Poldark
1 9 7 5 - 1 9 7 7 (UK)
29 x 60 minute episodes
Poldark is one of the most successful British television
dramas of all time. As a costume drama, scheduled for early
evening family viewing Poldark was not unusual, but its
exterior sequences, cast and immense popularity have made it
ultimately memorable.
The first episode, opening to Ross Poldark's ride across the
Cornish landscape on his return from the American War of
Independence, was seen by an audience of five million. As the
series continued this figure rose to an average of fifteen million
viewers. The two BBC Poldark series' have been sold to over
forty countries and ten years later a third series was made by HTV.
All of the Poldark series' are closely based on the
novels of Winston Graham, well known for his thrillers and for the
screen adaptations of his later non-historical books. In 1969
Associated British Picture bought an option on the Poldark
best-sellers. The option was taken over by London films who
eventually collaborated with the BBC.
The first BBC series dramatises the original four novels which
Graham wrote at the end of World War II. Graham had initially
planned a trilogy set in 18th-century Cornwall which would explore
the love triangle between the war hero Captain Poldark, his less
exciting cousin Francis Poldark and the aristocratic Elizabeth
Chynoweth.
However, as the narrative developed Graham became more
interested in the social situation in Cornwall at that time and
the dramatic contrast between the oppressed poor and the new
landowning classes. Graham added the engaging urchin Demelza who
marries Ross out of her class and a fourth book focused on the
villain, the nouveau riche George Warleggan.
The first series established Ross Poldark as a character at war
with his own class. After his return to Cornwall and his failure
to win back Elizabeth, Ross attempts to restore Nampara his
father's ruined estate. He shocks his neighbours by marrying
Demelza, the daughter of a brutal miner, and interesting himself
in the affairs of those who work for him.
His legitimate business deals and mining company ventures bring
him into direct competition with George Warleggan. Illegal
activities, such as the false charge of incitement to riot and,
later, smuggling, also bring him the power of the Warleggans.
In this feud Poldark is portrayed as the forward looking
benevolent landowner and entrepreneur, whereas Warleggan is seen
as a tyrannical arriviste whose grand house is burnt to the ground
by dispossessed miners and tenants.
The latter scene and climax to the first series was a radical
departure from Graham's novels. Although the author felt that the
first series was marred by the use of a different writer for every
episode, Graham wrote a further trilogy for adaptation and became
closely involved with the second series made in 1977.
This series follows the fortunes of four different marriages;
the Poldark's, Elizabeth now the wife of Warleggan; Caroline who
has married the progressive doctor Dwight Enys; and Elizabeth's
unhappy cousin Morwenna. All are affected by the intense rivalry
between Poldark and Warleggan. Ross Poldark and George Warleggan
continue their feud in London as well as Cornish society by
becoming opposing members of parliament.
The outdoor locations set the first series apart from other
studio based costume dramas. Scenes such as the dramatic rescue of
Dr. Enys from a prisoner of war camp in revolutionary France, the
wrecking of the Warleggan ship, and action set against mines,
seascapes and coastal paths created a spectacular backdrop for the
vicissitudes of Poldark's marital and financial dilemmas.
The contrast between the theatrical approach to studio
production and the spontaneity engendered by location filming gave
the historical drama a unique fresh quality. Not surprisingly, the
BBC expressed an interest in making a third series, but at that
time Graham did not feel that he could write the books required
for the source material.
Since 1977, Graham has written a further four books which deal
with a second generation of Poldark's continuing the Warleggan
feud and introducing the Industrial Revolution to Cornwall.
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