The BBC is extending the run of Poldark. BBC One has increased the order for the show’s second season to ten episodes, two episodes more than the show’s first season, which consisted of eight episodes.
Penned by Debbie Horsfield, Poldark is set in late 18th century Cornwall when Ross Poldark returns from the American War of Independence to his beloved Cornwall to find his world in ruins: his father dead, the family mine long since closed, his house wrecked and his sweetheart pledged to marry his cousin. But Ross finds that hope and love can be found when you are least expecting it in the wild but beautiful Cornish landscape.
Based on the series of novels by Winston Graham and the 1970s television series, the drama series is produced by Mammoth Screen and stars Aidan Turner (Being Human), Phil Davis (Whitechapel), Jack Farthing (Blandings), Kyle Soller (Anna Karenina), Warren Clarke (Red Riding), Beatie Edney (Poirot), Alexander Arnold (Skins), Robert Daws (Holby), Eleanor Tomlinson (The White Queen), Ruby Bentall (The Paradise) and Heida Reed (Silent Witness).
Alongside the extended episode order, the BBC and series producer Mammoth Screen have also added to the cast of the ratings juggernaut, with John Nettles, Gabriella Wilde and Hugh Skinner boarding Poldark for its second season. Nettles has been cast as Ray Penvenen, one of the county’s wealthiest landowners; Wilde as his niece Caroline Penvenen; and Hugh Skinner as Unwin Trevaunance, a prospective MP who hopes that Caroline will agree to marry him.
Poldark’s second season is set in 1790 and there is riot and revolution in the air. Ross Poldark must once again fight for his freedom when George Warleggan tries desperately to steal his mine and have him hanged as a revolutionary. Crippled by debts, Ross and Francis try to heal old wounds by joining forces in a new mine free of the Warleggans. But Ross and Elizabeth’s feelings for each other cannot be repressed, and Ross risks everything in a desperate smuggling venture.
Production on the new run of episodes is currently underway across Cornwall and Bristol, including the Bottle Yard Studios, ahead of a 2016 premiere on BBC One. Margaret Mitchell is the series producer, while Debbie Horsfield, Karen Thrussell, Damien Timmer and Liz Kilgarriff will executive produce. William Sinclair (Vera, Misfits) and Charles Palmer (Poirot, Death in Paradise) have come on-board to direct the show’s second season, which was once again penned by Debbie Horsfield.
“It’s exciting to be bringing this wonderful cast back together as we continue the story of Poldark”, said Poly Hill, the BBC’s Controller of Drama Commissioning. “Debbie has done a magnificent job once again, bringing the next two books to screen – so much happens she needed a further two episodes ! I know fans of the show will be once again gripped by what happens to all those much loved characters, as well as enjoying the new characters who have joined us.”
