'Doc Martin' star Joe Absolom on why he's staying in Cornwall despite show ending

Doc Martin star Joe Absolom has revealed he will stay in Cornwall despite the show ending, because he doesn't want his children to grow up in the city.

The 43-year-old actor – who made his name as Matthew Rose in EastEnders in the 90s – has starred alongside Martin Clunes in the ITV medical drama set, in the Cornish village of Portwenn, since it started in 2004. The show is about to come to an end after 10 series.

Absolom – who shares Lyla, 16, Casper, 11 and Daisy, nine, with wife Liz – revealed he decided to move to the rural coastal setting permanently after becoming concerned about the impact of inner-city London on his family.

Read more: Doc Martin final season: All you need to know

He told the Mirror: "I remember sitting on the beach in Cornwall with [Lyla] on a day off from filming. She was asking where the tide had gone. I made up some sort of hare-brained father’s explanation.

"We drove back to London the next day and unfortunately a teenager had just been murdered outside our local supermarket.

Watch: Video shows Doc Martin cast and crew completing last ever scenes in Port Isaac

"There were lots of floral tributes and my daughter said, 'What does RIP mean?' Within hours we’d gone from talking about where the tide goes to what RIP means.

"I began to think that maybe there was more to life than city life."

Absolom said the tipping point came in 2013 when the family's London home was burgled while he was away filming in Romania and his wife was at home with their two eldest children.

He said: "She told me and I said, 'We live in London, it happens'. When I was a kid people would come into our house and nick things. It didn’t bother me, but Liz was really affected by it."

Absolom added: "I’m not saying London is awful and that there’s no crime in Cornwall, but the idea of going to the beach and jumping in the sea whenever I want, or going for a run along the coast path, really appealed.

"My children’s lives are in Cornwall now. Daisy was born here – she’s got clotted cream in the blood."

The actor has played plumber-turned-restaurateur Al Large in Doc Martin for 18 years.

The last episode of season 10 is about to air on ITV, but fans can also look forward to a Christmas special this December.

Read more: Martin Clunes tells Doc Martin fans to 'mind your own business' after show axe

Speaking about the end of the show Clunes told Loose Women: "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."