Poldark confirms final season

The BBC has confirmed the fifth season of Poldark will be its last.

Filming began this week in Cornwall, Bristol and surrounding areas with Aidan Turner and Eleanor Tomlinson back as Ross and Demelza Poldark.

Series four was based on the seventh novel The Angry Tide but author Winston Graham left a gap of 10 years before the eighth novel, The Stranger from the Sea, begins. Following the cliffhanging end to series four, there had been international speculation as to where the next series will proceed.

Debbie Horsfield, who has written every episode, explained, “In The Stranger from the Sea Winston Graham made many references to developments that happened in the ‘gap’ years. Much can also be inferred. There are, of course, also historical events and people of the time, both in Cornwall and in London. Series five will draw on all of these to follow the lives of the Poldarks, George Warleggan, the Enyses, and the Carnes in this intervening period.”

Andrew Graham, son of Winston Graham and series consultant on behalf of the Winston Graham Estate, says: “No-one can know what my father would have felt about the forthcoming series, let alone what he might have written. However, Debbie Horsfield has demonstrated such an extraordinary affinity with his work and shown such remarkable skill in bringing his Poldark characters to the screen that we know we are in safe hands. Indeed, without her, the Estate would not have agreed to series five in this form.”

Also returning are Jack Farthing (George Warleggan), Luke Norris (Dr Dwight Enys), Gabriella Wilde (Caroline Enys), Ellise Chappell (Morwenna Carne), Harry Richardson (Drake Carne), Tom York as Sam Carne, and Beatie Edney as Prudie. A number of new cast members are joining for series five, including Lily Dodsworth Evans (Genius), Kerri McLean (Electric Dreams) and Sofia Oxenham (Grantchester). Vincent Regan (300), Peter Sullivan (Entebbe) and Freddie Wise (Maleficent 2), although the parts they are playing have not yet been disclosed.

It is a new century and with it comes the promise of a hopeful future, but the past casts a long shadow over Cornwall. Following the death of Elizabeth, Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner) resolves to put Westminster behind him and spend more time with the people he loves. However, when an old friend emerges with a plea for help, Ross is compelled to challenge the establishment again. As the Enyses (Luke Norris and Gabriella Wilde) rally to join the cause, Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson) must contend with dangers close to home, while George (Jack Farthing) courts corrupt powers whose influence spans the Empire.

Poldark returns in 2019.