs possess a sense of humour in the way humans do, but they certainly seek out fun wherever they can and I find them incredibly funny. I never go for a walk with my dogs without laughing at something they’re up to.
TB: What do you think children learn from being brought up around animals?
MC: I believe that we are all born with an innate curiosity about the other animals that we share the planet with. Children love them, don’t they – a fact not wasted on Disney and all the rest. If we can capitalise on that interest and teach children the right way to show respect and care for animals, they can learn a great life lesson on how to approach and address the world as a whole.
TB: What advice would you give to a young actor taking a role that involved working with animals?
MC: Listen to the handlers – and if it’s Sonia Turner, who trained Dodger and Taffy for Doc Martin, strap in because you’re going to have one of the best work experiences of your career… I did.
TB: Has living on a farm and keeping livestock changed your attitude to animals? Do you get attached to sheep in anything like the same way as you do to your pets?
MC: Absolutely, living and working with the animals on our farm has completely changed my appreciation and understanding of them. I never got attached to any of the sheep as they’re so annoying. Lambing was undoubtedly the best bit of keeping them (despite the hours) as lambs are lovely, but then they grow into sheep, which I find charmless but tasty.
TB: You live near Beaminster although many of our readers will have seen you out and about in Bridport. What do you most enjoy about the town?
MC: Bridport is the big city to us, coming from sleepy Beaminster. It’s a great source of stuff for us, like bread from Rise, and I never come to town without popping in to say hello to Phil Frampton, the Duke of Bridport. And we had a great time at the Melplash Show this year showing my young horse, Patrick.
Event 44, Saturday 8 November at 6pm at the Electric Palace. Tickets £16 from www.www.bridlit.com
Photo of Martin by Nicky Johnston