Poldark opens a treasure chest
There was good news last night for those Poldark viewers who, mainly, watch the show for aesthetic reasons.
The fourth series began with another beautiful shot of a windswept yet sunny Cornish beach.
Oh, and Ross Poldark walked out of the sea topless as if he was auditioning for the lead role in the Devizes Players’ production of Casino Royale. (“The name’s Poldark. Ross Poldark.”)
Must admit, I was surprised to see Aidan Turner giving his chest rug another airing. I’m sure I read that he felt all the fuss and frenzy about his six-pack was overshadowing the integrity of his craft. The BBC obviously cares more about the ratings, though. Given the spankings it has taken from Love Island, fighting fire with fire was probably not the worst idea.
The bad news was that Ross had his shirt back on pretty swiftly, and was soon wallowing in a dream sequence about his wife Demelza’s indiscretions with Hugh Armitage. The rest of the episode was fairly flesh-free, although it did get a little racy towards the end as Elizabeth Warleggan implored her husband George to forget his “election” for a few minutes and focus instead on something that rhymes with it.
She didn’t actually say that, of course. However, if at least half of the seven million viewers weren’t thinking it I’d feel sorry for writer Debbie Horsfield.
PS. Torso update. It looks like Hugh will be barechested next week. On the downside, it appears to be riddled with leech marks, but beggars can’t be choosers, eh?