Prison break!
Aidan Turner and co reveal all as we go on set for Poldark’s most explosive episode yet…
I did break my hand because of the musket! aidan turner
Drama Poldark sunday / BBC1 / 9.00Pm
Even torrential rain can’t dampen the spirits of the cast of hit BBC1 Cornish costume saga Poldark, as we watch them filming scenes for this week’s most exciting episode to date.
‘It’s freezing,’ shudders Harry Richardson, aka Demelza Poldark’s younger brother, Drake Carne. ‘In between scenes we’re all huddling around complaining, but once the cameras are rolling, you can’t imagine anything better than filming these fantastic scenes with such brilliant actors – it’s epic!’
TV Times is in Somerset in the beautiful grounds of The Bishop’s Palace, Wells. The Grade 1 listed building has been turned into a prisoner of war camp in France in which fan favourite Dr Dwight Enys is languishing after being captured in a naval battle earlier this series.
Today, Harry, along with leading man Aidan Turner (Ross Poldark), Sean Gilder (Tholly Tregirls), Tristan Sturrock (Zacky Martin) and
John Hollingworth (Capt Henshawe), is busy firing a musket as the characters arrive to rescue Dwight.
‘We’re calling ourselves “The Magnificent Five!”’ laughs Sean, while John adds: ‘It’s like Poldark does The Musketeers! This is a dream come true!’
An equally excited Tristan tells us: ‘Today we’re shooting a stunt where Captain Henshawe blows up a doorway as we try to escape… This storyline is fantastic as it makes full use of the setting of the French Revolution and, for Zacky, who’s the quiet village elder, a bit of action is great!’ Sadly, though, not every character will make it back to Cornwall alive… While everyone is sad to be losing a fellow cast member (or members), they all relished this dramatic storyline, as they got to swap filming in a studio for the great outdoors.
‘The Bishop’s Palace is an incredible place with a huge moat, rivers and lots of places where we could run into the woods with a musket,’ says Aidan. ‘It was great fun. There is nothing quite like playing soldiers with the lads.’
The five actors spent a day learning how to use muskets, plus there was an historical advisor and a military expert on set so that everything was accurate.
However, there are genuine dangers involved with any stunt work, and poor Aidan suffered for his art…
‘I did break my hand because of the musket!’ he says. ‘In one scene we bust into the prison and Harry was pulling back his rifle and it caught my little finger on my left hand and pulled it right back. I knew something was wrong but I had to finish the scene.
For the next 30 seconds it felt like jelly.’
With darkness descending, it’s time for us to leave them to more filming…
‘We’re about to do a big explosive stunt as they get trapped and have to blow their way out,’ says producer Michael Ray.
‘It should be the biggest, most ambitious, and most action-packed episode of Poldark we’ve ever done!’