Poldark

[hagios]

MASTERPIECE
{SUNDAYS ON PBS}

Set in the picturesque, seaside county of Cornwall, Poldark follows a rough-and-ready hero with nothing to lose as he tries to restore his community, fortune, and family name.

It’s 1783, and Britain is in a crisis of falling wages, rising goods prices, and civil unrest. Dashing, adventurous scoundrel Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner) returns from fighting overseas to find his world dramatically changed: his family estate is in ruins, his father has died, and his sweetheart is engaged to another.

Though he is encouraged to pack up and make a new life elsewhere, the stubborn Poldark resolves to change his destiny and restore his lost fortune. As he assembles a motley band of friends and servants, Ross finds a partner equally headstrong to share the twists and turns of his new life. But changing the status quo of this country hamlet creates powerful enemies, and soon Ross is caught between what he knows to be right, and what society dictates.

Poldark is based on the first two novels in Winston Graham’s sweeping 18th-century saga. The first television adaptation of the series aired on MASTERPIECE in the 1970s, and now a new generation can delight in the exploits of a romantic hero like no other.

The series stars Aidan Turner (Poldark), known for roles in The Hobbit trilogy, and the UK series Being Human. Eleanor Tomlinson, recently seen in MASTERPIECE’s Death Comes to Pemberley, co-stars as the fiery redhead Demelza.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/...es/poldark-s1/

[Show spoiler]Preview: 6 Things to Look Forward To

Whether your first exposure to Poldark is star Aidan Turner (he of the dark tousled curls and the chiseled jaw), or the beloved original 1970s version, you're sure to get hooked on the new reboot of Poldark, premiering Sunday, June 21 on MASTERPIECE on PBS! For newbies and original series devotees alike, check out these six things to look forward to in Poldark.



1. Aidan Turner

The Irish veteran of the UK series Being Human and The Hobbit films, quips, "I’ve done the holy trinity. I’ve played a vampire and a werewolf and a dwarf….And as much fun as it is—it was great!—it was nice to play a human being." As the all-too human Ross Poldark, he gallops along the mighty cliffs of Cornwall, broods over lost love, and works the fields with gusto, smoldering all the while!



2. Love Triangle

There's Elizabeth, Poldark's ravishing and refined childhood sweetheart. There's Demelza, the fiercely independent street urchin turned kitchen maid. And at the darkly passionate center of the triangle is Ross Poldark, torn between the two.



3. Dramatic locations

Cornwall's wild, wind-swept moors and dizzying clifftops, backlit by the sparkling sea, rival star Aidan Turner (Ross Poldark) in their breathtaking, romantic ruggedness!



4. Villains

Pompous, wig-bearing baddies count money and plot hostile takeovers. They're self-made, they're wiley..they're the Warleggans.



5. Pride and Prejudice

Our hero, Ross Poldark, is principled non-conformist who could be undone by his Darcy-ish pride. Our heroine, Demelza, is the victim of prejudice. (And, in a delightfully different P&P connection, Eleanor Tomlinson, the actress who portrays Demelza, recently starred as Georgiana in Death Comes to Pemberley on MASTERPIECE.)



6. What Viewers Loved in the Original Series

…Including the original Ross Poldark, Robin Ellis, as Reverend Halse! Ellis, star of the 1975-1977 series, was so famous that at the series' height, he was mobbed, Beatles-style, by crazed fans. In addition to their original swashbuckling, swoon-worthy heartthrob, the Poldark reboot shares source material (the novels of Winston Graham); dramatic Cornish landscapes; and all the thrills and romance of the 1970s classic

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/...-look-forward/