Martin Clunes' life off-screen including secret to long-lasting marriage to famous wife

Martin's wife Philippa Braithwaite is also a big name in the world of entertainment. A talented TV producer, Philippa has worked on many shows her husband has starred in, including Doc Martin, Manhunt and Out There. She even won the Producer of the Year award at the 1998 British Independent Film Awards and has been nominated for a BAFTA for her executive producing role on ITV drama, Manhunt. 

The couple have been married since 1997 and share a daughter named Emily, who is now 25 and studying to be an equine vet. 

Recalling the special moment he proposed, Martin revealed that he missed his wife so much while away on a work trip in Hawaii that he got down on one knee after she flew out to meet him. 

"I was doing a holiday programme [...]  And they'd agreed to fly Philippa out, and I'd done San Francisco and Hawaii on the same trip and she came out at the end of the Hawaii shoot," he told the Irish News. "It was the longest we'd been apart, and I missed her so much that I proposed, while she was really jet-lagged and in such a strange place."

Sharing the secret to their long-lasting relationship, Martin said humour is key. "At the end of the day, I suppose, everybody should marry my wife. But too late, I already did," he told Saga Magazine in 2022. "And I'm not letting her go. 

"I can't totally analyse why it works, although I suppose some things are obvious; we make each other laugh, for example, and I know I have to make my wife laugh to keep her because her dad was very funny, too, and she's funny and so is our daughter, Emily."

The actor went on to say that after over two decades, he's still just as thrilled to see her when she walks into a room. "It helps that we've always worked together, from the very beginning when we met, and we're partners in our company, Buffalo, and yet we do totally different things," he explained. "I call her 'The Boss', but, actually, it's a very equal partnership. She'll be in her office and I’ll be on set or in the studio and then, at some point in the day, she'll turn up and, hand on heart, I still feel totally thrilled to see her, like it's the first time. It never stops."

Martin and his family live on a farm near Beaminster in Dorset. The farm, which they bought back in 2007, now holds seven horses, a handful of cattle, five dogs, two cats, and nine hens. 

It was Martin's daughter Emily who inspired the move as her doting parents had always wanted a field to house a pony for her.  

"We always wanted a field for a pony for our daughter Emily," said the 63-year-old during a recent appearance on This Morning. "And one never came up and suddenly, 130 acres came up which wasn't quite what we were looking for but if you don't do something you'll have a grass problem. It will all go wild so we started with loads of sheep," he explained.

It would seem that acting talent runs in the Clunes family as Martin's dad, Alec Clunes was an actor and theatrical manager. 

He appeared in a number of films and shows during the 1950s, including US drama The Buccaneers and several war movies, including Saloon Bar, Sailors Three and Let George Do It!.

He also appeared in the 1955 adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard III with Laurence Olivier, as well as the 1956 crime film Tiger in the Smoke.

Martin was just eight years old when his father died of lung cancer. Opening up about the passing of his dad, who he recalled as "the strong and silent type", Martin told The Times that he was told not to cry about it. "The expectation was, 'Oh, come on, let's not cry. Let's be grown-up.' How grown-up can you be at eight?" he said.