Blood pressure for Doc Martin; Doc is back after break Curmudgeonly.

M ARTIN Clunes is running through the streets of a sleepy Cornish village carrying a bag of offal dripping with blood, being chased by a pack of local dogs.

No, it's not a scene from a Tarantino-esque British horror film, this is the opening sequence to the fourth series of Doc Martin.

Clunes is back in the title role after a year's break and, after his wedding day disaster, the Doc is trying to turn his life around by getting over his fear of blood.

Cue hilarious bungled efforts to get to grips with the red stuff, as the grumpy GP tries to cure his haemophobia.

Fans of the show were bereft in November 2007, when the Doc and his long-suffering fiance Louisa Glasson (Caroline Catz) both got cold feet as they were about to take their vows.

"There was a huge and quite vocal disappointment about the non-wedding, which I found really touching and quite gratifying that anybody gave a damn that much to be disappointed by it," says Clunes.

The show, made by Clunes' and his producer wife Philippa Braithwaite's production company Buffalo Pictures, was recommissioned for a fourth series by ITV last year, once they were happy with the ratings, meaning there wasn't enough time to shoot a series for 2008.

But the break gave Clunes more time to work on new projects like Reggie Perrin - and spend time with his nine-year-old daughter Emily.

In this series, primary headteacher Louisa has left Portwenn (filmed in the quaint Port Isaac) and the Doc is starting to question whether he should leave too.

"He's heart-broken, gutted and fed up," says Clunes.

"His overriding priority this series is to conquer his blood phobia, so he can get back into surgery in London."

But things never run smoothly for Doc Martin. To complicate matters, he discovers an old-flame from medical school, Dr Edith Montgomery (Lia Williams), is working at the local hospital - and when he questions her diagnosis of one of his patients, sparks fly.

CAPTION(S):

Will true love prevail for Doc Martin (Martin Clunes) and Louisa Glasson (Caroline Catz)