Tall, Poldark and handsome... it’s women viewers’ biggest TV treat since Mr Darcy’s wet shirt!
NOT since Colin Firth emerged from a lake in that wet shirt in the BBC’s adaptation of Pride And Prejudice nearly 20 years ago has there been anything like it. But if these exclusive pictures are anything to go by, Aidan Turner is sure to set pulses racing once more when he graces our screens in Poldark next month.
Sporting a rippling torso, tousled hair and trendy stubble, the 31-year-old Irish actor, who starred in the Hobbit films, was snapped topless at Dollar Cove in Cornwall as he filmed scenes for the much-anticipated BBC remake of the hit 1970s drama.
The saga, based on Winston Graham’s acclaimed novels set in Cornwall in the 18th Century, tells the story of Ross Poldark (Turner), an Army officer who returns to England after fighting in the American War of Independence to discover that his fiancee Elizabeth (Heida Reed) had believed him dead and has since married his cousin.
Poldark then marries his maid, Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson), but is forever torn between the two women.
The original series – a feast of heaving bosoms and bodice-ripping played out on a backdrop of windswept Cornish landscapes – attracted audiences of up to 15million.
This time around, the eight-part adaptation is scheduled for a postwatershed slot and audiences can expect even steamier scenes.
In a short trailer for the programme, flame-haired Demelza watches from a clifftop as Poldark emerges from the sea in a state of undress.
Robin Ellis, who played Ross Poldark in the original series and has a small role in the remake, said: ‘I took my shirt off once. I imagine Aidan will take his off several times.’