(Aidan
Turner as Poldark)
The wait is over! Poldark fans will be excited to learn that their favourite show
returns to the small screen when season four of the series starts on ITV Choice
(DStv 123) on August 1, 2018, at 20h00.
Once again starring Aidan Turner as Ross
Poldark and Eleanor Tomlinson as his wife Demelza, the eight-part series was
adapted by Debbie Horsfield from the novels by Winston Graham and filmed across
Cornwall, the West Country and, for the first time, locations in London.
Says Horsfield: "It's still very much
Cornwall-based but there are so many characters and new flavours and one of
those is London. There are whole sequences where we go to London and meet real
characters, such as (the Prime Minister) William Pitt and (the anti-slavery
campaigner) William Wilberforce. There are some wonderful affirming storylines
and some utterly tragic ones coming up. It's going to be a treat for
viewers."
The new series kicks off in 1796 and finds
Poldark defending Cornwall from an empowered George Warleggan (Jack Farthing)
and risking everything he holds dear as he embarks on a political journey which
takes him to the nation's capital.
Meanwhile Demelza finds her loyalties torn,
Elizabeth (Heida Reed) tries to strengthen her marriage, Morwenna (Ellise
Chappell) continues to be oppressed by husband Reverend Ossie Whitworth
(Christian Brassington) and the Enyses (Luke Norris and Gabriella Wilde) are
tested as never before.
Tholly Tregirls, the colourful piratical
figure from Ross’ youth played by Sean Gilder, returns, as does Prudie (Beatie
Edney), repulsive cleric Osborne Whitworth (Christian Brassington) and Hugh
Armitage (Josh Whitehouse). There is also a new villain called Monk Adderley
who, Horsfield says, is completely amoral but a vividly-drawn character that
everyone will love to hate.
But what about Poldark himself whose
marriage, at the end of series three, was on the rocks?
“Ross and Demelza start off a bit rocky and
try to figure things out,” says Turner. “It’s a very real relationship and
Eleanor and I tackle it in a very real way. It’s something the audience will
understand.”
And does Poldark make a good politician?
“You’re going to tell me when you see the
speeches in the House of Commons!” says Turner, joking that there’s “not much
room for the horse” in Captain Poldark’s new haunt.
Turner is excited to take the character to
a new setting, which he believes is an inevitable next step: “It’s great, for
my character to do something different, to take it to London, to get involved,
it’s where he was always headed I think.”
As the newly-appointed man of the people,
could Poldark prove to be something of an 18th century Jeremy Corbyn? “I don’t
know. What would Jeremy Corbyn be like in a tricorn hat? That’s what I want to
see!”
The actor seems confident that Poldark has
found his new calling in the political sphere, though. “It’s where his passion
lies, it’s what he’s interested in, and that’s where he needs to fight
Warleggan, not in Cornwall any more but in the House of Commons. That’s where
it’s at,” says Turner.
And good news for fans is that the
producers have confirmed that Poldark
has been commissioned for a fifth series. The bad news is that it will very
likely be the final series in the Poldark saga.
Catch Poldark
on ITV Choice (DStv 123) on August 1, at 20h00.
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