Starting on Sunday, June 21st, PBS will start airing Poldark, a BBC miniseries starring Aidan Turner (The Hobbit, Being Human) and Eleanor Tomlinson (Death Comes to Pemberley). We will be recapping and reviewing each episode, and wanted to let you know this was a thing!
Poldark aired in the UK earlier this spring (with Tumblr being awash with gifs), and Masterpiece Classic is handling the US airing. (I swear, someday, they will succeed on getting me on a Viking River Cruise. It’ll happen.)
Poldark is a remake of the 1975 miniseries (also by the Beeb), based on the series of novels by Winston Graham. They’re about Ross Poldark, the only son of a Cornwall landowner who comes home from the Revolutionary War to find his entire world a gigantic mess- his father is dead, his intended is marrying his cousin, his estate is basically in ruins, and no one understands why he’s not thrilled at all of this. It’s full of angst, scenery porn, costume porn, and Aidan Turner is quite nice to look at, I’m not gonna lie.
So join us! Episodes are Sundays, at 9/8 Central, starting June 21st on PBS.
I read an interesting article in the NYT this morning about whether or not this will succeed here in the US. They based it on the fact that the thicker the accents, the less of an audience it drew here. Though I can understand that, if the story is great enough, I’ll happily turn the volume up and read the subtitles! I can’t wait for this.
I really enjoyed the series and Aiden Turner is dark and brooding. None of the major characters have really strong accents. Eleanor Tomlinson’s accent is a bit ‘West Country’ but understandable.
Watchers might struggle with Jeb, Poldark’s lazy servant as he does have a very thick accent. My fav phrase is from Jeb is:
‘taint right, taint fit, taint proper’
I’ve been on a Viking River Cruise and it was absolutely lovely. However, having gone when we were 33, my friend and I brought the average age down a good 10-15 years. LOTS of retirees, is what I’m saying. But still lovely.
I enjoyed this series. I liked it better than the first one, which I watched when my parents when I was a kid and thought was awful. Those British costume dramas from the 1970s looking like home movies and everyone had 1970s hair, even though it was meant to be period.
YES!!! I am so excited this series is finally airing here. I’ve been watching the original miniseries and am about 75% through the first book and now I’m just all GIVE ME ALL THE POLDARK THINGS NOW ALL THE TIME PLEASE.
My father was a big Winston Graham fan, so I remember watching the original series when I was a kid. I loved, loved, loved Robin Ellis as Ross Poldark, so it will be interesting how Aiden Turner will do. From what I understand, this series might be doing the book adaptations a little faster than the original series (i.e. covering more ground per episode, so to speak), so that will be interesting as well. I have read the books, multiple times (although not recently) so it will be interesting to see a more modern take on the material.
I adored the original series even though they did a fair amount of violence to the books, which I also loved. Aiden Turner doesn’t look bad, but Robin Ellis will always be Ross Poldark to me.
Robin Ellis is in two episodes of the new Poldark (so far) as Reverend Halse. I’ve never read the books so not sure how prominent that character is, but it’s nice that he’s in the remake.
Love this series. It’s an adaptation of the books rather than the 70’s TV series. According to historians, Graham’s novels were well researched and historically accurate, as is the 2015 series.
Outlander launched in the UK when Poldark fever was already well established and the American show failed to get much attention in the UK media, probably because so many column inches were being devoted to Poldark and the beautiful Aidan Turner.
It’s well worth watching, full of great performances and Cornwall has never looked more lovely.
This has been on my list! DVR is set up for Sunday, and I’m pumped! Angst, scenery porn, and costume porn are three of my favorite things. Also, I recently read an interview with Elizabeth Hoyt where she said that the original “Poldark” miniseries had a huge influence on her novels and I love Elizabeth Hoyt’s novels, so that sealed the deal for me.
It’s a beautiful adaptation with really great acting and did I mention Aidan Turner! Loved it! I’ll watch it again on PBS.
I watched the old Poldark as a child and loved it. My mother had a big crush on the main character. So I am excited for the remake and I hope it will engage me.
I’ve been pretty excited for this, even though I never made it through a single episode of the original. Zzzzzzz. However, I do know what a Palladian window is because of that series. Do not recall the context, but the link is really clear in my mind: Poldark = Palladian windows.
This is my all-time favourite series of historical novels, and they once saved my bacon during a second-year university exam on corrupt boroughs. I wrote the entire thing based on what I could remember of Ross Poldark’s election, and got an A. Thank you very much, Winston Graham.
Caroline is my favourite bit of the novels, though. Goodness, I do like her.
I watched the original one a few years back and really loved it. I have been looking forward to the new one especially when I saw Jack Farthing would be playing George Warleggan. He played Freddie Threepwood in Blandings and was hilarious. It will be lovely to get to see Robin Ellis again too.
Oh my god, you have Viking River Cruises in the US too? We always gets ads for those around Poirot and shows like that. They’re a running joke in our house. Dumb question: are the US ads for North American rivers? Because the UK ads strongly imply you’ll be cruising down the Danube and rivers like that.
(also, Poldark is gorgeous, and such scenery porn. All my Cornish friends were playing guess the windswept cliff face)
YEAAAAASSSSSSSSSS
I’ve been waiting for SBTB commentary on this show since it started airing few months ago.
Love this show, love everything about it, Turner’s angry eyebrows, Eleanor’s glorious merida mane, moody emotional cornwall cliff scenes, mining plots….so much mining….
Oh yay, I adored this series and kept thinking that the bitchery would eat it up with a spoon. The female slavering over Aidan Turner in magazines, tabloids and even the broadsheets was hilarious, and led to much “is it alright to objectify him?” debates. Apparently it’s been awesome for Cornwall’s tourist industry too.
On a complete side note, I haven’t heard of Viking river cruises before, and I strongly suspect that phrase doesn’t mean what I think it means. As a descendant of Icelanders, my head canon is imagining a dragon longboat along a trade route; maybe with a little pillaging on the side.
You don’t have to enlighten me. I could Google it, but why destroy my illusions. By the way, does anyone know which religious denominations are most likely to still have gold accessories these days?
Longtime lurker here, and am making my first comment. I’m so happy you’re reviewing Poldark!!!
I’ve loved watching Aidan Turner since he was in the BBC Being Human so happy he’s getting so much attention for this.
Gasp! Does this mean that we, in Oz, have something aired before the US? I’m shocked, shocked I tell you!
But seriously guys, it’s so full of catnip, your going to eat it up with a spoon and want to lick the bowl it’s that delicious.
I literally awoke at 3 am in a panic because I thought I’d forgot to watch this last night. Then I realized that it wasn’t Sunday night yet and breathed a sigh of relief. I love me some Aidan Turner.
@ mina kelly, No it’s the Danube all the way over here, too.
Just watched and liked it and look forward to the review (and pictures!). At least here in NYC it was followed by The Crimson Field and now I want the Bitchery to recap that as well! It seems like it is pure Redheadedgirl catnip – 3 volunteer nurses arrive in a tent hospital in France and are woefully under prepared for the realities of war. It’s written by a woman as well!
@Friday:
Y’all are so nice – and you UK people, too. All the comments from folks who have already seen it are identical: You’re just getting this? IT IS SO GOOD YOU will LOVE IT. So generous! Given that we always get stuff first in the US and you have to wait eons, it’s only fair that the pattern reverse a few times. Just tell me that the new season of Miss Fisher is as good as I’m hoping, k?
@Storyphile:
“my head canon is imagining a dragon longboat along a trade route; maybe with a little pillaging on the side.”
I get the Viking River Cruises catalog (once every other week, my goodness) and even then, knowing full well what they are, I WANT THIS TO BE A THING OMG. I AM SO HERE FOR DRAGON LONGBOATS ON THE TRADE ROUTE.