TV: Poldark: Pecs appeal

BBC revives the 1970s drama Poldark with one very important addition: a male lead that has viewers swooning

The BBC, undoubtedly, has the market cornered when it comes to lush, sweeping historical dramas. From its adaptations of the works of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, to the hit period drama Daniel Deronda, the network excels at an apparently winning combination: shows with ballroom dancing, drawing room shenanigans and biting social critique. The latest addition to the BBC’s oeuvre is Poldark, based on a series of historical novels of the same name written by Winston Graham. The novels were previously adapted by the network for a popular miniseries in the ‘70s, but the new version gets an update to suit a contemporary palate, complete with a brooding hero upon whom the whole show hinges.

It’s the tail-end of the 18^th Century and Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner) has just returned to his English hometown of Cornwall after fighting for the wrong side in the American Revolutionary War. The war has made him decidedly anti-establishment and he comes home brimming with questions about the status quo in an already changing England, with the aristocracy being threatened by the rising middle class and the poor working class feeling increasingly restless about their oppression.

Politics aside, Poldark has more immediate problems — he is part of the landed aristocracy, but in his absence, his father has died and left him with a failing estate and copper mine. Thinking him dead, Poldark’s sweetheart is now betrothed to his cousin. The show’s first season, which covers events of two of Graham’s 12 novels, details Poldark’s quest to adapt to these changes and make a new life for himself. This includes reopening the mine and saving the downtrodden lower class maiden Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson) by hiring her to work on his estate, and then promptly falling in love with her.

Poldark has the makings of an entertaining period drama; the lush cinematography includes picturesque shots of cliffs against the shore and sweeping moors, and the show establishes the historical period fully with its elaborate costumes and sets. The class tensions and politics of the era are convincingly portrayed as well. Unlike many other historical dramas, however, the show gallops forward to cover significant plot details in the eight episodes (a second season has been commissioned). There is courtship, marriage, death and scandal. There are slimy bankers, a prison break and a duel. But the show’s more soapy tendencies are balanced by the fascinating insight into a society on the brink of change — while the social commentary is, of course, not as nuanced as Dickens or Austen, it is still fairly illuminating.

It also helps that the casting for the show is excellent. Turner is especially good at playing a virtuous-to-a-fault underdog, who is kind to his tenants, stands up to the morally reprehensible and looks after his people with intense loyalty. In the hands of another actor, Poldark’s character could very well have been grating, with his self-righteousness and stubborn streak, but Turner gives the character a charming gravitas. It also helps that he is extraordinarily good looking and well-built — which the show takes full advantage of. There’s an abundance of scenes featuring Poldark scything in the fields (shirtless, of course) or riding gallantly across the moors.

Turner’s brooding intensity is excellently contrasted with Tomlinson’s sunny and effusive Demelza, and their developing relationship soon becomes the bedrock of the show. The other supporting players, including Poldark’s cousin, his former love and a villain in the form of the power-hungry and conniving banker George Warlaggen (Jack Farthing), are all uniformly effective in their roles. For fans of period dramas, family sagas and swoon-worthy heroes, Poldark is a must-watch.



Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, August 16^th, 2015.