Poldark places – Cornwall or Corsham?

In today’s blog we’re looking at some of the locations – past and present, that play an integral part in bringing the magic of Poldark and the vision of author Winston Graham to our screens. One of the undoubted stars of the series as we’ve said before, has been and will continue to be, the countryside and coastline of not only Cornwall, but other locations in the UK ( and abroad, as we’ll see in later books…). 

In 1975, during filming of the very first season of Poldark, cast and crew spent two months down in Cornwall. They managed the same again for season two in 1977. Location filming is an expensive and complicated business, but it is well worth it, especially when the backdrop is so beautiful and when it plays such an important part in the story, as it does in Poldark. 

Location work for series one was centered around the area to the west of St Ives, and the team were based at The Carbis Bay Hotel:

Ross’ family home Nampara was in actual fact, two separate houses – the back of one in Pendeen, and the front of one in Botallack. 

House at Botallack which played the FRONT of Nampara:

House at Pandeen ( which you can let as a holiday let ), which played the REAR of Nampara:

Here is a picture of Trerice House, a National Trust property, the house which inspired Winston Graham when he wrote of the Warleggan’s house, Trenwith:

Botellack mine, also used as a location in the original series:

We learned that not all location-work this time round is due to take place in Cornwall. It seems that Corsham, a Cotswolds town in Wiltshire, may be getting a look-in. Judging by the stunningly beautiful period buildings, ( and yes we are a teeny bit biased since we live in the Cotswolds), we are not in the least bit surprised. Take a look at Corsham here:

And might it JUST be a possibility that the fabulous Corsham Court will have a starring-role this time, in the 2015 reboot? It’s fun to wonder, and let’s face it, a visit there would be just the thing to get us all in the mood for some aristocratic splendour, Poldark- style. 

Corsham Court: 

Poldark people – Director Ed Bazalgette

Continuing our look at some of the people connected to Poldark, we turn our attention today to the 2015 reboot and the man responsible for directing the very first episode – Ed Bazalgette. In fact, Ed is at the helm until halfway through the series when he’ll hand over the reins to William McGregor who’ll direct eps 5-8.

Ed is a man of many talents, who began his career in television in the editing-suite before he moved into producing and directing. He’s previously directed episodes of Holby and EastEnders for the BBC, along with some location-filming for Top Gear. Over on ITV1 he’s directed Brenda Blethyn in Vera, Stephen Tompkinson in DCI Banks, and Hermione Norris and Martin Clunes in A Mother’s Son. There’s already a connection to Mammoth Screen ( Poldark production company ) in Ed’s previous work: he directed the opening episode of their ITV1 series Endeavour.

Ed’s no stranger to awards either. He won a Royal Television Society Award for his film on Brunel for the series Great Britons, and he’s been nominated for a BAFTA TV award for his part in the BBC2 series Venice and Seven Wonders of the Natural World – the latter concerning Sir Joseph Bazalgette ( Ed’s ancestor ) and his design and engineering of the London sewer system. He was also nominated for Middlemarch in 1994 and Airport in 1996.

Ed’s third cousin is Peter Bazalgette ( leading figure behind TV company Endemol – Peter incidentally presented a tv show for FIVE on Joseph Bazalgette’s work – The Great Stink ).

Before his career in television began, Ed had a one-hit-wonder when he played guitar for the band The Vapors. The one hit? Turning Japanese way back in 1980. And some more, completely-un-related-to-Poldark trivia for you: The Vapors were managed by the same guy who managed The Jam, who co-incidentally, was also Paul Weller’s dad – John Weller. Thought you’d appreciate knowing that!

Take a look at Ed in his rock musician days:

If you can’t spot him, this more recent shot might help:

 

 

http://wildiris.co.uk/work/directors/ed-bazalgette/

 

Take a look at Ed’s showreel from Wild Iris Films above

We’ re very confident, given Ed’s back catalogue, that the new serIes of Poldark is in very capable hands, and we’re looking forward to seeing Ed’s vision for the characters and script as he brings it to life again…

 

 

Poldark people – Christopher Biggins

Read Biggins’ interview with the Birmingham Mail from June 2010 here, in which he recounts the filming of an infamous scene with Julie Dawn Porter, for Poldark 

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/christopher-biggins-reveals-the-sex-scene-248181

Julie as Rowella: 

Poldark people – the Reverend, his wife and her sister

Continuing our series of Poldark trivia, today we look back again at the 70s. It’s fun to remember those actors who established themselves firmly in the hearts of the nation during that decade, some of them no doubt through the vehicle that was Poldark. It’s fair to say that many of them had already become extremely familiar to their audiences through other means as well.

One such fabulous face was the inimitable Christopher Biggins ( oh yes Biggins was in Poldark. ” Oh no, he wasn’t !! ” Oh yes he very much was! ).

Biggins played the part of the Reverend Osbourne Whitworth, a downright ‘ so and so ‘ – the man everybody loved to hate because of his shenanigans. Here he is in his Poldark days:

And looking much more like himself nowadays:

The Rev’s wife was played by Jane Wymark:

You’ll recognise better perhaps as Midsomer Murders’ Joyce Barnaby, until recently the on-screen wife of Inspector Barnaby:

And then there was the sister of Morwenna, otherwise known as Veruca Salt:

 

Yes, actress Julie Dawn Cole appeared in the 1971 version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when she was eight, took the part of Morwenna’s sister Rowella in the original series of Poldark.

In an interview in the Birmingham Mail in June 2010, Biggins recounts the story of filming a scene which was eventually deemed unsuitable for the pre-watershed audience, ( remember Poldark was screened at 7pm in those days and very much a family show).

 

Surely Biggins ( @onebiggins ) is another candidate for a cameo in the 2015 reboot, along with Julie and Jane? There are a few more we’d like to see alongside the new cast members, more of which in future posts..

Poldark people – a naked chef?

Here in the poldarkrooms, we love to fully indulge our passion for all things Poldark and love coming across snippets of trivia about cast members past and present. We’ll be bringing you a series of trivia titbits as we head towards the much-anticipated reboot of this fantastic tale, so that by the time we all settle down in front of our tv screens to enjoy the 2015 reboot, your heads will be as full as ours are of Poldark-related facts, and you can duly impress your friends and family and head off to the local pub quiz secure in the knowledge that you’ve got the category of ‘ 18th Century Cornish family sagas beginning with the letter P ‘ well and truly covered.

First off in our trivia files, we love this one: here’s a face you may well already recognise, but did you know he was a cast member back in the 70s original?

Yes, it’s that Gastronauts chef from CBBC, or Stefan Gates in fact. Stefan is a tv presenter in the UK, author of six books, including ” 101 Dishes to Eat Before You Die ” and ” The Extraordinary Cookbook ” and panelist for BBC Radio 4’s Kitchen Cabinet.

As a child in the seventies, along with his older sister Samantha, Stefan worked as an actor and model ( appearing on the iconic Led Zeppelin album cover for ” Houses of the Holy “, and about which Stefan said, ” I used to love being naked when I was that age so I didn’t mind. I’d whip off my clothes at the drop of a hat and run around having a great time, so I was in my element. ”  The album cover depicts Stefan and his sister crawling over The Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland, and was the subject of some controversy after it’s release, causing the album to be banned in parts of America.)

In addition to modelling work for knitting patterns and tv commercials, Stefan played the part of Geoffrey Charles in Poldark, seen here playing on the beach with Morwenna:

And here’s a better picture showing Stefan and his sister Sam

 

Nowadays Stefan is more likely to be seen catching and cooking the fish on the beach. He’s also on twitter @stefangates if you’d like to follow his career now.

We do wonder what he thinks of the new adaptation and whether he’ll be watching…

Aidan Turner wins Best Male Newcomer – Jameson Empire Magazine Awards

The smile says it all – Irish eyes a-smiling!!!!

Aidan Turner at the Jameson Empire Awards 2014

http://t.co/QrR94yWnda

The lovely people at richardarmitagecentral.co.uk have posted this to youtube of Aidan’s Red Carpet interview with Chris Hewitt from Empire Magazine.

We love his suit, his longer Poldark-ready hair, his sense of humour and easy manner, did we mention we love his hair??

And guess what??!!! He’s only gone and WON THE AWARD for Best Male Newcomer!!!!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS AIDAN!!!!

The news is official

The BBC Press office release this statement and it’s as we thought: Eleanor Tomlinson, Heida Reed and Ruby Bentall join Aidan to bring the Cornish saga back to prime time television.

Read the press release here
http://t.co/vR6Fn3LxGU

Casting news – Elizabeth

Also from the same source that broke the news on the casting of Ruby Bentall ( via twitter @TVWiseNews ), we’ve learned that Heida Reed will play Elizabeth, another central character in the Poldark saga. You may have seen Heida on TV in Silent Witness or DCI Banks, or in the films Eternal Return, True Bloodthirst or One Day.

Keep in mind that all reports remain unconfirmed until next week when we expect an announcement from Mammoth Screen or the BBC. It’s definitely an exciting time though and we wait with baited breath to hear some news regarding the casting of some of the male figures, especially Francis and Dwight, not forgetting our beloved Jud and Prudie…

More casting news – Verity

From another twitter source tonight, we heard news about another potential cast member playing the pivotal role of Verity, cousin to Ross.  Twenty five year old Ruby Bentall has previously appeared on the BBC in the long-running Lark Rise to Candleford as well as The Paradise and Blandings ( the latter produced of course by Mammoth Screen who are also at the helm of this Poldark reboot ).