The Poldark scene that could scupper hero’s pin-up status

WHEN fans heard that a violent sexual encounter had been toned down for the BBC’s adaptation of the novels, there were accusations the programme makers were pandering to 21scentury sensibilities.

But it now appears the scene, involving Ross Poldark and his former love Elizabeth, may be as disturbing as originally depicted in Winston Graham’s fourth Poldark book Earlier this year Aidan Turner, who plays Poldark, said: “It seems consensual. He goes to talk, [not] to commit a crime.”

Heida Reed, the 28-year-old Icelandic actress who plays Elizabeth, said she fought to have the scene changed to remove the suggestion of a sexual assault so the audience would retain its sympathy for Poldark as a romantic hero. She said: “Actually, [the scene] did change. It was a collaborative decision. Initially, it was a bit more intense, but we felt it wasn’t right.”

But insiders have suggested that the encounter is far from consensual and may be closer to the brutal reality of life in 18thcentury Cornwall envisaged in Graham’s 1953 work. In the scene from the second series, to be broadcast tonight on BBC One, Poldark confronts Elizabeth in the middle of the night after hearing she is to marry George Warleggan. It is understood that during the episode Poldark kicks open Elizabeth’s door, refuses to leave despite her repeated pleading for him to do so and insists on having sex with her – in the face of what may appear to viewers as clear resistance from her.

One insider suggested Elizabeth appears to give no clear consent to sex during the scene. If true, the act could be interpreted in modern terminology as amounting to sexual assault. That is itself likely to provoke further controversy, this time over the portrayal of sexual violence in a peak-time family drama. Tomlinson which also stars Eleanor as Poldark’s current wife, Demelza, has won a legion of fans for its story of a veteran of the American revolutionary wars attempting to restore his fortunes by reopening a derelict tin mine, set against the windswept Cornish landscape. Turner’s portrayal has made him a pin-up around the country, a status now at risk of being undermined. Aidan Turner’s Poldark, above with Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson), has an encounter with his former wife Elizabeth (Heida Reed), inset right, that could be seen as sexual assault