Martin Clunes has confirmed that Doc Martin will return for a fifth series.
The 48-year-old actor, who stars as grumpy Dr Martin Bamford in the ITV comedy drama, announced that a new run will air in 2011.
Of his hopes for his character's development, Clunes told PA: "I'd like to see him being a father - I think he would be awful and there might be some fun there. I think we're going to experiment with them cohabiting with an infant in tow, which is going to be disastrous.
"I like to see him fail and be punished. If things are going too well, I'll walk him into a door frame or something just to punish him. We hoped people would like it but it's been gratifyingly successful. It's all been a lovely surprise."
However, Clunes was pessimistic about a possible sixth series, saying: "We've talked about a sixth series - they talk quite firmly about it but we'll see. It'd be awful if it just got bad because we're flogging it out and churning things, but we do it every other year because it takes so long to get written so we can keep it fresh."
The long-running show, which aired its fourth series last autumn, continues to be ITV1's highest-rated drama. The former Men Behaving Badly star added of the success: "We hoped people would like it but it's been gratifyingly successful. It's all been a lovely surprise."