Many customers of our vintage lighting shop are in Cornwall for one reason – searching for Poldark! Fans have been lapping up the second series which started a few weeks ago, and have been promised “a fantastic rollercoaster ride” with “yet more twists and turns”.
And we were delighted to hear that Irish actor Aidan Turner is returning as Captain Poldark for a third series – rumour as it he has forsaken the possibility of being considered for James Bond to continue in the hit Cornish series
Amazingly Poldark bosses didn’t think Aidan Turner was sexy enough to be a hit with viewers – yet his topless scything scene was voted best TV moment of 2015.
The new Poldark burst onto our screens last year, and the debut series peaked with 9.4 million viewers. Based on Winston Graham’s acclaimed novels set in Cornwall in the 18th Century, it tells the story of Ross Poldark who returns from fighting in the American War of Independence to his beloved Cornwall to find his world in ruins: his father dead, the family mine long since closed, his house wrecked and his sweetheart pledged to marry his cousin. But Ross finds that hope and love can be found when you are least expecting it in the wild but beautiful Cornish landscape.
The stunning filming locations are all over Cornwall, but near to us here in Fowey is the picturesque Charlestown Harbour – that’s Charlestown in our accompanying photo – backdrop for many a period drama, and the wilds of Bodmin Moor.
One of us at Any Old Lights (Sinead) remembers the first Poldark screened in 1975-77 and, as a child, meeting Robin Ellis on Polkerris Beach to ask for his autograph (though mum had to ask him to come out of the Rashleigh Inn first to meet his fans!).
Robin Ellis also features as the undercover policeman in Fawlty Towers so reviled by Basil Fawlty as being too common – as he is hoodwinked by the conman ‘Lord Melbury’ and his suitcase of valuables/house bricks.
