On March 8th, 2015, Mammoth Productions and the BBC premiered a renewed adaptation of Winston Graham’s epic Cornish saga, Poldark, though, little expected the massive response that arrived almost overnight, as Aidan Turner – known as that Irish vampire we all knew and loved from BBC Three’s cult hit Being Human – took to the screen as an iconic 18th Century brooding Englishman like a duck to water.
At the Radio Times Festival, there was high anticipation as ‘the makers of Poldark‘ hit the stage, fronted by producers Karen Thrussell and Damien Timmer, writer Debbie Horsfield, and son of Winston Graham, Andrew Graham, the panel was also joined by Ruby Bentall (Verity Poldark) and Beatie Edney (Prudie).
One of the first clips shown, almost predictably, was that somewhat infamous scything scene. Questions followed, equally predictably, on Aidan Turner’s physique.
Damien Timmer was frank on this matter: “It originally wasn’t a discussion about whether or not he would be shirtless… But then, when he was, we did stop and think ‘Blimey – he’s so muscly’… There were discussions about if he was too muscly.”
Writer Debbie Horsfield had some interesting insights when asked: Did you know it would be big?
“The amount of love and care you put into a show is the same whether it’s successful or not…” With producer Karen adding, “We were completely taken by surprise… It was nerve wracking every time… Normally when a show goes out, you have to be begging for stories to go out about it – but our publicist was fighting them off! Despite the fact it was during the election.”
We love it… The thing about Poldark is that we, the people making it, are obsessed with it – Damien Timmer
Andrew Graham was asked about his reaction the first time around to the 1970s adaptation.
It was an extraordinary hit then, but he was “surprised to find it such a hit the second time.” He then added “In regards to what my father would think, 1) he would be delighted with the way Mammoth treated it – would have loved the scripts – the publicity – but in terms of the shirtless scene… He would think that it only works like it does because of the story behind it, because it is a story of such romance and passion.”
Who’s idea was it to do it (Poldark) again?
“I kept saying,” said producer Timmer, “We should do a big Cornish saga… like Poldark… I kept saying it. Then one day, I said… Why don’t we do Poldark? So… We persuaded Andrew it was a good idea to option the books – but then had them on the shelf for 6 months while we plucked up the courage to take them to Debbie to ask her to write it, who had never done an adaptation… We knew the idea of Debbie and this saga – Poldark is the ultimate saga – would be brilliant. We knew it.”
Debbie Horsfield added: “It feels like I was in wonderful collaboration with Winston, even though I never met him… I was nervous to begin with – they are not my characters… But the moment I wrote the first line of non-Winston dialogue – I knew I could do it. The books are incredibly modern, so… I didn’t have to invent them – they’re already there.”
Horsfield then mentioned, in particular, the controversial subject of ‘Wrecking’ in Cornwall’s history, as it is rumoured by some that fishermen in the 18th Century would deliberately draw ships onto the rocks – something Winston Graham and the people of Cornwall firmly deny. “We address that there was no wrecking – we cover that in the first episode of series 2.” Winston’s son Andrew then added that the people of Cornwall, as well as his father, were adamant that there was no purposefully wrecking caused by fishermen in Cornwall… But that, of course, if goods washed up on the beaches, they would take them. “When Ross says that if the pilchards don’t come, the people will starve, he means it. They would starve.”
“There’s a big journey for all the characters in the series. I think we cover about two years in the series… There’s a lot of places to go”
Horsfield reveals how she wrote the script to reflect this perspective: “We address this from the last episode of Series 1 really… In the first draft, I wrote what, ideally, I would have wanted for the scene––I mean, in the book there are two wrecks coming in one after the other––but there was no way our budget would allow for that. So, I took the script to the production team and said, ‘This is in an ideal world – now we can discuss what we can actually do’… So, in the end, I rewrote the whole sequence so a lot of it is from Ross’ perspective… I deliberately rewrote it so its logistically achievable… I think we needed up calling it “Hell on a beach”, which you can see in the sequence. Ross walks amongst people fighting, burning fires… I think it worked out really well.”
Jamaica Inn was then addressed – known on the Internet as #Mumblegate – referring to when Jamaica Inn actors had been reported by audiences to be mumbling their lines. Damien Timmer agrees instantly “We were very paranoid about it, because we started shooting just a week or so after that happened… We were very on it,” with Karen adding, “We had dialect coaches on set to look out for it.”
One audience member commented on his love for the compositions and the music, and on that subject, Timmer had this to say: “We spent a great many hours with [the composer] talking about what the music for Poldark should be… What she came up with… We love it… The thing about Poldark is that we, the people making it, are obsessed with it…. but especially our composer. She came to the read through just because she wanted to hear the script, which never happens. She loves it that much. It’s a good job we all love it because it’s so time consuming.”
“An exclusive clip from Series 2 was also played from last weeks on location shoot in Cornwall”
When asked about the original series and why Winston Graham was scathing of the 1970s version, Andrew was clear that his father did not agree with changes that the BBC originally made, even adding “He even tried to pull out of the contract a few weeks before.” Producer Timmer added, “It’s ironic because you’d think in the 21st century that producers would want to ‘sex up’ the series – but in fact we wanted to scale it down… I don’t know why they felt to make those changes in the 70s.”
Horsfield, when asked about if she had to add or change anything about the characters to make them appeal to a 21st Century audience, had this to say: “One of the challenges of a story that was written in the 40s, but set in [the] 18th Century, is that a lot of the conventions of that time are not seen as acceptable in the 21st century… Elizabeth, we realised, can come across as quite cold in the books, for example. When it was cut all together we realised Elizabeth doesn’t really punch through as a character. We kept asking… What is it that Ross loves about her? Why does he love her so much? Yes, she’s his first love, but… We had to make her more proactive. We thought an audience would be thinking “What on earth does he see in her?” So, we gave her more depth, because that was the kind of thing that would therefore help appeal to a 21st Century audience.”
An exclusive video interview was played, as Aidan Turner was not able to make it to the talk. He agreed to pre-record some answers. The best of his answers, most definitely, had to be when asked When did you know [Poldark] was a mega-hit?, the actor’s reply was “When journalists started calling my mum.” When asked if he had watched the original 70s version, Turner added: “I could have… but I made a choice not to, very early on… I just wanted to find my own Ross. I thought that might muck things up for me… It probably wouldn’t have…and I don’t know why…” He then promptly added, “Laziness,” to laughs from the room. “Of course I have… I’ve read the books.” He looks earnest enough as he says this, but adds, “Twice,” and laughs.
“Then… there was of course a question about that scene. Will their be anymore scything in the next series?”
The interviewer then asked, Are their changes for the characters in the next series? Turner responded dutifully. “There’s a big journey for all the characters in the series. I think we cover about two years in the series… There’s a lot of places to go––and I know the books are out there––but I don’t want to spoil anything…” When the interviewer added, But does their [Demelza & Ross’] relationship change considering Ross was in terrible trouble in the last episode? (By which, she is of course referring to – spoiler – the loss of their young daughter, and Ross’ arrest).
Aidan replied: “Yeah the relationship does change, like every relationship changes. You know, love changes. It evolves and progresses… There’s a lot of…stuff…going on in the second series.”
Then… there was of course a question about that scene. Will their be anymore scything in the next series?, Aidan smirks and squirms, putting on an almost Ross Poldark voice as he answers, “I don’t know the answer to that one… I suppose it depends how badly we need the ratings––God, what has my life become?”
An exclusive clip from Series 2 was also played from last weeks on location shoot in Cornwall ––spoiler alert–– portraying a wary, ragged looking Demelza being hauled along by Ross’ arm (“Ross, no – I look like a ragamuffin!”) and we soon see that they are in fact meeting Ross’ recently estranged cousin Francis where he works in his wheat field, along with his life Elizabeth – who was also Ross’ first love – their son, and other labourers. They exchange pleasantries and the scene then depicts an ancient Cornish harvest ceremony, as the first wheat sheath is collected. A personal favourite of these moments comes when the prized protagonist Ross Poldark greets Elizabeth with a kiss to her hand, his gaze appearing perhaps a little to intense for someone who is not his wife, and all I could see in that shot was the steely, side-glance from Demelza at his side. Suddenly, the ‘stuff’ Turner referred to occurring to Graham’s beloved characters seems quite obvious.
The performances in this one small clip work wonders, and promise the level of detail and emotional depth that has had us all hooked since the beginning of Series 1. We can but hope!
India Rose Meade
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