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Poldark
BBC One today announced that Aidan Turner will star as Ross Poldark in Debbie Horsfield’s adaptation of Winston Graham’s saga set in 18th century Cornwall.
Britain is in the grip of a chilling recession... falling wages, rising prices, civil unrest - only the bankers are smiling. It's 1783 and Ross Poldark returns from the American War of Independence to his beloved Cornwall to find his world in ruins: his father dead, the family mine long since closed, his house wrecked and his sweetheart pledged to marry his cousin. But Ross finds that hope and love can be found when you are least expecting it in the wild but beautiful Cornish landscape.
Aidan Turner said: "I'm very excited to play Ross Poldark for the BBC and it's obviously a huge challenge to honour the extraordinary character Winston Graham created and who Debbie Horsfield has brought new life to. But there's a terrific team coming together and the scripts are superb, so I can't wait to get started."
Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning, says: "We are really excited. He is a brilliant actor, he is part of the BBC family, we are incredibly thrilled he is coming back from Hollywood from The Hobbit in order to lead Poldark for BBC One."
Poldark will be in eight 60-minute episodes.
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aiden is a great actor and is very easy on the eye
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Eleanor Tomlinson has joined the cast of BBC One's upcoming new adaptation of Winston Graham's Poldark.
The White Queen actress will star as "fiercely independent heroine" Demelza in the drama.
Aidan Turner will lead the cast as Ross Poldark in the retelling from Debbie Horsfield.
Set in 18th century Cornwall, Poldark is an eight-part hour-long series and will film in Cornwall and Bristol from April.
Poldark will follow the rebellious Ross as he returns from the American War of Independence to Cornwall, discovering that his home county has changed since he has been away.
The BBC previously produced a Poldark series in the 1970s, starring Robin Ellis as Ross Poldark.
The new series will air on BBC One in 2015.
Tomlinson is best known for her roles of Isabel Neville in The White Queen and Georgiana Darcy in Death Comes to Pemberley. She has also starred in episodes of Poirot and The Sarah Jane Adventures.
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Aidan Turner has described BBC One's new Poldark series as "sexy as hell".
The Being Human actor plays dashing Ross Poldark in a new 8-part serial, based on Winston Graham's novels.
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Aidan Turner in Poldark
© BBC/Mammoth Screen/Mike Hogan
"It's sexy as hell," Turner told press including Digital Spy. "I have a nude swimming scene - I get naked a couple of times in it.
"I wasn't allowed any Cornish pasties, 'cos I'd get fat - and I have to take my top off so much!"
Poldark was previously adapted for television in the '70s, but Turner said he is not concerned about how fans of the original might react to the new version.
"I don't think about it like that," he insisted. "You tackle the scripts and it's just like anything else - you don't think about letting down the fans of the old series or appealing to new fans…
"You just don't think about those things, you've got so much else going on, that doesn't even come into it. I don't get stressed - maybe I should. Wait until the series comes out and I get panned!"
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Being Human S03E01 - Mitchell
© BBC
Aidan Turner as Mitchell in Being Human
Turner is best known for his role as vampire Mitchell in BBC Three's Being Human and for playing Kili in The Hobbit movies.
"In recent years, I've only played supernatural characters - if it wasn't a werewolf or a dwarf or a vampire or something, it wasn't for me!" he joked.
"This is a more grown-up role for me - it's not that adolescent fandom, small demographic, sci-fi or fantasy sort of thing - it just resounded more with me."
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Aidan Turner in Poldark
© BBC/Mammoth Screen/Mike Hogan
Winston Graham penned 12 Poldark novels between 1945 and 2002, with Turner voicing his interest in bringing the entire canon to the screen.
"It's about six seasons' worth!" he said. "I'm up for six, if we make it that far - it's hard to know what an audience wants to see these days.
"We think we have a really good show but you can never tell - I don't think anybody expected Downton Abbey to be so popular… you just never know.
"Being Human… we never expected that to be popular and it just took off. You can never tell - there is no formula for success in television."
Aidan Turner stars in Poldark, beginning this Sunday (March 8) at 9pm on BBC One.
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I really enjoyed the first episode of Poldark. I'm not really keen on period dramas, but thought I would give this one a chance. It was really easy to get into, i like the story so far and I think Aidan Turner is good as Poldark. Looking forward to tonight's episode!
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hi Dave, good to see you again, glad you like Poldark, I do too :)
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Hi Perdita, nice to see you again too :) have you read any of the Poldark books? If the series carries on being as good as this, I might buy the first book on my Kindle.
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No, never read any of the books but I must admit to be very tempted now ... got to read parkerman's new book first though :D