Poldark star tells of injury by freak wave

POLDARK star Aidan Turner was injured by a freak wave while filming the drama.

The second series of the television drama starts this weekend, after its debut season was a huge and unexpected hit for the BBC.

But Turner has revealed he was hurt and even dropped Eleanor Tomlinson, who plays Demelza, in the sea off the Cornish coast during filming, after a wave slammed a boat into his head.

The heart-throb told Radio Times magazine: “There’s nothing like the Cornish sea at the height of winter for putting you in your place.

“We were filming me lifting Demelza out of a boat in the actual sea when this huge wave picked up the boat and slammed it into my head.

“I dropped her in the water – not very Ross Poldark,” he said of his romantic hero alter-ego.

“And nobody was coming to see if I’m okay. I was the man injured ...”

But Turner said he was not the only person who was hurt in the incident. He added: “One of the underwater cameramen got cracked as well and he was concussed.

“These waves, you wouldn’t think there’s anything to them, but once you get out there you’re at the mercy of Mother Nature and she doesn’t care how well the previous season rated.”

Poldark returns on Sunday night when it goes head to head with Victoria, ITV’s rival period drama starring Jenna Coleman, which was seen by 5.7m viewers on Sunday night.

The finale of the first Poldark series last year saw him arrested for murder and plundering a shipwreck and his wife Demelza left alone on the Cornish cliff-top.

In the new series, Ross faces capital crimes while he and Demelza are still dealing with the death of their daughter, Julia.

Turner said: “You would think at the end of season one it can’t get any worse. Ross’s company’s bankrupt, they’re completely broke and they’ve just lost their child.”