DOC Martin fans have been left devastated as the beginning of the end of the cosy drama began last night.
The Martin Clunes drama, a fixture on ITV for 18 years, aired its last ever series opener.
Martin Clunes returned for his last ever series of Doc Martin last night
Cold Feet’s Fay Ripley appeared as a special guest star
And it was all the more painful for fans who have to say goodbye because the consensus was that it was a cracker.
The show – starting Clunes as the doctor with precious few social skills – is going to play out for the remainder of the year.
There will be an episode every Wednesday then the show will bow out for good with an ITV Christmas special.
Last night we saw Martin battling to get reinstated as a doctor so he could treat patient Abigail, played by Fay Ripley.
Abigail was found asleep in her car, unaware she had myasthenia gravis, sparking the Doc into action.
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One fan wrote: “How can you tell us this must be the end of Doc Martin? In this mad world it’s just made my evening!”
Another added: “So glad #DocMartin is back! It’s just a shame that it’s the last series because I’d love to watch try and raise his daughter.”
A third tweeted: “It’s very 
to see its final series but I’ll watch repeat over and over again.”
Another hailed the episode, posting: “Omg Doc Martin was amazing as ever!!! So glad it is back. Love Martin Clunes.”
Countless others spoke at their confusion that the show is coming to an end when it is on such good form.
Martin Clunes has explained that the show feared having to go over the same material after 80 episodes.
Speaking on Lorraine, he said: “All good things have to come to an end.
“And I’m sure there are lots of people who aren’t fans of the show who think it’s terribly repetitive anyway, but we’re at huge pains not to repeat ourselves.
“I just think we’ve sort of done everything. I mean, it would be so great to just sort of carry on, but I don’t think we can keep it as good.”
More recently, he added: “I mean it is sad, but it’s not really. It’s the right time.
“I think everyone will probably appreciate it is time to finish. But it feels like a really good time to finish.”
The show has been a fixture on ITV for 18 years now
