Poldark (2015)

Watchseries; Quite good, unexpectedly good even. Comment coming from an original Poldark series fan (the second season of which I recently viewed again).

Considering the competition, the series start is very promising, hopefully they will keep it this way. Aidan Turner looks to be really on a par with Robin Ellis - which is astounding. A different approach but with essential nuances kept intact.

Goes without saying the scenery benefits from 40 ears distance and vastly superior technical possibilities (probably with a bigger budget also, relatively speaking), yet the atmosphere of the place the 1975 Poldark created can be immediately rediscovered.

The cast is alright, some pluses, some minuses for the corresponding characters in the Poldark of yore (I like a lot the new Prudie!).

Looking forward for the next episodes. The new Poldark might prove to be a hit and stand up along with the formidable old one in future's references. We'll be watching.

Quite good, unexpectedly good even. Comment coming from an original Poldark series fan (the second season of which I recently viewed again).

Considering the competition, the series start is very promising, hopefully they will keep it this way. Aidan Turner looks to be really on a par with Robin Ellis - which is astounding. A different approach but with essential nuances kept intact.

Goes without saying the scenery benefits from 40 ears distance and vastly superior technical possibilities (probably with a bigger budget also, relatively speaking), yet the atmosphere of the place the 1975 Poldark created can be immediately rediscovered.

The cast is alright, some pluses, some minuses for the corresponding characters in the Poldark of yore (I like a lot the new Prudie!).

Looking forward for the next episodes. The new Poldark might prove to be a hit and stand up along with the formidable old one in future's references. We'll be watching.

Poldark watchseries. Finally, something I love as good or even maybe more than Downton Abbey on Sunday night. It was so good - beautiful scenery, Aidan Turner is perfect for this part - good acting, good story line. It's got romance, drama, it's exciting, a man for the women to swoon over, beautiful English countryside, galloping horses; great costumes. It was just good and never, never boring or slow. It's got crazy English folks with bad teeth and it's just wild. I hope that it continues several years as I know I will be watching it. I've been so down and out since Downton went off in late Feb. I believe this show will definitely take the place of Downton, since it will be going off after the 6th season. Go Poldark!!

I watched a little of the adaptation made in the 1970's but found the lead actor rather lame, though Anghared Rees was splendid. This time, its simply superb. Well cast and directed, with sumptuous Cornish scenery, the first episode introduces the main characters with a great deal of skill. We are not shown everything and not all is obvious, so there is an element of guesswork for the viewer, which always adds to the enjoyment. I can't wait for episode 2 and the others. Its fabulous, and shows how very skillful the team who put this together are. The narrative has strong sub texts which add richness to the feel of this and the acting is very fine. The whole experience was rich, costume and storyline, suspense and symbolism of the man who will not take hand-outs but instead, chooses to make his own way despite the fists of fortune punching his nose...

Rarely do I find a tale that so draws me in and that is because the story is elegant and gritty, actors outstanding, and scenery simply stunning! The word, "noble" means something and not all noblemen demonstrate it. The relationships are not predictable, nor the storyline which shows the desperation of those who scrape by--mostly with honor--and some not troubled by honor but wealth. From our first introduction to Ross, he shows his character and it is impossible not to care about him the way he cares about those in his life. I rate it higher than even Downton Abbey, which I have followed with dedication, as I will with Poldark. I hope it is around for a decade at least!

My spouse and I have long been fans of the Poldark novels by Winston Graham, and of the 1970's TV series. We absolutely loved seasons 1-4 of this new adaptation. The scripts were faithful (in most particulars) to the books, and everything about the production was excellent: casting, directing, acting, music, locations, sets, costumes...everything! After a season or two, we had high hopes that this series would continue through adaptations of all 12 novels, the last 4 of which have never been filmed. After Season 4...well, we could not have been more disappointed with Season 5. I don't see how this season's opening title sequence can still carry the subheading "based on the novels by Winston Graham." The story line is completely off the books and off the rails. Characters act in ways that Winston Graham's creations would never have behaved. Much of the plot is implausible. There are far too many villains: a huge percentage of the screen time is spent with despicable people plotting and carrying out nefarious deeds; this quickly loses entertainment value and becomes tiresome. The last few minutes of the last episode are spent in a mad scramble to turn everything around and catch everything up to a point from which the rest of the novels could actually have proceeded. This whole season is completely ludicrous and unenjoyable to watch. If those responsible for this series weren't going to continue adapting the novels, they should have stopped at the end of Season 4.

Does this review contain spoilers? Not really, because this season was actually spoilt by the writers long before it was aired on TV.

The books, as many know, jump forward about 10-15 years at this point. For some reason, the team behind Poldark decided not to put a bit of grey into the hair of Demelza and Ross and go for it, and instead decided to try and back-fill on the years that Winston Graham skipped. Perhaps there's a reason he skipped them - maybe he had a premonition of how boring season 5 would be when it aired on BBC1.

In this season we're introduced to Despard (who was a real person, although I don't remember him appearing in any of the Poldark novels). We also spend far too much time in London and far too little time in Cornwall.

Demelza has turned into a bit of wimp, people in Cornwall have mastered the ability to cross the county in about 5 seconds and there's some militant serving girl running around causing trouble in Cornwall - the only believable thing about Tess as far as I can see is her accent.

So no - no spoilers. Just a hint of sadness that such a good adaptation has been ruined by a bad attempt at sensationalism.