Poldark to return for second series?

(Image credit: BBC/Mammoth Screen/Mike Hogan)

Tonight will see the third episode of Poldark and it seems that the BBC have already decided that it will return for a second series.

Insiders have told the Daily Mirror that it is “almost certain” that filming will begin on a new batch of episodes this September and that the BBC sees the 18th-century saga which is set in Cornwall as its answer to Downton Abbey

According to the Mirror, Aidan Turner, who plays the eponymous Ross Poldark, will be asked to make a long-term commitment to the show which has pulled in 7million viewers on Sunday nights. And BBC chiefs are prepared to break the bank to keep the 31-year-old Irish actor in the role for several series.

“Aidan has become a huge hit with viewers,” an insider told the paper. “The role of Ross Poldark has put him in the shop window and movie makers from Hollywood will be beating down his door. Without Aidan there is no Poldark. He can name his price. There is a real feeling it could turn into a long-running series.”

In the 1970s, the BBC made a series based on the books by Winston Graham. Starring Robin Ellis in the lead role it ran to 29 episodes.

The new series covers the first two books in a 12-book saga which centres on a love triangle between former British army officer Ross, his ex-fiancée Elizabeth and servant girl Demelza.