Martin Clunes admits he was dreading having to put his life-saving skills to the test for an episode of the new series of Doc Martin.

Despite having learnt a lot about medical procedures from playing the grumpy Dr Martin Ellingham for the past three years, Martin has never had to resuscitate a patient on screen.

“In this series I had to do my first defibrillation. It was a big day in any TV doctor’s life,” says Martin.

“It was a big and nasty procedure. The defibrillation doesn’t work and the doc has to pound the patient’s chest to save her.

“I was dreading that day, and everyone was tense on set. We used a dummy to substitute for the actress who was the patient when I did the chest compressions because I wanted to be able to really pound. Every doctor says that is the one thing they hate seeing not being done correctly, so I wanted to get it right.

“You need two inches of compression to be effective, which is why ribs get broken all the time. You wouldn’t want me to do that on a real person. I tried, but she minded!

“We have a paramedic on set and our doctor adviser came down from London for the scene. He was very encouraging and was pleased with my performance.

“It was a quite frightening experience, and we were kneeling in a pool of blood as well, which wasn’t very nice.”

There’s heart problems of a totally different kind for the doctor in the new series as his on-off romance with headmistress Louisa Glasson looks set to blossom at last.

“The doc’s romance with Louisa is really going very well in its strange way. They have proper dates that inevitably don’t go to plan.

“Then they have a big date at a classical music concert where a rather nasty friend of Louisa’s is performing.

“Louisa has invited the doctor to the concert and they are like a normal couple going out to an event. It is all going really well, until he lets himself down with a remark which proves to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. She chucks him and storms off, leaving him in pieces.

“It really takes the wind out of his sails and makes him behave in a twisted way. He becomes absent minded, and is not concentrating on what he is doing.

“Then they are thrown together at the end when he has to treat Louisa’s best friend, who is staying at her house and is very ill.

“It dawns on him as he leaves the house that he could be walking out of the house for the last time, and it could be the end for them and nothing is going to be the same again, and he asks her to marry him.

“I am pleased that my character has got his act together and asked Louisa to marry him.

“He is still as grumpy as ever but he is also still as in love with Louisa as he ever was, if not more. He does kind of change a bit. He is who he is, at the end of the day. But he does dare to come out of his shell with her.”

After years of waiting for Martin to pop the question, Louisa can hardly believe he has proposed to her. But she doesn’t hesitate to accept his proposal, and immediately begins to plan their wedding.