The Cast Says Goodbye as 'Poldark' Wraps Filming on Final Season
The delay in airing Poldark in the U.S. means the cast has often already gone back to work on filming in Cornwall before the show premieres here. This year was especially bittersweet, as the announcement that the coming Season 5 would be the show's last was confirmed before Season 4 was properly underway on Masterpiece. But all good things must come to an end. (Or at least go off the air for a few years before someone reboots them or makes a sequel.) Now, filming for the final series has come to an end.
The pictures first started cropping up a couple of weeks ago, as each of the characters reached the end of their time on set. But filming didn't officially wrap until last week, with commensurate fanfare.
And that’s our final wrap! Thank you for all your support, we can’t wait to show you #Poldark S5 later in 2019 pic.twitter.com/QjwpwfKGyG
— Official Poldark (@PoldarkTV) February 1, 2019
A few more pictures from the final wrap:
A few more pictures from wrap! Mr & Mrs #Poldark pic.twitter.com/VJmJ2YwQL2
— Official Poldark (@PoldarkTV) February 3, 2019
Here are several of the cast members commemorating their last days on set:
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Beatie Edney (@beatieedney) on Jan 24, 2019 at 1:36pm PST
Here's Gabrielle Wilde:
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Gabriella Wilde (@_gabriellawilde_) on Jan 26, 2019 at 7:42am PST
Eleanor Tomlinson did a throwback post to getting the job of Demelza.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Eleanor Tomlinson (@eleanortomlinson) on Feb 1, 2019 at 12:28am PST
And this lovely one of Ellise Chappell was taken on her last day:
What a gorgeous picture! #ElliseChappell #Morwenna #Poldark #LastDay https://t.co/NNAZufjatD pic.twitter.com/y1Dl5TL7I5
— Poldarked (@Poldarked) January 30, 2019
Here's a look at a few more Poldark goodbyes:
Congratulations to the @PoldarkTV family for wrapping the fifth (and final) season.
— Christian Brassington (@ChristianBrasso) February 3, 2019
This is my favourite photo from my time on the show. Can’t wait to see series five.#wonkybuckle #Poldark pic.twitter.com/nEHTZLyikS
#HarryRichardson IG: And that’s a wrap! 3 of the most incredible years of #Poldark I’m gonna miss playing Drake so much! https://t.co/xhCFzu6pev pic.twitter.com/aArYNdnv2z
— Poldarked (@Poldarked) January 30, 2019
And #Poldark has wrapped
— Poldarked (@Poldarked) February 1, 2019
https://t.co/0Zg8m5ovFl pic.twitter.com/rjcYrlTOUJ
Season 4 of Poldark covered through the events of the seventh book in author Winston Graham's series of novels: The Angry Tide. This is where the original 1970s-era Poldark ended its run. The BBC greenlit one more season, but the next book, The Stranger From The Sea, jumps forward in time by a decade, which would require aging up the characters in order to continue the story. Star Aidan Turner has been adamant that he does not want to do this. So Season 5 will go "off-book," as it were, and create material covering events that happened in the aftermath of Elizabeth's passing.
By doing this, the show does leave The Stranger From The Sea and later books (there are twelve altogether) as material for a reboot or continuation a decade or so down the line, when Turner and company are the right age to come back and film without prosthetic makeup. Writer Debbie Horsfield and producer Karen Thrussell have both said that they are open to more Poldark down the line.
Time will tell if the BBC and PBS think such a reboot is worth it, or if the show will simply begin again with a new cast for a new generation.
Poldark Season 5 is expected to air this fall on PBS Masterpiece.
