Poldark in 2025

The sweeping TV drama is 10 years old but feels remarkably fresh -- and compelling.

Mild spoilers.

I never imagined a mine owner could be a sympathetic or compelling character. “Poldark” has forced me to reconsider.

The five-season drama produced by the BBC recounts the saga of a British soldier who returns to his Cornwall home in southwestern England after he was wounded fighting against the Americans in the Revolutionary War. Captain Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner) finds his world turned upside down in his absence. His father is dead. His beloved Elizabeth is engaged to his cousin. The Poldark family mine is shuttered as unprofitable.

Over the next five years, we follow Ross as he rebuilds his modest fortune and starts a family. As he battles business and personal rivals, he navigates the crosscurrents of class and community, love and longing, principle and pragmatism.

“Poldark” ran in America as part of public television’s “Masterpiece” series from 2015 to 2019. It reappeared this summer on Netflix, where it offers a stark contrast to two of the streaming service’s more recent depictions of British nobility:

— “The Gentlemen” is a delightful but cynical romp that depicts the Great and Good of 21st-century Britain as little better — and in some ways worse — than working-class drug dealers.

— “The Crown,” the lavish series about Queen Elizabeth II, reminds us that, with the possible exceptions of Prince William and Princess Anne, the House of Windsor is a collection of coddled, emotionally stunted mediocrities.

“Poldark” provides a different perspective. There are plenty of villains and loathsome characters, but there is genuine decency too. There are lecherous clerics and sincere preachers. Servants devoted to their families work side-by-side with beady-eyed domestics consumed by class bitterness. Honest bankers compete against ruthless financiers bent on establishing themselves among the privileged elite by any means necessary.

At the center of “Poldark” is the tin and copper mining business that was a mainstay of the Cornish economy for centuries. Poldark at various times opens, closes, reopens, and operates a number of local “wheals” (a Cornish word meaning “works” or “mine,” according to cornishsecrets.co.uk) where tin and copper were extracted. His love for his workers and community, as much and sometimes more than considerations of profit and loss, animate the decisions he makes about his mines.

Consideration for the plight of the impoverished would have been a timely notion in the late 18th century — and remains relevant today. Revolution in France wrought violence and anarchy. Rising class bitterness, intensified by hunger and unemployment, threatened to do the same in England. Fearful of a violent revolt like that which toppled the French monarchy, many in the upper classes of “Poldark” favor responding to local discontent with ruthless suppression.

One of the most interesting recurring themes in the series shows how Poldark comes to persuade many - albeit not all - of Cornwall’s high and mighty that taking action to mitigate poverty and suffering is not only the right thing to do, but also in their interest because it will forestall revolution.

Scholars could well take issue with the veracity of this altruistic depiction of a Cornish mine owner, but Poldark is a fictional character. There is greater latitude in a fictional drama to create characters that speak to modern audiences. “Poldark” is not bound by the same standards that should be the basis for judging dramas based on actual historical characters or events (I’m looking at you, “Death by Lightning”).

While Poldark is an admirable character, he is not without his flaws. His generosity often borders on recklessness. He never quite puts away his feelings for Elizabeth and jeopardizes his marriage to Demelza (played by the radiant Eleanor Tomlinson) in the process. In another example of the show’s subtlety, Demelza falls for a British soldier Ross rescued from imprisonment in France.

There are no two-dimensional heroes, heroines, or villains here. That makes for engrossing drama.

Turner and Tomlinson sparkle as Ross and Demelza. Pip Torrens, one of my favorite British actors, plays Cary Warleggan, the hard-bitten uncle of Poldark’s archrival George Warleggan. Fans of “The Crown” will remember Torrens as Tommy Lascelles, the unctuous factotum for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. The series takes full advantage of the spectacular beauty of the Cornish coast.

This is gripping television, moving and mature. Don’t miss it.