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Poldark.... is back on sunday

143 replies

youngestisapsycho · 11/07/2019 09:59

Why is this on in the summer.... needs to be in the autumn, cosied up on the sofa on a dark evening!
Cant wait for it though.

OP posts:
OccasionalKite · 26/08/2019 22:02

I don't understand - how and why did George Warleggan suddenly appear, brandishing pistols?

TIA to anyone who can explain!

Persea · 26/08/2019 22:11

I think George finally had a fit of conscience and decided he couldn’t let them screw Poldark over.

I was pleasantly surprised by the final episode. It tied all the weird ends of this odd series together. It was, overall, a very strange final season script though. Which is a real shame, cos on the whole it was great show (clearly because they generally stuck to the original storylines - note to future script people - do not deviate from the original author’s work).

Papergirl1968 · 26/08/2019 22:14

Demelza seemed to become progressively more ginger as the series went on. I could have sworn she started off more auburn, which suited her better.

OccasionalKite · 26/08/2019 22:18

Thanks for that, Persea!
Hmmm. I'll probably have to watch again. Found that bit so very jarring, somehow.

stumbledin · 27/08/2019 00:03

Like others I have found it really strange that in deciding to imagine what might have happened in the 10 year gap in the book the writer then chose to make most of this series about a character than was nothing to do with them.

You would think that Debbie Horsfields would have felt she knew the characters quite well by now, and it was almost like her saying actually they are really boring!

According to one newspaper both Aiden Turner and Ealanor Tomlison have said they would be interested in re-uniting in 10 years time ...

PhannyMcNee · 27/08/2019 00:30

Just caught up, huge Dwaroline fan here and delighted they made up again in the end - I really didn’t like them feuding!

Agree that this series just didn’t work - I found myself distracted by Demelza’s eyebrows and Ross’s hair/wig line....

CoraPirbright · 27/08/2019 08:29

OccasionalKite that bothered me too! I was wondering if George thought he might be able to curry favour with the bigwigs in London by becoming part of Ross’s endeavour. He hates Ross with a passion but I think realised that he wouldn’t seriously be conspiring with the French.

ElspethFlashman · 27/08/2019 09:04

Yes and the conversation between them was actually quite mature. I respect Caroline. Can't say I respect Demelza. Though at least she was going to finally leave Ross for good. But in the end she forgave Rosss deceit, and with gratitude. Ugh.

taytosandwich · 27/08/2019 10:26

God it's really all over. I'm glad, and I never thought I would say that. I loathed the Kitty and Ned storyline. Caroline being jealous of Kitty was bizarre - Dwight has always been devoted to her. And Kitty wouldn't look at him twice! I'd be more jealous of Demelza if I were her after that time he rocked up to her with his 'what if we had met first' musing.

The French invasion thing was so fucking random?! They could have made the entire series based on that and if told properly it would have made an interesting and slightly more believable plot line. Demelza deciding to head to Jamaica ConfusedConfusedConfused I also agree about Ross and his bad hair. His hair was what made him so sexy, where did it all go wrong? Is he dying it or what?

Anyway, happy that Rosina finally pulled a bloke (everyone seems to have forgot that she was supposed to marry Drake!), Drake and Morwenna finally got their happy ever after and George redeemed himself. His ending was really touching actually, watching the vision/ghost (?) of Elizabeth passing through the door. Although if I were Elizabeth I wouldn't hang round Trenwith as a ghost, I'd be round Nampara perving at Ross with his top off.

IcedPurple · 27/08/2019 10:33

Like others I have found it really strange that in deciding to imagine what might have happened in the 10 year gap in the book the writer then chose to make most of this series about a character than was nothing to do with them.

Probably because they wanted to pass the BBC's 'wokeness' and 'diversity' tests, even though they're talking about a series set in the early 19th century.

ghostofharrenhal · 27/08/2019 13:34

Although if I were Elizabeth I wouldn't hang round Trenwith as a ghost, I'd be round Nampara perving at Ross with his top off.
Grin

The bit with George and his pistols made me laugh out loud, it was so silly.

It a shame Debbie H made such a hash of this last series. I wonder if the cast felt awkward delivering such a dire final season.

ghostofharrenhal · 27/08/2019 13:38

I have always slightly fancied George. He is small and cute.

ElspethFlashman · 27/08/2019 14:19

Ross always looked like he needed a good wash. At least George looked clean!

FuzzyPuffling · 27/08/2019 14:35

I agree with you all. Every word of it.
And especially Ross needing a good wash. He looks like he would smell unpleasantly.

sluj · 27/08/2019 17:40

I did find myself wondering about how greasy the inside of that hat must be by now Grin

CheckingOutTheQuantocks · 27/08/2019 18:12

IcedPurple but Ned and Kitty were real and Kitty was black... there have been a lot of anachronisms in Poldark but I'm not sure you can chalk the inclusion of the Despards up to wokeness.

As the show moved into the 19th century, I couldn't help thinking how much better Dr Enys and Sir George looked in the costumes than Ross did. They were elegant and dashing while he was still slopping around in the same tatty old greatcoat and tricorn hat. Surely they were out of style by then?

IcedPurple · 27/08/2019 18:18

IcedPurple but Ned and Kitty were real and Kitty was black...

So what though? They had absolutely nothing to do with the plot of Poldark. Why shoehorn them into the story?

there have been a lot of anachronisms in Poldark but I'm not sure you can chalk the inclusion of the Despards up to wokeness.

I think you can. If they wanted to go with real-life characters (although I've no idea why they'd want to do that....) there would be many they could pick from. Why this particular story?

CheckingOutTheQuantocks · 27/08/2019 18:38

I read an interview with Debbie Horsfield, not sure where, which said she'd found out about the Despards' story and wanted to make it better known because of how unusual it was. I guess it happened at about the right time to coincide with the time period of this series so she felt justified in shoving it in there. I do believe that it was something she felt fitted into Ross' principles of fairness and justice, and if the characters had been less annoying it could possibly have worked.

Don't get me wrong, I hated the storyline and wished the pair of them would fall in the sea. The lives of the real Ned and Kitty probably deserved their own drama, and I don't know why DH couldn't have just tried to commission that instead. God knows she must have a fair bit of heft in the industry. The stuff that we actually cared about was crammed into the last two episodes and dealt with in a series of frantically cut scenes that were ridiculously short. They could probably have spread the material out over the series and given it more time to make sense, and there would have been no need for the Ned stuff at all.

IcedPurple · 27/08/2019 18:54

Honestly, I think the whole series was a mistake. The characters' storylines came to a satisfying end in series 4. Inventing a whole new set of plotlines independent of the books was a very bad idea. Either skip forward in time to the later books, or call it a day. I think so many TV producers these days just don't know that the latter is often the best option.

Rhubarb01 · 27/08/2019 19:06

I agree with other posters that the Ned and Kitty storyline wasn't right for this series. I know some TV series like to pop real historic characters into dramas, but it's usually just a cameo appearance for context. I'm not sure it was a good idea to weave a long story involving a fictional character so closely around the lives and fate of two real people - especially given Ned's fate. That's just my own feeling on the subject.

The French invasion story seemed so rushed in the last couple of episodes. I would have enjoyed that more. There were constant fears in that era that the French/Napoleon might launch an invasion - I don't know why it always happens in Nampara, though! I agree about the frantic editing too. It confused me somewhat, and felt as if they ran out of time and shoved it all in as an afterthought. The one nice touch was the handshake between Aiden Turner and Robin Ellis and that nod of recognition.

I enjoyed the first couple of series, but I don't think I'll miss it much.

IcedPurple · 27/08/2019 19:15

The French invasion story seemed so rushed in the last couple of episodes.

Yes, especially as they had a tres hunky Frenchman they teased us with briefly right at the end....

I enjoyed the first couple of series, but I don't think I'll miss it much.

Same. Loved the first few series, the chemistry between Ross and Demelza, the wonderful acting especially form Eleanor Tomlinson and Jack Farthing, and of course those now legendary nudie scything scenes. But it would have been best to leave things be at the end of series 4 and not drag it out for that ill-considered 5th series.

Rhubarb01 · 27/08/2019 19:26

IcedPurple the hunky Frenchman at the end of episode 7 was the first time I sat up and took any real interest in the characters this series Grin. I wonder whose idea it was to leave most of his scenes on the cutting room floor - or those I imagine there should have been!

PlaceYourItemInTheBaggingArea · 27/08/2019 19:41

I agree with you all. Every word of it.
And especially Ross needing a good wash. He looks like he would smell unpleasantly

Sighs - I'll take one for the team and give him a good scrub down. The things I do for Mumsnet!

Persea · 27/08/2019 19:42

I agree it’s a real shame that this series just didn’t live up to quality of the previous 4, which I loved.
Tess was bloody irritating and the Ned/Kitty storyline just took up too much time for the final ever series.
Ross was also incredibly frustrating (which I never thought I’d say) and Demelza also annoyed me, with her simpering gratitude in the face of his ongoing recklessness.
Euugghh - I didn’t want to feel like this at the end.
Thank god for Dwight and Caroline!

IcedPurple · 27/08/2019 20:00

I wonder whose idea it was to leave most of his scenes on the cutting room floor

Certainly not a woman, that's for sure!

Yes, I too might have had an altogether more positive attitude to the entire series had they thought to give the tres beau Frenchman the screentime he deserved. Quel dommage!