Masterpiece Reboots Classic "Poldark"

Special Sneak Preview Screening–see the first hour of the new series on June 11 at 7 p.m. at the Digital Sky Theater/Clay Center in Charleston! Door prizes include a set of the novels by Winston Graham and limited promo posters. This event is free with your online RSVP, use the form below or call us at 1-888-596-9729 for assistance.

Almost 40 years ago, PBS Masterpiece won the hearts of millions of viewers through the gallant Captain Ross Poldark in one of the program’s earliest hit series. The hero rides again in a thrilling new version with seven parts, beginning June 21 at 9 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting. 

————

<a data-cke-saved-href=”https://wvpublic.wufoo.com/forms/q2re7ih11ys541/” href=”https://wvpublic.wufoo.com/forms/q2re7ih11ys541/”>Fill out my Wufoo form!</a>

Don’t see the form? Click here

————

Aidan Turner (The Hobbit) stars as Ross Poldark, a redcoat who returns to Cornwall after the American Revolutionary War to discover that his father is dead, his lands are ruined, and his true love is about to marry his cousin.

Also starring is Eleanor Tomlinson (Death Comes to Pemberley) as the fiery servant Demelza, a strong-willed miner’s daughter who runs away from home and finds refuge in Poldark’s enlightened household. WVPB drama fans will recognize many other co-stars, including Warren Clarke (Bleak House) as Poldark’s duplicitous Uncle Charles; Ruby Bentall (The Paradise) as Charles’ daughter, Verity; Kyle Soller (The Hollow Crown) as Verity’s brother Francis; and Heida Reed (DCI Banks) as Elizabeth Chenoweth, the beautiful young woman who gave Poldark her ring before he left for America.

The new series opens with a prologue in Virginia in 1781, when Captain Poldark’s regiment is ambushed by the local militia fighting for independence. After the war and with a scar across his face as a souvenir, he goes home to Cornwall, where his real struggle begins.

Everyone has assumed Poldark has been killed in action. His old life and inheritance are gone, and the local gentry encourage him to move on and seek his fortune elsewhere. Instead, he decides that this is where his story begins.

Poldark is adapted from the beloved series of novels by Winston Graham. The first, Ross Poldark, was published in 1945; the last, Bella Poldark, appeared in 2002, the year before Graham’s death. All twelve are subtitled A Novel of Cornwall and trace the fortunes of a landed, mine-owning family in windswept Cornwall two centuries ago.