After a long wait, the third series of BBC’s Poldark is finally here. The first couple of episodes have promised us a good mix of the expected melodrama and intrigue, along with new characters and story-lines. We’ve compiled 5 key facts for Series 3 to whet your appetite for things to come – (no major spoilers). If you know anything we don’t, let us know in the comments below!
Poldark is keeping his clothes on.
Aidan has suggested that his character will only be undressing for bed, so fans hoping for another scything scene will be disappointed. However, he has passed the baton of resident hunk on to new characters who may be catching the eyes of fans (and Prudie!) – particularly Harry Richardson playing Drake, already seen shirtless washing himself in the Penberth stream.
Mystery Baby?
Social media is full of speculation about Valentine Warleggan, Elizabeth’s baby born in the first episode of Series 3. Many are assuming he was the result of the most controversial scene of the last series. However, the producers were clear that they intended to honour the book, in which the baby’s father is never confirmed one way or another (at least until much later in the books). Before the days of Jeremy Kyle’s DNA tests, they had to guess so we shall have to follow suit!
New blood.
A fantastic array of new characters have been revealed, many of whom were introduced to us during the first episode. Demelza’s brothers (Drake and Sam) will be playing a big part, along with Ellise Chappell who plays Elizabeth’s cousin Morwenna. She and Drake become very close with each other, and form a close bond with young Geoffrey Charles (who has miraculously aged 7 years in the past few months!) but stay tuned… the romance between Morwenna and Drake is not due to be without issue. Meanwhile, Sean Gilder (formerly of Shameless) plays the rather rough Tholly Tregirls, a serial womanizer who has known Ross for most of his life, and is sure to drive an interesting plot line as he seeks his missing daughter. The Reverend Whitworth is also due to be introduced to us, and is likely to rival George Warleggan as the show’s leading villain – watch this space.
However, other actors will be disappearing from our scenes. Two deaths occurred within the first episode, and we’re sad to say they won’t be last in this series (but no spoilers!). Phil Davis, who plays Jud, has also confirmed that he will not be involved in this series – the actor committed himself to another series which offered him a larger part, though a return in the future hasn’t be ruled out.
New locations.
Don’t worry – the sweeping vistas of Cornish coast are still an integral part of the new series. New locations in the county are making an appearance, including Stepper Point where Elizabeth struggled with her horse in the first episode of Series 3, and St. Winwalloe Church where Dr. Enys and Caroline were married. However, new spots outside the county have been used, including several locations around Bristol. A tall ship in Bristol docks will be used in a future episode, and Sawle Church (where Valentine was christened) is actually filmed at Holcombe church in Somerset. More controversially, there have been some coastal scenes (yet to be seen) that are rumoured to have been shot in South Wales where the crew were spotted last year. We suspect this will be used to portray a foreign coastline (as the Cornish cliffs are hard to imitate) but we shall have to wait and see. We keep our Poldark filming locations guide updated each week, so click here to stay informed.
Still more to come.
Series 3 is based on the novels The Black Moon and The Four Swans, but these are respectively books 5 and 6 out of the total 12 books. That means there’s plenty of material for future series. Series 4 is pretty much guaranteed with filming due to start later this year, and while Series 5 hasn’t been finalised, it would take a significant drop in interest for it not to go ahead. Aidan himself has said he would be happy to continue into the future, so make yourselves comfy – there’ll be more to come!
