Poldark Series 5 is coming !!!!!!!!!
Top16 things to watch out for
Series 5 of Poldark is
airing in the UK on BBC1 on 14th July 2019. Aidan Turner stars as Ross Poldark
and Eleanor Tomlinson as Demelza Poldark. Series 4 took us to the end of the
book 'The Angry Tide' which was the 7th book in the Saga. The next book 'The
Stranger From the Sea' is 10 years ahead and rather than have the actors age up screen writer Debbie Horsefield has written series 5 to document what went on during the
first 2 years of that 10 year gap in the story. This would be 1800 to
1802. She had said that she would use the hints in the later books and
references made to events that happened in that period in order to help her construct a
story. So for the first time she has a much freer reign to present us a series
of Poldark based more on her own creative ideas than being constrained to the detail of a story as told by the
books author Winston Graham.
This is my top 15 points
of what I expect to see in series 5 based on the books. Therefore this is filled
with spoilers galore in respect of the later books. I hereby insert a disclaimer alert as the chances of any of this top 15 making the cut really depends on the free will of the series 5 writer and her
interest in keeping to the spirit of Winston Graham's writings or taking a
different road.
1. Ross becomes an 18th Century James Bond
The books document that
although Ross initially wanted to turn his back on politics and lead a quieter
life after the Angry Tide (the end of series 4), he almost immediately falls
into work as a government agent with missions to the West Indies, Norway and to
France (with Dwight) in just that first two year period alone. So he's hardly
ever home. Poor Demelza! I expect that Ross, the renegade will revel in this slight
change of career and this should bring much suspense and tension to Series 5.
2. Serious theft at the mine (1802)
Presumably with Ross being away so much, just like in series 4 Demelza will continue as de facto boss and will be running the mines in Ross’ absence. There is therefore scope for Demelza to be central to this story line and how the Poldarks become aware that this theft is taking place.
3. Baby Isabella Rose is born (1802)
Most likely and indeed true
to form, in between missions Ross takes the opportunity to impregnate his wife
and hey presto Baby Isabella Rose (aka Bella) is born. This is some time
between April and June 1802. She is their four child and I am hoping that we get to see a pregnant Demelza
and that Bella's birth is what closes the series out. That would represent a
new beginning but yet a lovely ending for the series.
4. John Treneglos makes an indecent proposal to Ross about Demelza
In 'The Stranger From
the Sea' we are told that John Treneglos (who has always had an eye or even two
eyes for Demelza) has the nerve to suggest to Ross an indecent proposal concerning Demelza. They
were both staying overnight at a venue following a fancy dinner and John
lamenting on how he could give Demelza a good time between the sheets and swearing that he had just missed
out on his chance with Demelza years before at Hugh Bodrugan's party, suggests a
wife swap that night. Ross would enjoy the delights of Ruth Treneglos nee' Teague,
whilst John would sample the delights or Demelza. He is lucky not to have sampled the delights of Ross' fist in his right eyeball. Though Ross was more peaceably unimpressed with this proposal adapting
this scene would surely make for some comedic relief and I'd love to see Ross'
scowl of annoyance once again.
5. George in mourning
It is obvious that
George will surely be in mourning for much of series 5. The porcelain beauty and trophy of Elizabeth is dead (unbeknown to him by her own misadventure). This through child birth and delivering their one and only true spawn Ursula Warleggan. Sorry Valentine! Maybe this series we will not get
to see a mean and nasty George always trying to get one up on Ross. He'll
either go full throttle with this and also in his business wheeling and dealing, or he'll go the
other way and turn into a shell of his former self. The latter is quite a possibility as the
books document that the unwritten 10 year period is a time of peace between
Ross and George and they stay out of each other's way.
6. Ross negotiates Geoffrey Charles' income from George
Ross being a good uncle
to Geoffrey Charles is reported to have negotiated a yearly income for him from
George. This is despite Geoffrey Charles wanting nothing from George and
reluctantly accepting this when bullied by Ross to do so. This would be a great
opportunity to bring Ross and George together with the much loved frostiness we
love to see from them. Indications are that the negotiations are not straightforward. George's purse strings remain tight even in mourning.
7. Baby Sophie Enys is born
(1801)
8. Dwight's mission with Ross and mission for Lunacy
Following the tragic
loss of their first child Sarah, Caroline and Dwight get a second chance at
parenthood. Baby Sophie Enys. According to the books she is born in 1801 and it will
be lovely to see Caroline in the role of mother again. Plus Baby Sophie and
Bella can then have lots of play dates and be best friends.
8. Dwight's mission with Ross and mission for Lunacy
Dwight is referenced as joining Ross on a mission to France in 1802 and following his previous experience of assessing an apparently mentally unstable
Morwenna at the behest of her loving husband (NOT!) Reverend Ossie, he becomes interested in the treatment of lunacy. He begins to campaign
for better treatment, provisions and hospitals. This might then but if not should end up being a
key storyline for Dwight this series. It is one that sings to his characteristics as the progressive thinking 18th century doctor with a brilliant bedside manner.
9. Drake and Morwenna deal with her Post Traumatic stress disorder
An apt ship name for Mowenna and Drake would be 'Morake'. That is inspired by More-head- ake. Though they are a
newly married couple having married in series 4, their story has been harrowing. The marriage was agreed under a promise from Drake
that Morwenna need not provide him his carnal rights until she is fully ready. Untill then they would be man and wife on paper only. Morwenna is damaged and broken
from years of abuse from her deceased husband Reverend Ossie. Their story line
surely has to follow her process of healing as much as she can do and getting to a point where she
can be a wife to Drake in the full sense of the word.
10. Morwenna gets pregnant and/or Baby Loveday is born
The later books in the saga tells us that Morake do end up having a daughter and she is born in the earlier half of the unwritten 10 years. Indeed it would provide some light to the shade for Morwenna to become pregnant this series. This is with a child conceived in love rather than marital rape and maybe even for her to give birth to baby Loveday at some point in the series too. That might mean three babies born in one series! Is that too much to ask for? Certainly it would appear to be that Cornwall was experiencing somewhat of a baby boom.
The later books in the saga tells us that Morake do end up having a daughter and she is born in the earlier half of the unwritten 10 years. Indeed it would provide some light to the shade for Morwenna to become pregnant this series. This is with a child conceived in love rather than marital rape and maybe even for her to give birth to baby Loveday at some point in the series too. That might mean three babies born in one series! Is that too much to ask for? Certainly it would appear to be that Cornwall was experiencing somewhat of a baby boom.
11. Morwenna tackles the problem of John Conan
Series 4 did not follow the book's storyline which documented that Morwenna could not bond with her son John Conan. After all he was the spawn of her nasty husband and abuser conceived through rape. After her abuser's death she willingly left John Conan and reunited with Drake. She did not want to see her son. However the TV show depicts Morwenna in quite the opposite way as it was shown that she had bonded with her son and that she wanted to care for him instead of the nannies that Ossie and his mother were hiring and replacing left right and centre. Clearly there is then unfinished business with John Conan being left in the care of the hard face grandmother, mother of Ossie, Lady Whitworth. Therefore we should expect a story on Morwenna pursuing contact or even full care of John and how this might impact on their marriage. Is Drake up for a blended family and therefore a mini Ossie Osborne to care for?
Series 4 did not follow the book's storyline which documented that Morwenna could not bond with her son John Conan. After all he was the spawn of her nasty husband and abuser conceived through rape. After her abuser's death she willingly left John Conan and reunited with Drake. She did not want to see her son. However the TV show depicts Morwenna in quite the opposite way as it was shown that she had bonded with her son and that she wanted to care for him instead of the nannies that Ossie and his mother were hiring and replacing left right and centre. Clearly there is then unfinished business with John Conan being left in the care of the hard face grandmother, mother of Ossie, Lady Whitworth. Therefore we should expect a story on Morwenna pursuing contact or even full care of John and how this might impact on their marriage. Is Drake up for a blended family and therefore a mini Ossie Osborne to care for?
12. Sam and Rosina get married
In the books the stars
aligned, cupids arrow was shot and these two began courting in 1803 and married
after three years in 1806. Three years! Why so unusually long for that time? They
surely make a well matched couple and this is Rosina's third chance at love.
Third time lucky evidently. Even though in the books this is outside the 2 year
period covered by the show, I expect a wedding for these two will feature in the show as
the timeline may not be so strictly followed and the temptation would be too
great to leave this great event out of the cut. In that case series 5 should provide us
with at least one new and cute romance for Sam as he starts with a courtship ending in marriage to
Rosina probably towards the end of the series.
13. Jeremy becomes fascinated with steam engines
Jeremy Poldark is only 9
years old at the start of this series so we cannot expect much storyline from
him. However in 'The Stranger From the Sea' we are told that it was in 1801
that he rode horseback to Tehidy with his father Ross to visit Lord De Dunstanville (Francis
Basset) and that on the ride back to Nampara they saw a steam train for the first time pass by them.
This marked the beginning of a passion that Jeremy goes on to have for steam engines
and which is explored when he is older in the later books. Though a little
matter and hardly a full blown storyline, it would be forward thinking to insert this scene and by doing so
sow the seed to be picked up in series 6 or 7. Even if this most probably never materialises. Besides, this scene would provide a nice opportunity for father son
bonding as well as giving the viewer an inkling as to Jeremy becoming his own
person (rather than a mute extra) with hopes and dreams that are beginning to form and an understanding of when and how this passion started.
14. Geoffrey Charles goes off the rails and into debt
This is a situation of
“like father like son". Rip Francis Poldark who nearly drowned in his debt but instead definitely drowned in water.
We saw Geoffrey Charles
starting to veer off the rails in series 4 and indeed the books report that he
definitely was poor with budgeting in the early years from 1800 after his
mother's death. Despite securing a decent income from George, in the years up to
1802 he gets himself into serious debt and Ross has to bail him out of those
hefty sums on not one but two occasions. Still it is typical for Ross here in his role as uncle to save the day again. This situation could be fleshed out into a full blown storyline as we watch Geoffrey Charles get himself into debt and struggle to get out of it before caling for help.
15. Geoffrey Charles becomes a soldier
It seems that sending
your child to war may have been a standard way to straighten out a kid going
off the rails in the 18th century. Ask Joshua Poldark. Some might say it did
wonders for Ross, even if it was at the cost of his sweetheart losing interest
and deciding not to wait for him when a better offer came along. Although indications are that Geoffrey Charles made the decision to become a soldier himself and though this development actually takes place
when Geoffrey Charles is 22 years old in 1806, I expect that this will be another
storyline that is brought forward for series 5. It serves to give Geoffrey Charles'
character a purpose or goal, and a storyline that is quite fitting to provide some eventual remedy for his wayward ways and to get him free from his evil step father.
16. Valentine as a troubled
child
In the later books
Valentine presents as a off key teenager and eventually a troubled 20 something
year old. It is implied that this stems from his troubled childhood and strained
relationship with his father George. In reality (that is, in
fiction) he does not have much meaningful contact with Ross until book 11
(Twisted Sword). At this point he is about 22 years old. However we have seen from Series 4 that the adaption does not keep to the spirit
of the books on this matter. Indeed the scene where Ross visits Elizabeth,
gives a stare to a young Valentine which seems to reflect some kind of paternal acknowledgment and then salutes
him, does not happen in the books. In the books Ross is reluctant to accept paternity and does not even find the 20 something Valentine likeable.
Whilst I would not expect or want to see Valentine joining the Nampara househod for Sunday roasts and for play dates with Jeremy and
Clowance in series 5, because it is too far removed from the story of the books, we can presume that the writing will ensure that Ross and
Valentine's paths will cross for purposes of TV drama. I guess this is likely to be linked with Ross' guilt at the manner of
Valentine's conception, his guilt over Elizabeth's death and his guilt over the
impact on Valentine who in turn may reach out as a lost child who has difficulties
in his relationship with 'daddy' George. Of course this could also be an issue that
bring Ross and George together to clash and butt heads for series 5. Imagine the irony of
George demanding that Ross stays away from his son. Awkward!
It will be interesting
to see what main stories are built to frame and carry series 5, how the new
characters fare in this and how they appeal to us too. It will also be of interest to see
how much series 5 will honour the story of Winston Graham as referenced in the
books and listed above or if there will be a wild departure from this. Whatever the case we
hope for a brilliant and compelling story that does Poldark proud and closes this final series out superbly.
What storylines would
you most like to see in series 5?
Poldark series 5 debuts
on UK Television on BBC at 9pm on 14th July 2019 for a run of 8 episodes
Episode 1 Commentary
Episode 2 Commentary
The Magic of the 'Fall in Love' (Ross & Demelza: The Love Story- Pt4)
Just a Boy and Girl Attachment (Elizabeth: A Love for Ross Poldark -Pt5
Ross and Demelza Poldark: A Stocking full of Love
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