Poldark: Hot British Guys Make for Great TV

Once upon a less socially connected time, I had to stumble upon television shows by channel surfing, commercials, or the recommendation of a friend.* Thankfully, I no longer have to listen to someone promise me I’ll love the new CSI spin-off (I won’t) or whatever pseudo reality gimmick show is on next. Now, I can take to Twitter and ask all of you what this Downton/OUAT-loving writer/blogger should watch next.

So that’s what I did.

I got a few suggestions that sounded like good shows (but not “me” shows). Then @curdherder suggested I watch Poldark.

This show checks all the right boxes (for me). So I thought I’d give you all the reasons I think you should watch it, too.

1. A really hot British guy.

(Say what you like, hot British guys are the best. Well, except for my husband. But he’s taken.)

Confession: I’m not usually all that hot and bothered by pretty actors. But just LOOK at this one:

 

(Yes, he is naked in this picture. No, you don’t get the full money shot.)

2. Romantic angst, but the best kind.

In the first five minutes of the first episode, Ross Poldark (the hot guy played by Aidan Turner above) comes back to England after fighting in the Revolutionary War. It had been so long since anyone had heard from him that everyone thought he was dead, and his nearly-fiancee is now the actual fiancee…of his cousin.

*Ouch*

3. Fantastic chemistry between the two main actors.

Love squares seem to be the new hot trend, and in this series, I’m a fan. Especially because I. Love. Demelza.

 

4. The show has an actual plot and it moves forward each episode.

It does help that the show is based off a twelve book series (guess what I just reserved at the library?), so there’s a lot of source material for the screenwriters to pull from.

Some TN readers have said the books are a bit slow. I’m guessing that since I made it through Crime and Punishment AND Moll Flanders in college (the second quite unwillingly), I won’t mind the books’ pacing. But we’ll see.

5. It’s set in Cornwall, and shot on location.

 

In related news, in addition to visiting Highclere Castle (the Downton Abbey house), Guernsey (the channel island that was the only bit of England the Nazis invaded), and everywhere that Jane Austen ever blew her nose, I’m adding Cornwall to my Places I HAVE TO See in England trip.

6. Poldark is a BBC period piece

The UK does TV better.

Is anyone else as OBSESSED with this show as I’ve become? Who do you ship? (Romelza! Romelza!) Favorite moments from season one? Want to kill the writers for that season ending sobfest culminating in a horrific cliffhanger?

_{*Does it make anyone else feel OLD that we’re the last generation of people who will remember this?}

_{All images are screencaps and property of BBC/ITV.}