Milz

Cousin WA's most pivotal role is that he was the one who told Charles and Francis Blamey's dark secret. Other than that I'm think he was background only.

I read the books, so there really aren't any spoilers for me. ;-) The secondary characters have been introduced so quickly or not introduced at all. Clergyman Cousin William Arthur isn't on P15 or P75 as far as I can remember. I'm not sure if Dr. Choake and his lisping wife Polly have been introduced in P15 either. If P75, P15, PN (Poldark novel) is understandable, let's use it because it's easier to write out that 75 version, Poldark books, 15 verions . :-)

So I guess they introduce Jinny and Jim in P15 episode 3 or later?

The "riding across fields" is supposed to symbolize the passage of time. I haven't figured out if the number of times Ross rides back and forth is supposed to indicate days, weeks, months. Frankly, I think it would have been better if they had a caption like June 1788 or Christmas 1789. Jud and Prudie are the housekeepers at Nampara but they are also lazy and somewhat irresponsible. So as Demelza grew up, she took over many of the jobs Prudie and Jud are supposed do. Ross bringing Demelza into town to make household purchases is something he had to do. It also gets the gossips gossiping.

I wish they kept true to the book. Graham's version was I think Ross' point of view is that Blamey paid for the death with his naval career, his children (in the book he and his wife had two children), and his own incarceration and Blamey has remained sober, so give him a chance.

Dean Andrews plays Robbie. Gillian's first boyfriend and foster/adopted brother-in-law (her husband and Robbie were adopted), and sometime boyfriend.

True, as 21st century viewers we have a different perspective of the world. But if we were mid 20th century viewers/reader we might not have thought twice about Verity believing Blamey is completely reformed and would never drink another drink again. i don't know if this adaptation will address the other relationships in the books, only time will tell.

One of the themes of the books is putting the past in the past and getting on in the present and future. Mostly the women do this in the books while the men are stuck in the past, especially Ross and George.

This is something they should not have rushed through. In the book, Ross and Verity are very close like brother-sister-BFF. Verity is the only Trenwith Poldark who visits Ross with any regularity. So Ross knows Verity more than Charles or Francis. When Verity tells Ross about Blamey's past, Ross takes her word for it that Blamey has reformed. He also has the attitude that Verity is so much in love with Blamey that it doesn't matter if he was a drunk and wife killer.

I watched the 70s version in the 80s, the rewatched it in the early 2000s, then read the books shortly thereafter. I've only watched the first 2 episodes of the '15 version, but so far the claim that it's true to the books is the Ross-Demelza story, Charles, Aunt Agatha and maybe Verity. But it misses the boat on Elizabeth, and Jud and Prudie. In the first episode I think they did a good job with Francis now I'm not too sure. They're also changing the timeline. By this time in the books, we already know the Mellin tenants and the awful Clemmow brothers. Lots of things that happen in Mellin come back to haunt Ross (even if he had no part in it like Benjy's paternity).

This version is addressing 18th century class systems in a 21st century egalitarian way. It's kind of hollow when Jud warns Demelza to stop having ideas that she's one of Poldark's class when the miners call him "Ross". Another thing I found ironic is that Francis hates that Blamey treated his wife cruelly , kicking her, and killing her, while backhanding Verity to the point that she falls on the ground when she tries to stop him from dueling.

Okay, I'm late to the thread but here it goes......Was it Sister Quayle who kept the order and the fruitcake? I'm watching this on the PBS site because I'm asleep by 10 PM.

This is the 3rd series. It's began showing in the US about 2 years ago. That wasn't Damian Lewis. Gary is played by Rupert Graves. I'm glad PBS is airing this again! Anyhow, I still think Kate is way too good for Caroline. I love that Gillian and Caroline are acting more sisterly to each other. But WTF? It will be a small wedding only the immediate family--Celia, Alan, William (the son at oxford), Aunt Muriel and a few friends from university? No wonder Gillian declined the half-hearted invitation when she Rafe and Calamity are afterthoughts. Gillian...WTF is she with Robbie when Robbie and dingbat are supposed to be a couple? Gillian, Gillian, Gillian!

I think it's a silly way to portray the "awkward teenaged years". This production makes Francis out to be an easily manipulated milksop and a potential cuckold. I agree about the rushed Verity-Blamey romance: she meets him at the Ball and a couple of days later they want to get married. I wish it was more faithful to the book where Blamey is a guest at Francis' wedding and that's where she and Blamey start their romance. I also wish it was more faithful to the book that Elizabeth didn't rush over to Nampara to beg for Ross' help with the situation and rush to Nampara again to collect the injured Francis and tell Ross, "Oh by the way, I'm pregnant." And finally I wish it was more faithful to the book where Francis wasn't as gravely injured requiring Ross to perform battle field emergency medicine on him. In the book, after Francis is carried into the house, he regains consciousness and is okay because the wound is minor, just like Blamey's hand wound. I know that they want to viewer to understand from the beginning that George Warleggan is the bad dude. But, whispering into Francis' ear at every opportunity to convey that to the viewer is really insulting. And the implication that, George is a pimp who has Margaret the whore waiting for Ross to come along. What's next? George is importing opium from China so we know how much of a big time gansta he is? In the books there is a underlying subtext that the reason Charles and Francis didn't want Verity to get married and have her own family is because Elizabeth is too frail and too delicate to run Trenwith by herself. This Elizabeth isn't that frail and isn't that delicate if she can walk or horseback ride from Trenwith to Nampara and back again while in her first trimester.

After seeing episode 1 and 2 of the new series, the 70s series differed from the books with Ross and Demelza's shot gun marriage only. The rest of it in terms of the timeline and the secondary characters are much more faithful to the books.

When Debbie Horsfield says "I didn’t feel under any ­pressure about the 1970s adaptation. If I was under any pressure it was to do ­justice to the books.” and "“I felt no pressure at all because my source is the book not any previous ­versions, the same as if I’d done an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. The source is what I felt I had to do a good job on. I didn’t think at all about any previous adaptation.”, then comparisons to the book are completely valid. . http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/mar/08/bbc-poldark-adaptation-eleanor-tomlinson-aidan-turner

I'm loving BUZZR. I really like I've Got a Secret and What's My Line. My only complaint is these and To Tell The Truth are on early in the morning, when I should be watching the news for the weather and traffic reports.

Oh my, will his caption on the show now read "Sir Nigel Lithgoe OBE"???

Whoa! I saw an episode of Hot Mess, yesterday. The case was a mother who bought a car for adult son. Per mom, son was supposed to pay her back $115 per month. Son says there was never an agreement that he'd pay her and that it wasn't the type of car he wanted in the first place. He did, however, get the car registered in his name and got it insured (which is suspiciously odd behavior for anyone on a court show, but I digress.) And he said she wanted him to pay $1500 immediately and then pay $150 per month. So mom shows an email where he more or less acknowledges the payments he is supposed to make. The Judges convene: Judge Larry essentially says the son is a scammer and mom shouldn't be out the money. Judge Tanya says she's not sure if there was a contract. Judge Patricia gives a mini-lecture about contracts. Judge P. and Judge T. don't take the email acknowledgement into account and don't buy Judge L's argument that scammer accepting the car fulfilled a contract's offer-acceptance criteria. They decide that either scammer pays mom or he gives mom the car back. So, then I watch JJ and the dog who came in from the gale force winds and killed the cat case. JJ tells smirky doggie defendant that morally he should have offered to pay for at least half of kitty's vet bill. And when smirky tells her he did offer to pay, JJ ruled for the plaintiff with smirky paying 1/2 of the vet bill. Because JJ took smirky's admission that he was willing to pay as a acknowledgement of liability.

Book Ross was "high spirited" and had some indiscretion that prompted him to go into the army. But he wasn't any less than a gentleman for that and it's clear in the book that he wasn't any less either. Book Ross knew his place and what was expected of him as a member of an old, landed, but not titled family. Here's the thing. Ross isn't Elizabeth's true love. Elizabeth is Elizabeth's true love. And it was Elizabeth's decision to marry Francis: Mama didn't push her into it. At least, that's how it was in the book and the 70s series: Elizabeth tells Ross that she loved Francis and any feelings she did have for Ross two years prior were a kind of puppy love and nothing more. Book Elizabeth doesn't turn into a cold bitch: she's one from the start.

IIRC, Winston Graham based Demelza's physical appearance on his wife. Anyhow, I agree that George is all wrong physically speaking. The personality is similar so far. But Elizabeth is all wrong. I hope they don't cop out and change Elizabeth as her marriage to Francis continues. Elizabeth was a cold, self-centered bitch when Francis married her: she didn't evolve into one.

I fell asleep after Poldark. But I plan to watch it on the PBS website later today and will probably just watch it on the website.

Elizabeth is changed. Book Elizabeth and Jill Townsend's Elizabeth loved Elizabeth more than anyone else (except maybe Geoffrey Charles) and money/wealth/status more than any non-living thing and those were the reasons why she picked Francis over Ross. I'm not getting that from this Elizabeth, unless they do something like harden Elizabeth up after she realizes how horrible it is married to Francis. And Jud and Prudie in the new version are coming off like as mean and lazy, not funny and lazy like they are in the books and 70s series.

I saw very little acting from Turner beyond smolders, glowers, grimaces, and a look of extreme constipation. Of course this could be the fault of the director. Ross Poldark has plenty to be miserable about when he returns from America. But unlike the Warleggans, Jud, and Zackie, Ross is a gentleman. Walking about with a face like thunder isn't what a gentleman did back in the day: they grinned and bore it. This is the first episode, and I'm not going to bail out on it yet. But if it keeps ups this way, I'll stick to the books and toss this series into the heap. I'd rather have Ross be a moron for obsessing over self-centered Elizabeth than this kinder gentler version. It made the reader root for Demelza, feel sorry for Francis, and . And Demelza should have dark hair, not Lucille Ball Red. If she doesn't come across like a fish wife like Angharad Rees' Demelza did at times, I'll be happy. This kinder gentler version of Elizabeth might have been happy with Ross, but not book Elizabeth, imo, nor Jill Townsend's Elizabeth. Elizabeth was a cold "B".

It's not you. The first episode left me feeling unsatisfied. Turner smoldered, but that's all he did: smolder. Ross Poldark in the books is a complex character who only smolders when he's with Elizabeth and Demelza, never while yelling at Judd and Prudie, or talking with Zackie Martin. BTW, that scar looks like a really bad prison tattoo. Seriously, I found myself cheering for the Carnes during the Nampara brawl. So far, I like Verity, George Warleggan, and Garrick. They seem to come across as they should. Elizabeth.....In the later books, Francis tells Demelza that Elizabeth loves only loves Elizabeth, which is partially why she married Francis (he was the Poldark with the $$$$$$$$$$$) . That's what made Elizabeth a character to dislike because you can't understand why Francis or Ross would be in love with someone that superficial and that self-serving. I'm not getting that from this Elizabeth. This one seems to be easily bullied by her mother and not so in love with herself (and money) that she has a soft spot for Ross. Francis: Gosh they've really made him into a dandy and fop. Jud and Prudie: WTF???? They're supposed to provide comic relief. There was nothing remotely funny or comedic about them. They're coming across as mean slovens, not funny ones. Demelza: I'm reserving judgment right now. I'll continue watching and hoping the characters develop more.