The most entertaining Poldark of the series, by far
Arather more feverish picture of the gulf between urban and rural life was painted in last night’s Poldark (BBC One). This was a spinetingling episode that saw all of the principals gather in London for the first time, far from the bucolic idyll of Cornwall (where the hanging of innocent men might be commonplace but that’s as nothing, it seems, to the worries of escaping the unsolicited attentions of ruthless seducers).
Much of the episode focused on Ross’s (Aidan Turner) run in with his devil-incarnate fellow MP, Monk Adderley (Max Bennett) – a blackguard of the old school who made the pantomime villainy of Poldark’s other baddies look subtle by comparison. Even his coat buttons were made from the hair of men he’d killed in duels.
One glimpse of luscious Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson) was enough to have Adderley seized by the kind of malign competitive lust not seen on screen since Les Liaisons Dangereuses. He even wagered Ross’s arch-rival George Warleggan (Jack Farthing) that he’d conquer her – the cad! – and turned up in her chamber uninvited, only to be driven off dramatically.
The duel that ensued between Adderley and Poldark was surprisingly nail-biting. Even more affecting was, back in Cornwall, Morwenna’s (Ellise Chappell) confession to poor Drake (Harry Richardson) that she can no longer countenance the press of human flesh. Brilliantly done, too, was the breath-stopping moment when young Geoffrey Charles (Louis Davison) drew George’s attention to how his son Valentine was “the very spitting image of Uncle Ross” – audibly ripping open that festering family wound again.
By episode’s end, London’s enticements were well and truly exposed as bankrupt, and the series’ moral compasses Demelza and Dr Enys (Luke Norris) were hightailing it back to the rustic comforts of Cornwall.
Together with last week’s upbeat episode, this has been by far the most entertaining run in a fourth series that, at times, had been less than fully engaging. It certainly raises hopes for a satisfyingly hectic series close next week.
It was good to see the Countryfile team give themselves a hearty pat on the back in their 30th anniversary edition. In a world that’s ever more urbanised, where rural landscapes are often seen only as scenic settings for TV murder mysteries, Countryfile (BBC One, Sunday) has fought a long battle to keep rural and wider conservation issues, if not exactly top of the news agenda, then at least firmly in the public eye.
And with 1,482 editions since its launch in 1988, and around seven million viewers each week now, it’s fair to say that – despite seeming a little smug at times and being regularly mocked as “welly telly” for urbanites harbouring fantasies of rustic seclusion – it has been largely successful in that aim. This 30th birthday show was nothing if not a declaration of intent to continue as before – not so much revelling in the 30 top moments of the last three decades as hastily stuffing them in among a selection of forwardlooking news features.
Indeed, rarely has a roll call of “best bits” been whipped through at such blink-and-you’ll-miss-it velocity; at times so quick that it was barely possible to decipher what glorious moment was being celebrated. The series’ reporting role on the BSE (mad cow disease) and foot-and-mouth crises, its contributions to debates such as that over milk prices, issues like the rise of organic farming and artisan food production, and conservation concerns, were all duly marked. Other clips, such as Anita Rani roasting a goat, or another of red squirrels somewhere, anywhere, seemed ludicrously random.
The aim no doubt was to show the series’ breadth of interests as well as its achievements. Or maybe it was just hard to find older clips that didn’t all feature former presenter Miriam O’reilly, whose landmark age discrimination claim win against the BBC after being dropped when the programme moved to prime time in 2008 went, perhaps unsurprisingly, unmentioned.
Either way, the crowning moments of this edition were the topical ones. A story about two young Lancashire dairy farmers who have spotted frothy possibilities for profit in the booming coffee market; Tom Heap’s timely report on the battle between recycling and biosecurity concerns in current calls for lifting the ban on food waste in animal feed; and Adam Henson’s piece on a new trend towards agriforestry in France. All strong, relevant stories. Looking to the future, not the past, is what Countryfile does best.
Poldark ★★★★ Coutryfile ★★★★