Beatie Edney Talks Poldark S4

Beatie Edney as Prudie Paynter   Photo: BBC

Beatie Edney loves being transformed into her character, Prudie Paynter, and not feeling the pressure of having to look beautiful on screen.

‘I love not having to look fantastic, it is so liberating. It is really quite fantastic as an actress not to care about what I look like on a job, which is even rarer in a period drama. When I am turned into Prudie I have coloured teeth, I wear an awful wig, my skin and fingernails are all dirtied up and my make-up artist paints scars on my skin so it really is far from glamorous. It doesn’t even matter if I eat lunch in my costume and get food on it - it’s really fun. It is also great to have a middle-aged woman in a popular drama; there are so many young actors in this show that it is nice to represent the older generation and to be part of a successful show.’

Beatie also talks about the perks of playing such a slovenly character.

‘The weather this year was really quite terrible at moments. We had a big party scene to shoot outside, at night and everyone had learned how to dance for it but because of the awful weather the mud was really thick. So when everyone was ready to dance I mentioned that I thought it was very likely that Prudie, being so lazy, would just sit down… so I got to sit down with a hot water bottle whilst everyone else was dancing in thick mud. Thanks Prudie.’

Beatie reveals that audiences will see a new side to Poldark’s troublesome and filthy housekeeper this series.

‘Normally Prudie provides a bit of comic relief in the drama but this series it is a more melancholy and slightly more serious Prudie that you will see. She feels terribly guilty about encouraging the liaison between Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson) and Lt. Hugh Armitage (Josh Whitehouse). Prudie did not quite realise the gravitas of the situation and rather, she thought it was just a bit of light hearted flirtation so when she does realise, she is stricken with guilt.’

Beatie tells us about the bond between her character, Prudie, and Poldark’s leading lady, Demelza.

‘It has been a long journey for Prudie and Demelza. At the beginning she was absolutely furious about this young person coming into her household - another mouth to feed when they were very poor and hungry - but Demelza has won her over, unsurprisingly since Demelza does most of the work! She makes Prudie’s life much better and Prudie really loves her, she is the daughter she never had.’

Beatie with Eleanor Tomlinson
Photo: Beatie Edney 

Beatie and Eleanor share this wonderful friendship off screen as well.

‘The whole cast are very close - I can’t think of a bunch of people I would rather spend time with and I get to spend six months of the year with them all. We all got together because Tom (York) was going travelling around the world for a few months so we had dinner to bid him farewell. Over Christmas, Eleanor and I wanted to go to Frome market so I took my new rescue puppy, Buttons, and we went and did our Christmas shopping and we had the most wonderful time. Eleanor got recognised when we were on the bus but she had to tell them who I was, people rarely recognise me.’

Beatie tells us that this series starts off with a huge amount of drama and that these dramatic events force Ross and Prudie to grow closer.

‘In episode one we launch into a dramatic scenario whereby Demelza’s brothers get into trouble with the law. Ross wants to keep this from Demelza because he knows she will be completely and understandably upset about it. Prudie definitely struggles with this as she doesn’t like keeping things from Demelza but she knows that Ross is right, that this will upset her in a big way. Prudie becomes more of a confidant for Ross this series and I have had more scenes to shoot with Aidan (Turner), which has been really fun.

'Prudie really loves Demelza but she also loves Ross and is loyal to him which we see even more of this series. The thing she does for him which is quite brave is that she speaks the truth because whilst he is her boss and she is a little frightened of him and in awe of him, that doesn’t stop her from being disapproving and telling him not to do this or that.’

Having to film many scenes with multiple children, Beatie reveals some of her secret ways to keep them occupied on set. 

‘I have a lot more scenes to shoot with the lovely children this year. We had two wonderful sets of identical twins who play Clowance and who were really funny to work with. Prudie’s famously rubbish cooking gets a little bit better this year and she takes it upon herself to teach the children how to make pastry. One of the things about working with kids under a certain age is to give them an activity to do in a scene so as to prevent them from looking at the camera or getting bored and so making pastry was brilliant because you can do all sorts like building different models and shapes and you can get messy which is always funny. They also did these amazing portraits of the cast and crew, which were brilliant. My secret motivation is that Prudie is so lazy that she is even trying to get the children to do the work for her!’

Source: BBC Media Centre

Aidan Turner Talks Poldark S4

Eleanor Tomlinson Talks Poldark S4
Poldark S4: Max Bennett is Monk Adderley

Poldark S4: Rebecca Front is Lady Whitworth
Heida Reed is Elizabeth Warleggan
Jack Farthing Talks George Warleggan
Poldark S4: Gabriella Wilde is Caroline Enys
Poldark S4: Luke Norris is Dwight Enys
Poldark S4: Christian Brassington Talks Reverend Osborne Whitworth

 Poldark S4: Harry Richardson is Drake Carne
Poldark S4: Ellise Chappell is Morwenna Whitworth
Poldark S4: Tom York is Sam Carne
Poldark S4: Ciara Charteris is Emma Tregirls

Eleanor Tomlinson Talks Poldark Series Four

Eleanor Tomlinson Poldark S4

Eleanor Tomlinson relishes the fact her character, Demelza, becomes such an independent woman in the fourth series of Poldark.

‘With Ross having to go to London, Demelza takes charge at Nampara and so this series we see her very much on her own, being independent and having to solve everyday problems that come up. Ross has left her in charge of the mine, the farm and the children, which is a great deal for her to take on board, especially as a woman living in that time. So it is a very interesting storyline for her this year - it is all about independence and showing Ross how well she can do his job.’

After the climactic end to series three, Eleanor talks about the struggle of Ross leaving Demelza and setting off to London.

Poldark S3

‘Their relationship was under strain at the close of last series, with Hugh and everything that happened there, so now with Ross going off to London things are difficult. Especially since he leaves before Demelza has the time to really tell him how she feels, that she loves him, and so she is particularly anxious about all of that. She misses him terribly but she writes to him often, keeping him in the loop. They didn’t have phones back then so she was only really getting a letter from Ross every few months which, of course, is difficult.  However, Demelza is someone who just gets on with things so it is unsurprising that she is better than him at handling their separation; she misses him but she knows she has no choice.’

Eleanor admits that she was pleasantly surprised by the fan reaction to the dramatic ending to last series.

‘The fans are rooting for Ross and Demelza because that is who they love. They know as well as Demelza and Ross do, that they should be together and that they work well together. What was great was that the fans seemed to really embrace the fact that Demelza did go off with Hugh in the end; they had a positive reaction to that which I wasn’t expecting. They understood Demelza’s actions because Ross was not showing her respect nor was he leading by example and so most people have been very much ‘Go Demelza!’ which has been amazing. It’s wonderful to feel the fans supporting her.

'People like to see a truthful relationship on screen, and that is the heartbeat of Poldark, Ross and Demelza’s relationship being as realistic as the relationships you see today. It is quite modern in many respects.’

Screencap from BBC One clip

Eleanor reveals that audiences will get to see Demelza venture to London this series, however this doesn’t go as well as she might have hoped.

‘London starts off with the best intentions but it doesn’t work out. She feels insecure about how to behave and is constantly questioning herself. Whilst she has become somewhat used to dealing with the Cornish lords, going to London and dealing with these people is a completely different kettle of fish and of course, George and Elizabeth are there causing problems at every turn.

'Demelza quickly realises that London life isn’t for her but she is incredibly flattered that Ross wants to take her and it is actually the perfect gesture towards their relationship and towards their future. It shows how proud of her he is, wanting to show her off and to include her and not just leave her at home. However, Ross does not know how to handle Demelza getting this kind of attention in the city and as expected his quick temper kicks in…’

Poldark S3

Whilst London life may not be for Demelza, she is extremely busy in Cornwall trying to play cupid to both of her younger brothers.

‘This series we see Demelza trying to marry off Drake (Harry Richardson) to Rosina Hoblyn (Amelia Clarkson), which is all to mend his broken heart over Morwenna (Ellise Chappell). We also see Sam (Tom York) breaking his heart over Emma (Ciara Charteris) so there is a lot of heart ache for the boys this series and Demelza feels that strongly. She is very protective over her brothers and she wants the best for them. They are not quite fitting in as they should but in a very Demelzaesque way, you really see the parallels between the siblings.

She wants them to be able to move on and find happiness and love but they are always getting themselves into tricky situations which we see literally from the get go, in episode one.’

Taking care of the men in her life is a big part of Demelza’s storyline this year, which is why her friendship with Caroline (Gabriella Wilde) is even more poignant. 

‘Demelza’s relationship with Caroline goes from strength to strength. Caroline really takes Demelza under her wing when it comes to life in London and they are very supportive of each other. Demelza supports Caroline when she experiences a traumatic loss but also in her relationship with Dwight; having him back from the war and struggling with that transition. They become a little group who support each other and they become incredibly close, there is a lot of trust and love there.’

Eleanor talks to us about the importance of playing this role, in this drama, at this time.

‘Playing a strong female character in a drama written by a female feels like an incredibly fortunate and strong place to be. I feel like I am at the forefront of this wave of a new era which I hope is going to come and which will hopefully include better roles for women, more women writers, more women directors, and generally more creative opportunities for women.’

Poldark returns to BBC One on 10 June.

Source: BBC Media Centre

Links:

Aidan Turner Talks Poldark S4
Poldark S4: Max Bennett is Monk Adderley
Poldark S4: Rebecca Front is Lady Whitworth
Heida Reed is Elizabeth Warleggan
Jack Farthing Talks George Warleggan
Poldark S4: Gabriella Wilde is Caroline Enys
Poldark S4: Luke Norris is Dwight Enys
Poldark S4: Christian Brassington Talks Reverend Osborne Whitworth
Poldark S4: Ellise Chappell is Morwenna Whitworth
Poldark S4: Harry Richardson is Drake Carne
Beatie Edney Talks Poldark S4
Poldark S4: Tom York is Sam Carne
Poldark S4: Ciara Charteris is Emma Tregirls

Pics from the 'Poldark' S4 Preview Screening at the BFI

Here are a few pics from last night's preview screening of Poldark S4 at the BFI.  Sorry, there's no report as news from the Q&A is embargoed for a while.  I did ask the BFI Box Office if the panel would be filmed and disappointingly, it seems not.

Eleanor Tomlinson was unable to make the event as she is busy filming War of the Worlds but she did send a video (below) with the wonderful news that there would be a series 5!

#Poldark fans, @ETomlinson has some exciting news from tonight's screening of S4 episode 1. You don't want to miss this announcement! pic.twitter.com/2IoyL4p8Cu

— Official Poldark (@PoldarkTV) 2 May 2018

Luke Norris, Esme Coy, Christian Brassington,
Joshua Whitehouse, Aidan Turner, Ellise Chappell, Beatie Edney

Debbie Horsfield, Aidan Turner and Karen Thrussell

Three 'Poldark' Nominations for TRIC Awards 2018

Brilliant news!

Poldark, Aidan Turner and Eleanor Tomlinson have all been nominated for the Television and Radio Industries Club Awards 2018!
The TRIC Awards are voted for by members of the industry. Last year Poldark won the award for HD Programme of the Year.

This year Poldark faces competition from  Apple Tree Yard, Babs, Broadchurch, Call the Midwife, Casualty, Cold Feet, Death in Paradise, Doc Martin, Doctor Foster, Dr Who, Endeavour, Grantchester, Holby City, Liar, Line of Duty, Little Boy Blue, Midsomer Murders, Peaky Blinders,Silent Witness, Taboo, The Durrells, Three Girls, Vera and Victoria in the Best Drama Programme category.

Aidan and Eleanor are both up for Best Drama Performance along with Amanda Mealing Casualty, Anna Friel Broken, Brenda Blethyn Vera, Cillian Murphy Peaky Blinders, David Tennant Broadchurch, Emilia Fox Silent Witness, Fay Ripley Cold Feet, Helen George Call the Midwife, Ioan Gruffudd Liar, James Nesbitt Cold Feet, Jenna Coleman Victoria, Joanne Froggatt Liar, John Thomson Cold Feet, Neil Dudgeon Midsomer Murders, Olivia Colman Broadchurch, Peter Capaldi Dr Who, Suranne Jones Doctor Foster and Tom Hardy Taboo.

A full list of nominees can be found here.

The TRIC Awards 2018 will be announced at a ceremony at Grosvenor House Hotel, London on 13 March 2018.

Congratulations on the nominations - well deserved!

Related Links:

• 'Poldark' Wins TRIC Award!

A Look Back at 2017

Damien Timmer, Aidan Turner and Debbie Horsfield at the BFI Radio Times Festival. Photo Radio Times

As we head towards the start of a New Year here's a look back at a handful of Poldark highlights from 2017.  In no particular order:

• Fans flocked to the BFI and Radio Times Festival in April to see Aidan Turner, along with writer Debbie Horsfield and executive producer Damien Timmer at the oddly named session Ross Poldark: Old-fashioned Hero for a Modern World. While much of the interview had the air of déjà vu about it, I did find nine snippets to pass on to our readers and there were plenty of photos from the event. 

• Awards, Awards, Awards... Just this week Aidan Turner (Best Actor), Eleanor Tomlinson (Best Actress) and Harry Marcus (Breakthrough Talent) have wins in the Radio Times Reader Awards 2017
• In November the International Press Academy announced Poldark is to be honoured with the Satellite Award for Best Ensemble Television 2017. 
• Earlier in the month Debbie Horsfield won the Romantic Novelists' Association Industry Award 2017 for Best Adaptation of a Romantic Novel for the second time. 
• Poldark won the Television and Radio Industries Club award for HD Drama Programme of the Year in March.  
• During 2017 Poldark received nominations for the National Television Awards, TV Choice Awards and Royal Television Society West of England Awards. Composer Anne Dudley was nominated for a BAFTA Craft Award  and Aidan Turner received a nomination for best actor from the Irish Film and Television Academy. 

Poldark Preview Screening  Photo: Evie Bowman

• Sadly this year there was no public preview screening of Poldark series 3 in the UK but in May I was privileged to be invited to the press screening and Q&A.   I took a few pics too!  

• Just giving. One of my favourite things about production company Mammoth Screen is its support for charities. This year saw Poldark taking part in the Children in Need appeal with four CIN volunteers spending a day on the set.  Poldark prizes were given to charity auctions too including those held by LE Solidarity and Highgate has Heart, both of which help refugees. Ross's tricorn, signed by Aidan Turner, was a prize at a fundraiser lunch with Michael Parkinson for Cornwall Air Ambulance.

Here's wishing you all a very Happy New Year and the hope of lots of Poldark loveliness in 2018 xxx

Poldark Preview Screening

Poldark Preview Screening 

Poldark Preview Screening  

BFI Radio Times Festival

BFI Radio Times Festival Photo: Evie Bowman

BFI Radio Times Festival

Wins for 'Poldark' in the Radio Times Reader Awards 2017

Well done Poldark! Aidan Turner (Best Actor), Eleanor Tomlinson (Best Actress) and Harry Marcus (Breakout Talent) are all winners in the Radio Times Reader Awards 2017!  Poldark is runner-up to the excellent Peaky Blinders for Best Drama.

Last year Poldark swept the board winning in all four categories, with Gabriella Wilde winning best newcomer.

Congratulations everyone! Very well deserved.

Vote for 'Poldark' in the National Television Awards 2018!

Congratulations! The nominations are out for the first round of the National Television Awards and Poldark, Aidan Turner and Eleanor Tomlinson are all contenders!

The NTA's are voted for by the public in two rounds and first round voting is open now. The winners will be announced at the National Television Awards ceremony at the O2 in London on 23 January, 2018. 

You can vote for Poldark in the following categories:

• Drama
• Drama Performance: Aidan or Eleanor

Follow the link to vote online

Only one vote is allowed per email address. Voting closes at 23.00 on 27 October, 2017. You can vote in as many categories as you like but can only choose one nominee in each category.  Follow the link for the Terms and Conditions and other ways to vote.

This is the long list of nominees from which a short list of up to five contenders will be drawn for second round voting in January, 2018. Votes from the long list and short list will be added together to decide the final winners, so please vote now and in January to help Poldark win.

Who can forget Aidan winning the NTA's Impact Award back in 2016? Let's make Poldark a winner again!

Vote here!

'Loving Vincent' Premiere News

With the UK premiere of Loving Vincent just around the corner we asked organisers Altitude Films some of your questions. Whether you're going to the National Gallery, watching the broadcast or simply wishing you were there, here are some things you may like to know:

• There will be no red carpet event open to the public
• The Q&A will be held in the auditorium following the screening (there were suggestions it could be in a separate room)
• There will be a Q&A video, but it’s likely to be used on the DVD/Blu-ray/Digital release, so won’t be immediately available to the public.

Aidan Turner

Loving Vincent premieres at the National Gallery on Monday 9 October The premier includes a Q&A with directors Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman and actors Douglas Booth (Armand Roulin) and Aidan Turner (Boatman). It will be broadcast live in cinemas and art galleries across the UK. Tickets are available here.

Eleanor Tomlinson

Loving Vincent is a  'painted animation film, looking into the mystery of Vincent van Gogh's death, told through the medium of his paintings.'  It features both Eleanor Tomlinson (Adeline Ravoux) and Aidan Turner.
Loving Vincent opens in cinemas across the UK and Ireland on 13 October. A list of UK and worldwide screenings is available here.




Related links:
Loving Vincent Preview Talk
EleanorTomlinson and Aidan Turner in New Biopic

Visit to the Set of 'Poldark' Series 3 - Part Two

It's almost a year since I reported from the set of Poldark series three and, now the first episode has been shown in many countries, I thought I'd do a follow-up to the scenes I wrote about back then.

Lots of you have asked about the "s**t" moment so that seems a good place to start. The scene is the one at Nampara where the letter arrives from Geoffrey Charles (Harry Marcus) to say Elizabeth (Heida Reed) is ill. When they were filming Ross (Aidan Turner) read the note and, as he said the line 'Dr Choake cannot be found so the boy begs Dr Enys to come instead,' there was a pause and everyone on set said "s**t". It still

makes me smile! This is the scene too where Aidan felt he was 'sitting like a cowboy' and asked if he might cross his legs instead. As you can see from the screen shot, he did! The scene starts at 33 minutes on the DVD if you want to take another look.

Next up was the Enys's wedding breakfast which brought with it the problem of the puddings. The
crew had been up making puddings until 4am but, by the time they were needed, they had flopped. The problem was Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson) mentioned them when praising Prudie (Beatie Edney) with the line, 'Since Jud's been away she's had time to perfect her puddings!' (at 30 mins. on the DVD). They kept the line in, however, as Debbie Horsfield felt there were dishes on the table that represented the modern understanding of the word pudding.

As the cameras rolled there were other adjustments to the scene: the actors were asked not to raise their glasses too high when toasting the happy couple as the glasses blocked their faces and - puddings again - when Prudie served Caroline (Gabriella Wilde) her pudding it created an unwanted shadow that had to be dealt with.

The episode moves on to the happenings at Trenwith and, when we next return to the wedding feast, Ross and Demelza are making their excuses to leave the table. When they were filming this scene the director, Joss Agnew, asked if one of the actors could to tell a joke before they began filming so there would be laughter when the scene started.  Of course, no-one could think of one on the spot, so they chatted happily instead!

Many of the scenes shot this day involved drinking and Ron Dowling, the stand-by props man, told me how every props man has their own secret recipe for producing something that passes realistically for alcohol on the TV screen. It's all to do with colour and viscosity and, apparently, ingredients available from an upmarket grocery store!

Ross, in particular, seemed to be drinking all the time (no surprise there). In one scene take after take he walked across the room, decanter and glass in hand until, suddenly, the solemness of the scene was broken by Aidan's laughter. He was just about to put the glass to his lips when he realised he'd only the decanter to swig out of. Somehow he'd left the glass behind! (At 35 mins on the  DVD).



A little later in the episode Dwight (Luke Norris) sends a letter to Nampara with news that both Elizabeth and Ray Penvenen are gravely ill. It is this note which led the props department to question seal or no seal? In the end the production department decided not to put a seal on the letter as this seemed most realistic given the circumstances Dwight was writing under. (38 minutes on the DVD)

On hearing Dwight's news Caroline decides she must return to her Uncle Ray. This is the scene where Caroline's dress and shoes seemed to make a disproportionate amount of noise as she moved across the room (at 39 mins. on the DVD). But, as sound engineer Ron Bailey assured me, that post-production magic makes it all just fine!



I hope you've enjoyed my insights into the filming of some of the scenes from Poldark S3. Many thanks to the cast and crew and, of course, Mammoth Screen for making this visit possible.

Related Links:
Letters Puddings and Drama: On the Set of Poldark Series3


Please remember to credit Poldarked when reposting from this article.

Dressing the Women from 'Poldark'

Have you ever wondered if Demelza's red ball gown in Poldark series two survived its dip in the sea? I know I have and now there's the chance to see just how good it looks at a fabulous exhibition at Nuneaton Museum and Art Gallery.

Dressing the Women from Poldark  has dresses worn by Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson), Elizabeth (Heida Reed), Verity (Ruby Bentall) and Caroline (Gabriella Wilde) and includes Demelza's ball gown.  The costumes are on display this summer and entrance is free.

Dressing the Women from Poldark runs until 10 September at  Nuneaton Museum and Art Gallery, Riverlsey Park, Coton Road, Nuneaton, CV11 5TU. The venue is about a ten minute walk from the train station.
The opening times are: Tuesday - Saturday: 10.30 am - 4.30 pm    Sunday 2.00 - 4.30 pm.  Closed Mondays except Bank Holiday Monday when it is open 10.30 am - 4.30 pm.

It's really too good to miss!

Vote 'Poldark' in TV Choice Awards 2017

It's voting time again and  Poldark , Aidan Turner and Eleanor Tomlinson have all made it through to the final round of the TV Choice Awards 2017.  In 2015 Poldark won Best New Drama so let's make it a winner again!

Poldark is up against Broadchurch, Line of Duty and Our Girl in the Best Drama Series category.

Aidan has been nominated for Best Actor. The other contenders are Benedict Cumberbatch, David Tennant and George Rainsford.

Eleanor goes against Olivia Colman, Michelle Keegan and Amanda Mealing for Best Actress.

You can vote here.    Voting closes 7 July at midnight BST.

You can vote as often as you like if you submit without using your email.

The TV Choice Awards will be presented by Richard Osman at The Dorchester on 4 September.

Related Links:

Poldark wins TV Choice Award

Promo Shots for 'Poldark' S3

The BBC have released some promo shots of the cast for Poldark series three:

Aidan Turner as Ross

Eleanor Tomlinson as Demelza

Heida Reed as Elizabeth

Jack Farthing as George Warleggan

Luke Norris as Dwight Enys

Gabriella Wilde as Caroline Penvenen