UPDATE March 25, 2014: See article, titled “Martin Clunes Hints about ‘Doc Martin’ Season 7 Story Line,” on the front page of this blog (karengilleland.wordpress.com).
When Ian McNeice and Joe Absolom visited Boston to “pitch” the show to American Public Television, the two were interviewed by Current.Org. The interview includes a lot of interesting information, including these statistics.
“Stateside, the original British series is going gangbusters for local public TV stations . . . And during its fifth season in APT distribution, in 2012-13, its reach had grown to stations broadcasting to nearly 85 percent of U.S. television households.”
The article calls it a “global phenomenon,” stating that with just over 700 plays on 30 stations in 2007, the show has blossomed to more than 11,000 airings in 2010-11 and shot to more than 21,000 plays on some 330 stations last season.
Here is the November 17 interview with Ian and Joe as they pitched the show to APT:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfq_a8xaxGM
"Doc Martin" with Martin Clunes Fan 