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Don’t be sad - Poldark will return! Here’s the writer on what you can expect in series two

2015-04-23T08:30:36+00:00

I don't think any of us in the production team were prepared for the way Poldark has continued to generate a buzz across social media and in the press throughout its entire run. It's always great to be talked about but this has gone beyond what any of us ever imagined!

The fact that Poldark has been mentioned in connection with anything and everything from the general election...

This external content is available at its source: Why am I only finding out now there's a petition to have #Poldark run in the General election?

to manscaping...

This external content is available at its source: Ah, yes. Monday seems made for media coverage on manscaping. 'Where has #Poldark's chest hair gone?'

hair products...

This external content is available at its source: Tbh I would marry Poldark purely for the hair products, it's doing his curls wonders

toy figures...

This external content is available at its source: A topless Playmobil version of Rodd Poldark bathing in the sea

and scything as a fitness regime...

This external content is available at its source: #Poldark starts a fitness craze. Is 'scything' the next big workout craze?

Poldark seems to be everywhere.

The cast and characters seem to have captured the public's imagination - and we've no complaints about that!

In series two, several exciting new key characters will appear, and there will continue to be turmoil and strife in Ross' business ventures and plenty of challenges to his and Demelza's domestic and family harmony. Across the series there will be catastrophic losses, significant triumphs, and some major shocks.

Ross will again be involved in several activities which work up a sweat. Scything - an integral part of 18th century farming - may be one of them!

The good news is you don’t have to imagine what might happen to Ross and Demelza between now and series two: Winston Graham is very clear about what happens in the interim.

Since series two is based on his books Jeremy Poldark and Warleggan, the key narrative incidents and characters will be similar to those covered in these works.

So those of you who want to be surprised can just tune in for episode one of series two when it returns, and those who can't wait just need to read the beginning of the third book, Jeremy Poldark, and all will be revealed!

Debbie Horsfield is writer and executive producer of Poldark for BBC One.

The final episode of Poldark, series one will be broadcast on Sunday 26 April at 9pm on BBC One and will be available in BBC iPlayer for 30 days after broadcast on TV.

More on Poldark

Aidan Turner: Five things I learned filming Poldark
Are you Team Elizabeth or Demelza?
Read Debbie Horsfield's blog on BBC Writersroom

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

We ask Aidan Turner: Are you Team Elizabeth or Team Demelza?

2015-03-11T12:25:35+00:00

It's no wonder Ross Poldark looks so brooding! Returning to Cornwall after fighting in the American Revolutionary War, he found his father dead, his estate in ruins and his sweetheart Elizabeth engaged to his cousin Francis. Heartbroken but not defeated, he takes on the urchin Demelza as a kitchen maid and finds himself torn between two completely different women.

So we asked Aidan Turner the question Ross must be asking himself all the time...

The lady and the urchin, played by Heida Reed and Eleanor Tomlinson

Who are you rooting for, Elizabeth or Demelza?

Aidan Turner: That’s an interesting question! I do feel sorry for Elizabeth, I think she gets a hard deal. She makes an interesting point in the first episode when she tells Ross: “I thought you were dead.” Everybody did. He was away for three years and at that time if you were away for that long and you didn’t write they just assumed you were never going to come back.

Elizabeth, and women at that time, had a very small window to court and find a husband. If they didn’t do it in those crucial years when they were debuting, and they were paraded around various ballrooms like chattel by their mothers or whatever, if they didn’t take those crucial years to find a husband then that was it.

They were then isolated like the character of Verity in the story and could find it hard to find anyone. At that stage they’re sort of annexed from the social events and it would be quite difficult. Elizabeth saw that with Verity and saw that she risked going down that same route. So although Ross is confused and feels betrayed by it and he’s really hurt I think I understand that marrying Francis was what she needed to do.

She gets a hard deal for not being faithful or loyal but would you have done it? I wouldn’t have. Three years is a long time, especially at that time nowadays you can just send a tweet.

But equally Demelza is the underdog, she’s the outsider and the people’s hero and she’s funny and her growth, her journey... I’m trying to work it out! I don’t know, Demelza’s character arc is so huge; from the urchin girl... Oh god, that’s really tough. I don’t know what team I’m on!

Aidan Turner plays Ross Poldark in Poldark.

Read another BBC TV blog by Aidan Turner: Five things Poldark taught me

Poldark continues on Sunday, 15 March at 9pm on BBC One. Catch up on the series from the beginning on BBC iPlayer.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

Five things Poldark taught me

2015-03-03T14:59:50+00:00

1. Filming can be really intensive

Being a lead in something means to fully commit yourself - just get up every morning and that’s all you’re doing all day, for six months and your head’s in it all the time. I quite like that. It’s nice to feel exhausted by it and I think I work better in those situations. You just don’t have time to think about anything else and you’re away from friends and family. It’s like a travelling circus! You’re on location and in new spots every day: at the side of a cliff one day or we’ve transformed Corsham into a market place another day and all you have is your cast and your crew.

2. You have to make sure you’re fit for the job

It’s prime time and BBC. I have a responsibility to show up every day, to try to not get sick and not get injured. I mean the very first scene on my very first day I was galloping on a horse – amazing but if I come off that horse and slip a disc, or if I roll an ankle playing football that’s going to shut down production. Are they going to hang on for me or are they going to recast? I think they’re going to recast! So I hold on for dear life and grab the reins!

3. And you end up learning about the most unlikely subjects

After filming Poldark, I now know quite a lot about mining - maybe too much about tin mines, actually. Obviously it’s a huge part of what my character, Ross does and a huge part of the show. It’s not boring, I was really into it. I bought a lot of books on Cornish tin mining. I went down a couple just to see what they were like, just to get that feeling and it’s exactly what you’d think: completely claustrophobic and dark and dangerous and everything. They smell like wet granite, it almost smells cold. And then of course when the lights go out it’s just the darkest dark you’ll ever see. Back in the day that happened a lot, you’d have drips and flames go out and that’s it: you’re finding your way through darkness. So dangerous and so scary.

4. You might bond with co-stars you never expected

Every scene was great with the horse - he was my best friend. Seamus the Irish horse, I just loved his personality. When you get to know an animal like that you feel like you’re both doing the scene together because he’s delivering so much too. Horses are so sensitive,they just feel an energy from the crew so they know when we’re getting close to shooting. He would start getting a bit skittish and moving around because he just wants to go on his route again and do it. I mean 10 seconds before action is called is insane, you really have to try and distract him because he just knows. Then all you have to do is tap and he takes off and launches himself into it.

5. The right location makes all the difference

We had a private beach in St Ives… St Just. It’s stunning and we got the best summer ever! It felt like the South of France or Italy. There’s a great scene with the late Warren Clarke who played Charles Poldark where we’re just looking out at the sea. It just grounds you because it feels like the biggest set on the planet! These amazing, epic, terrifying cliffs everywhere and it feels real. It doesn’t feel like you’re acting in a costume drama, it just feels like everything is justified. The odd time you might think “this is a weird shot” but on location it just makes sense and brings a clarity to the whole production. It’s stunning, it really, really is.

Aidan Turner plays Ross Poldark in Poldark.

Poldark starts on Sunday, 8 March at 9pm on BBC One and BBC One HD.

More on Poldark

The Telegraph: It was time to play a normal human being
The Express: Robin Ellis returns to Poldark
BBC Writersroom: Q&A with Poldark screenwriter Debbie Horsfield

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.