Poldark was a terrific television series from PBS's Masterpiece Theatre (1975-77). I had visited Cornwall before seeing this series and was tremendously impressed by the coastal beauty of Land's End. It was a cool, windy spot overlooking a vast, rocky shoreline with a tremendous view out over the Atlantic Ocean. I have never forgotten this place and the outdoor scenes in Poldark brought it all back.
Robin Ellis plays the role of Ross Poldark, who returns from the Revolutionary War in America to resume his life in Cornwall on the craggy western coast of England. Most of his neighbours earn their livelihoods from the mines run by robber barons who cared little for the family breadwinners in their employ. As a result, many of the them turned to a life of smuggling along the coastal coves or plundering vessels stranded on the rocky waters.
Poldark was a headstrong man but had a big heart for the people, who lived at the mercy of the wealthy mine companies and landowners. Robin Ellis personifies the character superbly. It should be said that Poldark does not put up with any backsliding; he expects honesty and a hard day's work from his mine employees and his servants. However, he fights for the underdog with the same commitment he showed in going to America to fight for the people there against the colonial power of his own nation. That adventure didn't win him friends among his own class but he had no problem taking them on or even his own family in fighting for what was right.
The woman he was in love with, the elegant Elizabeth, married into the Warleggin family, while he was gone. Ross still has a strong attachment to her and this plays into his rivalry with George Warleggin, his cousin, who often double crosses Ross. Ross later marries a woman by the name of Demelza, who has a rustic upbringing but matures as Ross's wife and one who shares his concern for the downtrodden. A great TV series and one that has stayed with me over the years.
