Poldark season 5: BBC confirms hit show will end after fifth season

The new episodes will resolve the cliffhanger fans were left with at the end of the fourth series

(Robert Viglasky/BBC/PA Wire)

Poldark will end after the upcoming fifth series, the BBC has confirmed.

The new episodes will resolve the cliffhanger fans were left with at the end of the fourth series and will follow the aftermath of Elizabeth Warleggan (Heida Reed)'s death, tracing the events in the years between the source books, written by Winston Graham.

With series four taking its basis on the seventh novel in the series, The Angry Tide, its follow-up, The Stranger from the Sea, picks up ten years later. Writer Debbie Horsfield has said the new series will expand on references to previous events mentioned in the eighth novel to craft a full narrative of that time.

"In The Stranger From The Sea Winston Graham made many references to developments that happened in the 'gap' years," she said. "Much can also be inferred. There are, of course, also historical events and people of the time, both in Cornwall and in London."

"Series five will draw on all of these to follow the lives of the Poldarks, George Warleggan, the Enyses, and the Carnes in this intervening period."

The new episodes will see Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner) attempt to put Westminster behind him and spend more time with his loved ones. However, his tranquillity will be challenged when an old friend asks for his help.

While the Enyses (Luke Norris and Gabriella Wilde) swiftly join his side, Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson) must face dangers closer to home, while George (Jack Farthing) courts corrupt powers whose influence spans the empire. Lily Dodsworth Evans, Kerri McLean, Sofia Oxenham are also set to join the cast.

Andrew Graham, the author's son and series consultant on behalf of the Winston Graham estate, said: "No-one can know what my father would have felt about the forthcoming series, let alone what he might have written."

"However, Debbie Horsfield has demonstrated such an extraordinary affinity with his work and shown such remarkable skill in bringing his Poldark characters to the screen that we know we are in safe hands. Indeed, without her, the estate would not have agreed to series five in this form."

Filming in Cornwall, Bristol, and the surrounding area is set to commence this week. The fifth season will air on BBC1 in 2019.

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