Poldark: ready for Season Phwoar!!
The popular series is back for a fourth season, as is the bare-chested bravado of its gloweringly handsome tin mining hero, writes Susie Coen
QUICK, pass me the spyglass! Who is that handsome devil emerging from the foaming waves without blame, without shame but, most importantly, without his shirt? Be still, my beating heart. For it is none other than Captain Poldark, back to thrill us all afresh with his tin-mining skills, his swashbuckling bravura and his pleasing willingness to pose topless around the Cornish countryside, whether the plot demands it or not.
The topless scything scene in the first series implanted a thousand farming fantasies in a million minds, as did the unforgettable naked swimming scene. Later, Poldark was sponged in the bath in front of a roaring fire by his wife Demelza – what a tease.
And now we have this. The return of the delicious Aidan Turner, the chest hair on his tanned torso rippling in the wind for the forthcoming fourth series. And those flesh-coloured, barely-there breeches! They demand a second glance, at least. All I can say is hurrah for Ross and hurrah for us girls, who’ve been gripped by Aidan’s portrayal of Poldark since the new adaptation of Winston Graham’s novels was brought back to our screens by the BBC in 2015.
Whether storming around the Cornish cliffs in his frock coat (lovely), his big boots (crikey) and his tricorn hat (tremble), this new Ross has been a hit with the ladies since day one. With his boyband hair and perma-scowl, he is an irresistible blend of Rhett Butler and Mr Rochester – and now by emerging from the water like a damp god, he has thrown in a dash of Mr Darcy in for good measure. In the Pride and
Prejudice miniseries from 1995, there is an unforgettable scene where Mr Darcy, played by Colin Firth, strides out of a lake in a dripping wet shirt.
That was the sexy moment that started it all, the one that launched the double standard – so prevalent today – that makes it acceptable for women to gently perve aloud over the finely muscled, tortured heroes of period drama (and elsewhere), while men risk being sent to feminist jail should they dare to speak of women in the same way.
Imagine the fuss if any male commentator were to suggest that an actress playing Elizabeth Bennet in Austen’s Pride and Prejudice or, for that matter dear Demelza, would look pretty damn cute in a wet T-shirt? The Twittersphere would explode in horror. Yes, we women can ogle, but men can’t. Is that entirely fair? No. But it is entirely wonderful. One could argue – and I do – that women have centuries of female oppression to get even with. We’ll never be able to punish boys enough for all that cavemen nonsense and then holding out on letting us vote. Then there are the decades of endless novels, films and TV series where female characters were little more than a cleavage or a skirt or an empty receptacle for male sexual needs.
So, don’t even start on us for getting innocently excited about our beloved Poldark. A topless Aidan Turner, 34, is the icing on the beefcake. The Irish actor’s good looks are only part of the reason he got the Poldark role – his winning performance as the brooding hero speaks to the sensitive side of the female psyche. Honest, m’lud!
Ever since that scene of him scything topless in the first series,
Poldark fans have been desperate for another glimpse of Aidan Turner’s toned torso. And it seems the fourth series, which starts on August 8 on ITV Choice (DStv Channel 123), won’t disappoint them – the very first shot shows the heart-throb emerging from the sea shirtless.
In a scene certain to get pulses racing, Turner’s rugged chest can be seen glinting in the Cornish sunshine as he wears just a pair of beige breeches for his dip in the sea.
When asked if he minds people objectifying him, he said: “No I don’t at all, go for it.”
He says it’s not just vanity that makes him maintain that famous six-pack: “I have to keep relatively fit just to fit into the costumes. That’s the truth.”
However, he reveals that filming the sea scene last September “wasn’t pleasant, because the water was “pretty cold”. –