Barrett Brountas: Our second season has come to a close, and naturally, it was an action-packed humdinger! Unrest rachets up to mayhem as the Village People take to Trenwith (decidedly NOT to perform a YMCA wedding dance).

CLIP

Jud We’ll set a ring round Trenwith – an’ burn it t’ th’ ground! Who is with me?

Barrett Newlywed George Warleggan wastes no time drawing up a border around his new family estate, Trenwith.

CLIP

George A man who owns land has a right to enclose it.

Tankard But to use force needlessly is to court enemies.

George  Are you becoming squeamish?

Tankard I merely question the virtue of provoking one’s neighbors. Great or small.

Barrett And, finally, Ross and Demelza rediscover each other.

CLIP

Ross All I can say is that after that night, because of it, I came to see that if you take an idealized love and bring it down to the level of an imperfect one, it isn’t the imperfect one that suffers. My true, real and abiding love is not for her,  tis for you. She will never come in between us again.

Barrett I’m Barrett Brountas, and this is Mining Poldark, a podcast from MASTERPIECE.

And I’m thrilled, as always, to be joined by my astute co-host, Robin Ellis, who played Ross Poldark in the 1970s MASTERPIECE adaptation of the Winston Graham novels. Hey, Robin!

Robin Hi Barrett!

Barrett Let’s be sure we hit all the big moments of this episode in our recap before we dig down deep on the specific scenes that spoke to us.

Robin I pleaded for a resolution a couple of podcasts back. And here it’s delivered in buckets like the tin pouring out of Wheal Grace but not without some bumps on the way. Demelza accepts a horse ride back with Ross after he’s persuaded the villagers not to torch Trenwith with George and Elizabeth inside. But back at Nampara continues to pack her bags and keep us on tenterhooks. This after seeing her loyal friend Verity’s advice without revealing all and still what she should do. Don’t run away. Follow your heart a dear wise and finally fulfilled Verity tells her holding her newborn child in her arms and she should know.

Barrett Ross holds Georgia’s head to the fire and we can almost smell his poofy curls burning Tom Harry actually fires his rifle at Demelza an angry mob descends on trend with with torches and pitchforks. Sorry I didn’t like that. An angry mob descends on trend with with torches and pitchforks. Ross and George are deadlocked in a Mexican standoff and even sweet natured Dwight craves the violence of the war and noting that it and noting that it will be long desperate and bloody. He asks where do I sign up?

Robin Ross on a mission to London and Plymouth surprises us with the wisdom of his advice to Caroline and Dwight and in doing so realises he might be talking to himself. Is this his road to Damascus moment? Well he changes his mind about rejoining his regiment in front of his peers and in full uniform. George now fully installed as master of Trenwith is stirring things up. He has Francis’ portrayed removed from its prominent position over the fireplace and after learning that Elizabeth is pregnant shocks her with the news he’s thinking of sending Geoffrey Charles away to Harrow School. Elizabeth looks bewildered. But after witnessing Dwight and Caroline’s true love close up the scales drop and he sees his obsession with Elizabeth with different eyes. His future lies with Demelza. Fortunately for him she decides to unpack.

Barrett So good this is absolutely my favorite season. This is everything I turn up for. So will you will you kick off with your first moment?

Robin Yes. Okay. This is. This is the third in a sequence of scenes which Ross in which Ross still seems to claim the historical context of his relationship with Elizabeth as an excuse for his behavior. Demelza has had enough and decides to use shock tactics. 

CLIP 

Ross Oh Demelza – it was one night. How long will it take you to forgive me?

Demelza I don’t know, Ross. How long would it take you to forgive me?

Ross That’s hardly the same. You would never do a thing which required my forgiveness.

Demelza Are you sure?

Ross When?

Demelza Werry House? After the ball? Captain McNeil came to my room.

Ross How could he dare?

Demelza Because I invited him. After your antics with Elizabeth, I decided I might have a turn myself…

Ross A turn? How far did…?

Demelza Oh kisses – caresses – then I sent him away.

Ross Oh good God Demelza – was that not enough? I tell you, I do not admire you for this. It does you no credit. Nor me neither!

Demelza And what credit did your night with Elizabeth do me?

Ross That’s entirely different!

Demelza How is it different?

Ross I take no pride in my visit to her – it was the outcome of a devotion which on my side lasted ten years! Not some tawdry little passion worked up over a glass of port with some opportunist soldier who took what was on offer.

Demelza That is precisely not what was on offer! I did not permit him.

Ross How do I know what you permitted?

Demelza You’re right, Ross! How do you know? If you trust me not – and I trust you not – then what is the point in this marriage at all?

Ross I entirely agree. What is the point?

Robin I don’t know where where he’s still holding on to this. This unwillingness to admit any kind of fault really. And I think it’s it’s a crucial scene because she decides Okay I will use this sort of. The weapon that I that I have up my sleeve which he doesn’t know and see if I can shock him out of his I don’t know whether that was in her mind but it appears to me that that kind of a such a subconscious motivation for me for admitting the tryst.

Barrett Yeah yeah I think that this is a great scene. I wish I’d included it in my list of violence because it’s really she. You use the you used the term weapon it is her her her weapon that she takes out in leveling this news at Ross that she has had a sort of a tryst light with Call Me Malcolm-MacNeil And you know it just illustrates how ugly things have gotten to me and that old chestnut, two wrongs don’t make a right. It wins her nothing. You know except to for him to just be more of a big baby. Now she has sunken. She’s ceded her moral high ground in this battle and she’s just gone to try to hurt him back because her hurt is so profound.

Robin Yeah.

Barrett And the look of disgust on his face. Oh! Did you think we could become more angry with him?

Robin Quite. Bit of a low point, isn’t this, really? I think though she I mean she doesn’t win at the time she doesn’t seem to make any impression at the time but as the episode goes on, I think this is it is actually a vital moment because very soon he gets into the coach and goes off to London in search of of Caroline.  

Barrett It does touch him, it makes him think I could lose her. 

Robin Yes I think at that thought starts to germinate in his mind. 

Barrett Yeah, yeah. But he’s just despicable, he’s just despicable. How long is it going to take you to forgive me? 

Robin Quite right. I do enjoy your your disdain and disgust at Ross, and I say it’s it’s very entertaining.

 Barrett Do you do you think that someday I’ll let you guys know how I really feel? 

Robin Oh wow. Absolutely. We look forward to that. Yeah. That will be explosive.

Barrett So I’ve chosen something you know often I try to choose scenes that we all sort of talked about as soon as we’d seen the episode. Oh my God. And and yet I’m chosen this time one of one of my choices is is a scene that I thought was so strange, a unique strange strange moment that almost seemed like it was out of another production. It’s a short scene. Demelza has come back from Verity’s childbirth and she got out of the coach early and she’s walking back maybe to give herself some more time before she gets back to Nampara to think about what she’s going to do. And she takes the. the like new trespassing shortcut that goes through some Trenwith land and she stops and sees Trenwith house. And I think she’s thinking, I’m not sure but it seems like she’s thinking am I going to go there or not. And then we see Elizabeth is comes out of the house and is walking and then she sees Demelza. In this very strange short scene Elizabeth is standing in this stone archway. So it’s kind of like a boundary you know and she’s on the cusp of it. Like she’s right in the middle of this archway and Demelza is on the other side of it and they’re both stunned seeing each other. And there’s just like so many feelings coming up for both of them.

CLIP

Elizabeth Does Ross know you’re here?

Demelza Is Ross my keeper?

Elizabeth Why have you come?

Demelza I thought ’twas to tell you that I hate you. You’ve marred my faith, you’ve broke my marriage. That I envy you. The passion which you roused that Ross could not withstand. That I pity you. Because you could never make up your mind. Now I wonder, what do any of it matter? What you did, Ross did, cannot be undone. And you both must live with that. But I need not.

Elizabeth What will you do?

Demelza I’ll take my son and I’ll go back to my father’s house.

Elizabeth You would leave Ross?

Demelza I will no longer be ruled by what he did. You’re welcome to him. 

Robin She’s brash, sort of passive isn’t she?

Barrett Yeah she’s passive but she’s also like is the word like gnomic? She’s a mysterious. It’s almost like she’s some kind of weird emotionless alien in this in this moment that plays off against Demelza so that Demelza can work out what she wants to do. And it’s like they’re in this weird almost like isolated bubble of time and space in this. I know I’m doing like no this is not Black Mirror or some sci fi show. But it seems so strange to me. Does this scene strike you as  strange at all?

Robin I completely agree, I think the gateway, it frames Demelza and Elizabeth it sets it up as a slightly surreal scene yet different really from from anything else that that one has seen before. And it is a surreal scene in a sense because here these two women face to face and it’s jaw dropping for both of them in a sense. I mean Demelza  intended to go but did she really think she succeeded and you know here she succeeded? And here she is succeeding and finds herself in front of Elizabeth. But in the end the result of it is revenge because she tells Elizabeth, you can have him. I will no longer be ruled by what he did. You’re welcome to him. And of course the irony is that for Elizabeth, she’s now married no longer free. It’s an absolute marvelous revenge although maybe Demelza didn’t sort of set out consciously to do that but the result is to make Elizabeth very unhappy, I think. It is a very unusual scene. And I nearly chose it as well. I thought it was quite out of the ordinary and there was a stillness about it too. And a singularity about it was very striking. And it wasn’t a fight between Ross and George and that. It was actually just still. And yes more powerful for that I think. 

Barrett Yes. Oh I’m so glad that I got to hear your thoughts about it because it really helps me understand what I found so it’s sort of puzzling and and unique and intriguing about this scene. What you got next?

Robin OK. Well my next. It took me a while to recover my composure from this and a handkerchief helped. Actually it’s Ross turning up in Plymouth and meeting Dwight by chance in the Navy pub and you know Dwight is suitably surprised to see him.

CLIP 

Dwight Is Demelza well?

Ross Couldn’t say. I’ve been in London.

Dwight What on earth took you there?

Ross Caroline. I went to thank her for the loan. And to congratulate her on her engagement. Which I was unable to do. Since it turns out there’s no such event.

Dwight I, I don’t understand…

Ross I also made mention of her uncle’s ill health. Which may account for her decision to visit him. Whether she has another purpose.

Dwight What? – So Caroline’s…? Where is she?

Ross Standing just behind you.

Robin And the shock between them of this this incredibly emotional moment it was absolutely devastating. I loved it. And then um after that wonderful moment they they go to another scene but come back to this and Ross’s is, I’d like to ask you about this about this speech that he made.

CLIP 

Ross Believe me, I do not lightly meddle in other people’s affairs. That’s been Demelza’s way, and often I’ve chided her for it. But lately I’ve come around to her way of thinking. She would say that if two people love each other, then the obstacles which keep them apart must be substantial, else they lack the courage of their convictions. I think she would also say that life holds very few things that are genuinely worth having. And if you possess them then nothing else matters. And if you don’t possess them then everything else is worthless.

Robin The look on his face. You can see that he’s realizing as he talks that in a sense he’s talking about himself. And it’s part of this process which started in the scene my first scene as it were, of gradually working on him to to reach the finale that we see in a few scenes time. What do you think? Did you remember the scene and that speech he makes to the two of them which is very straight and very un-Ross in a way. 

Barrett  Do I remember it? How could I forget it? Yes. What is so special about it is it is very unwraps as you say he and the next scene that I have, it’s the same thing. Ross is not an articulate man. He a doer. And you’ve been Ross like you portrayed Ross so maybe I’m wrong but that’s this is my impression of him. You know I think he doesn’t want to think about his feelings. He wants to do.

Robin He is a doer. Yes he’s a doer certainly.

Barrett Yeah. And so in this moment where he is he’s he’s sort of like channeling Demelza in order to begin to understand feelings and love and and the value that these have in a life, this is sort of his his first step in to being able to do that.

Robin That’s right! That’s how he gets in, he says, I’m not used to make making matches but Demelza is and then and that he absolutely right he uses that as a springboard into interests for this phlegmatic man quite an expressionful speech in fact.

 

Barrett Mm hmm. Yeah yeah. And he what’s interesting to me is that he does say when he says I think she would also say that life holds very few things that are genuinely worth having and if you possess them then nothing else matters. And if you don’t possess them then everything else is worthless. Like he doesn’t know yet that she’s gone that she’s you know she’s gonna be packing her bags and she’s out of there she’s done with him he’s still kind of you know he’s he’s just coming around to understanding what she means to him but this is in the abstract for him still. But I do love hat he steps out of his you know. Ross the action man role for these two because he owes them so much. You know he owes Caroline for saving his family and all the families that he tries to help support right? And he owes Dwight for just this years and years of friendship, true friendship. So to do this for those two is remarkable.

Robin And the fact that he’s doing it for someone else. He’s talking about not love but about other people’s love. It is a wonderfully emotional scene.

Barrett It really is. Oh and that reveal you talked about right before this where they’re discussing it. Oh what. What are the things I loved so much about that was when Ross says you know Dwight says, So Caroline where where is she? And Ross is standing just behind you. And when Dwight sort of leaps up turns around and sees her in there she is in the center, backed by this semicircle of all these you know sort of bawdy Navy men who’d been like drinking and toasting and you know like bro-ing it up in the pub in Plymouth, they’re now they’re all this sort of like quiet reverential semicircle behind her and she’s in the center. And so I loved that. And then she’s also not wearing her scarlet coat which is interesting it’s almost like she’s transformed into you know she doesn’t have her armor on. Right. Is that reading too much in? 

Robin Well I think scarlet coats probably don’t go very well going down very well in London maybe scarlet coats in the country? Possibly I don’t know. Yeah. OK. The moment where she turns round where he where he turns round and as you say she’s she’s in the center of this group of sailors it could be a great start for a for a musical number don’t you think? And if it was a musical, can you imagine the orchestra starts and they go into this fantastic. number, that’s the fantasy

Barrett In fact I think we need to put that Caroline in a in a great Busby Berkeley, right?

Robin Yeah. Hey look at all these 18th century sailors start dancing. I would love it.

Barrett Poldark the musical I’m sure that’s not the first time that people have said Poldark the musical. I think someone’s thinking of it somewhere right now.

Robin Fred and Ginger. Yeah. Fred and Ginger in 18th century costumes.

Barrett Yes it’s a perfect perfect sign me up. And then we’d have another podcast to do. 

Barrett Let’s take a quick break before our next scene to hear a word from our sponsors…

Barrett My next scene — we have Ross further down the road of his emotional articulateness t’s after the showdown the showdown at trend with and they’ve come home to Nampara. Oh just one quick thing about the showdown at trend with when Ross calms the mob right and they disperse and then he puts out his hand to Demelza and then she goes up on the horse and what interested me and maybe this is just regular riding you know which I have zero experience with but she has the reins as they continue back to Nampara, she’s holding the reins and I thought either this is just riding 101, or this is something for me to pay attention to, she’s in control.

Robin She’s holding the reins is she. Well I got an interesting technical question to ask the the horse masters at work in front in front of the horse and whether you whether you whether you for safety you take the reins or whether Yeah. Good question. Good question. But I mean in metaphorical terms it’s a good question to whether she’s actually taken the reins. 

Barrett Yeah right. Because when they get back home to Nampara they start talking Ross’s you know sort of reflecting.

CLIP

Ross To be in my family’s home – in full possession of…

Demelza Everything you hold dear.

Ross Not everything. But many things I hold dear.

Demelza You’ll get over it.

Ross Demelza? What are you doing?

Demelza I’m taking Jeremy – to my father’s house – an’ from there – who knows?

Ross You’re leaving me? I came back for you. I chose not to go to war.

Demelza ‘Tis not my concern what you choose. Only what I choose. And why would I choose a man whose heart b’long to another?

Ross You are my wife…

Demelza Raised from the gutter to be a great lady? But I’ll never be such a one – an’ what do I care? For I’m fierce and proud and steadfast and true. An’ I’ll not settle for second best.

Ross Why would you be?

Barrett This is a huge moment because she’s kind of always felt not good enough and remember that beautiful moment with Francis right before he died. You know he said he was basically like, you’re good enough you belong in this family you know.

Robin Right. Absolutely. It links right back to that doesn’t it, yeah. 

Barrett So then they go back and forth a little bit more like he’s astounded that she thinks that she would be second best. Like he doesn’t he hasn’t understood any. It turns out he hasn’t understood any of the way she was feeling. It’s just like this huge moment because he somehow realizes somehow Ross realizes something. He realizes that he has got to save their relationship. He’s got to find a way to articulate what’s been going on with him in a way that’s not like a complete buffoon. And he’s got to be very careful. So he A, tells the truth which is surprising, he really tells the truth. 

CLIP 

Ross I do not deny that I loved her. Long before I set eyes on you, she was my first, perfect, untouchable love.

Demelza Whereas I am dull, imperfect and ordinary.

Ross Not ordinary! But yes – imperfect. Human! Real! And what that night with Elizabeth taught me, God knows, there should have been other way for me to come to my senses…But my arrogance – my idiocy – has been spectacular. All I can say is that after that night, because of it, I came to see that if you take an idealized love and bring it down to the level of an imperfect one, it isn’t the imperfect one that suffers. My true, real and abiding love is not for her,  tis for you. She will never come in between us again.

Barrett And we I just like remember when he said a few episodes ago what was he like. I will never be this reckless again or some numbers. So I hope he’s right this time but it’s a huge, huge scene for all those reasons. t.

Robin It’s the combination of all the scenes in the episode that leads up to this. I just I wish he’d got on with it. And this the sentence I’ve learned that if you take an ideal love down to an imperfect, Oh Ross come on with it. And then he says my true real abiding love is not herb it’s for you. And I actually wrote down when I was taking notes this, Well done fella you finally got that right! He did take an incredibly long road but he did get there in the end. It’s a magnificent moment in the in the series in fact. The payoff is the is the next scene where it’s pretty much word wordless I think on the cliffs and truly the the the poison seems to have gone and has has just leaked out of their bodies and it sets up the new series believe very credibly and believably but yeah I loved it except that I just thought he could have got there sooner, really, you know? 

Barrett Yeah. He could have left out some of that language about her being imperfect and the perfect being brought down to the level. 

Robin Yes yes.  We understand you know we don’t really need all out. Y

Barrett I’m just going to make a quick mention of my last scene.  It’s Elizabeth and and Agatha together. And I think that even the clock is this. Well I don’t know. It’s late at night. Geoffrey Charles is asleep at Elizabeth’s feet. And and and Agatha and Agatha says that Elizabeth has made a pact with the devil.

CLIP

Agatha What did you expect when you made a pact with the devil?

Elizabeth I hoped, still hope, that George may be more accommodating once his child is born. 

Agatha He may. But are you willing to wait that long?

Elizabeth March is not so far away.

Agatha Unless it comes sooner.

Elizabeth  What? 

Agatha The child? 

Elizabeth Why should it?

Robin It’s a terrific shot of her that it sticks in the mind. 

Barrett This is how Elizabeth’s season two is ending, like her baby is gonna be born with a mop of black curls and a scar on its cheek. All right?

Robin Surprising she didn’t maybe have that in the back of her mind actually.

Barrett I know. She was very optimistic on the subject. George let’s say. 

Robin In denial.

Barrett Yeah that’s right in denial. So where is Ross for you at the end of season two?

Robin OK. Well he’s come out of the negative percentages I think probably I think because of that see his actions over Caroline and Dwight which were pretty, pretty good. I think I know he’s on the way up. I give him a four?

Barrett Very nice. OK. I can’t believe that I’m actually giving Ross a bit way bigger bump than you. I’m giving him a six.

Robin Oh! He’s made a leap.

Barrett I think what I like is he used my words it’s as though he heard me across across the reality versus fiction. And across the centuries that he heard me calling him an idiot of spectacular arrogance. So I like that he and I sort of were of one mind. He admitted his mistake and he really, really owned it and that’s what she had wanted. And he actually articulated his love for her and that he did this wonderful thing for Dwight and Caroline. So he’s he’s reached a high that he hasn’t seen since like Season one? I don’t know.

Robin Yeah. I think probably you’re you’re right and I’m a little ungenerous there.

Barrett No never.

Robin He is unpredictable.

Barrett Who is to know what’s going to happen to in season three? But I hope that I get to cover it all with you.

Robin Well I do too. Yeah. I look forward to it. Wow this was a great ending. It was a terrific ending. It was to the fact to see the ending to the fourth book. I think the the Warleggan book  I think that was the end of a sequence of the first four books.

Barrett So what’s the next book that we’ll pick up with on Season three

 

Robin I think it’s called The Black Moon. And Aunt Agatha looking forward to her one hundredth birthday. Poor thing. t’s not going to turn out quite as she she expects.

Barrett Well we will mine that and all things Poldark when we return to talk about season three. I can’t wait, Robin Ellis. thank you so much.

Robin Thanks very much, Barrett, it’s been a pleasure as usual. Bye bye.

Barrett As we say goodbye to Poldark, season two, series star Aidan Turner has a few more defenses for his seemingly indefensible Ross Poldark. Let’s hear a bit of those defense in his conversation with my colleague Jace Lacob on our companion podcast, MASTERPIECE Studio.

Jace Lacob

Jace: He tells Demelza at one point in this, in this episode, that Elizabeth has a hold on him because she was his first his sort of first perfect untouchable love.

Aidan: That’s right.

Jace: Um, you know, is that why he’s so torn between these two women? Um, the sort of realness of Demelza versus …

Aidan: Hmm.

Jace: … the fantasy of Elizabeth?

Aidan: I think it’s a lot of that. Yeah, the fantasy. I mean, he’s put her on this pedestal for, for years. I mean he’s idealized her. When he was away at war he was wearing that ring every day. You know, we, we’ve, we only imagine the situations that he would have been in, um, and, and, I think that was his escape. You know? Closing his eyes at night and just thinking about when he gets back home, that’s the first face I want to see. You know? That’s, the, I want to, I, I, I’ve … He could imagine, you know, living in a house and having kids and then … It, he, he, he created this entire world for years, and to not have that when he came back, I think it just rattled him. You know? He didn’t know what to do with his life. I think a lot of, a lot of things didn’t make sense and, and, and were, were, were meaningless at that stage. You know? He needed to start from scratch and, um, d-, you know, Elizabeth offers, I think, a very different, um, something very different than Demelza does. And, yeah. I mean, I don’t think he’s ever really gotten over it. You know?

Jace: Yeah. Well, I mean, Demelza consequently, what does she represent to him with her “imperfect realness” as Ross claims his true, real and abiding love?

Aidan I think he sees … If there like, there’s such a thing, and I kind of hate the term, but it’s like there’s a soul mate sort of quality to them, you know? That they’re, they’re like the s-, the two peas in the, in the pod kind of thing. You know? There’s I think he, uh, he, um, I think he sees the love of even himself in her. You know? He sees somebody that, that, uh … I think he finds her very entertaining and funny and she’s compassionate and she’s got a big heart and she doesn’t … She, it’s not about, you know, who you are. It’s, it’s, it’s about, it’s about who you are inside. You know? It’s not about what, you know, what you, what you represent on the outside and … She’s real. Um, and she cares about the important things. It’s not about status or money or, you know, what you do for a living. It’s, it’s, it’s about how, you know, it’s about how you, how you treat other people and, and where’s, where your respect lies and, and how big your heart is. And he saw that from the get go, I think. And, and she doesn’t, uh, you know, she doesn’t, she’s no walk over. Um, yeah. I mean, she’s just, she’s, uh …

Jace: She’s got a mean left hook.

Aidan: She’s, and she’s got a mean left hook.

Jace Is he speaking the truth when he says that Elizabeth won’t come between them again as he promises to Demelza?

Aidan: I think he believes that at the time. Yeah. I think he absolutely believes it but, you know, we … It’s, it’s life. Life kind of offers all sorts of curve balls. Doesn’t it? I mean, who knows? (laughs) Who knows what will happen? I mean, Ross could have a wobble again and something might happen. I mean, Ross is kind of, he’s, um, he’s sort of, he can be quite irrational in thought sometimes and, and he can … He’s not unshakable. You know? Um, yeah, yeah I do think he believes it, but, but, um, you know, anything could sort of happen, which I quite like, too. It’s, it’s, um, he’s, uh, he’s never really on steady ground, is he, when it comes to matters of the heart?

Barrett That was Poldark star Aidan Turner, in conversation with MASTERPIECE Studio host Jace Lacob. You can hear more of that interview and other interviews with the Poldark cast on our MASTERPIECE Studio podcast, available at pbs.org/masterpiecestudio, or on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Radio Public or wherever else you listen to podcasts.

Coming up next season:

CLIP

Ross You possess things I hold dear. My family mine, Wheal Leisure. My family home, Trenwith. And most importantly, my great aunt and nephew. 

George Is that all?

Ross Have a care for them. Do not use them as a means to injure me, or you will wish you had never been born. In return I will remove myself from your life. You will live in your world and I will live in mine – and there will be no need for our paths to cross ever again. 

Barrett We’ll unpack it here, on Mining Poldark.

And you can join us in our rewatching adventure here on Mining Poldark by watching the entire series on PBS Passport — a new member benefit from your local PBS station. You can watch select MASTERPIECE titles like Poldark, Downton Abbey or Victoria as a part of the Passport experience. To learn more, visit pbs.org/getpassport.

You can also follow along with us on the the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel, available as an add-on service to your Amazon Prime Membership.

Mining Poldark is hosted by me, Barrett Brountas, with co-host Robin Ellis. We’re produced by Nick Andersen, with help from Robyn Bissette. Meredith Wheeler is our field producer. Tina Tobey-Mack is our sound designer. Susanne Simpson is our executive producer. The executive producer of MASTERPIECE is Rebecca Eaton.

Sponsors for MASTERPIECE on PBS are Viking Cruises, Raymond James and The MASTERPIECE Trust. Poldark is a Mammoth Screen production for BBC, co-produced with MASTERPIECE.