Poldark (OV)

Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner) joins the army to avoid charges of smuggling, leaving behind his sweetheart, Elizabeth (Heida Reed), with the promise that he will return soon. Three years later, wounded and scarred, Ross returns home to discover that his father has died, his estate is in ruins and Elizabeth is set to marry his cousin, Francis (Kyle Soller).

Elizabeth and Francis are married. Ross is surprised to see that callous banker George Warleggan (Jack Farthing) is best man. At the wedding party, Ross' uncle Charles (Warren Clarke) sees that Ross could cause trouble between the newly weds. He offers to pay for Ross to make a fresh start elsewhere. Ross stubbornly refuses, determined to rebuild his family estate, Nampara. With only the help of his father's useless servants, Jud and Prudie (Phil Davies and Beatie Edney), Ross takes on a new kitchen-maid, Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson), after he rescues her from a beating.

When Elizabeth makes it clear that she no longer loves him, Ross furiously decides to leave Cornwall. However, Demelza's abusive father turns up to take her back and brings with him a gang of brutish thugs determined to fight. Seeing the local miners stand up for him and take on the gang, Ross realises that his home is here amongst his friends. On his way back to Nampara, he sees Elizabeth who has come to beg him to stay and it is clear to Ross that she still has feelings for him.

When local mine Wheal Reath is closed violently by bailiffs, hundreds of miners, including Jim (Alexander Arnold), find themselves out of work and desperately poor. Ross, having repaired Nampara, now employs Jim as a farm-hand, and thinks to resurrect his family's mine, Wheal Leisure. He hopes to bring prosperity to the area again, but is advised against the venture by his banker and friend, Harris Pascoe, who does not believe he could find speculators in the current climate.

Meanwhile, Verity asks Ross to accompany her to a ball at the Assembly Rooms, where she meets Captain Andrew Blamey (Richard Harrington) and falls madly in love. However, Blamey is hiding a dark secret that he must tell her. Ross, with the help of mine captain Henshawe and willing investor Horace Treneglos, manages to convince Pascoe that Wheal Leisure is a viable business. But it is his intimate dance with Elizabeth that causes a stir at the ball and gives the other guests a reason to gossip.

Under George's influence, a jealous Francis decides not to invest in Ross' mine. Meanwhile, Ross must help Verity arrange a tryst with Captain Blamey after Charles discovered Blamey's scandalous past and forbids her from seeing him. Francis, spurred by his jealousy of Ross and angered by this fresh betrayal, challenges Blamey to an ill-fated duel. Ross is able to save Francis' life, but Charles blames Ross for the incident and will not forgive him. Elizabeth, however, is extremely grateful to Ross, revealing that she is pregnant with Francis' child.

Wheal Leisure is opened, but immediately hits ironstone that will require additional funds for gunpowder. At the mine, Zacky confides in Ross that his daughter Jinny is pregnant by Jim. Ross offers the young couple one of his cottages free of rent, so that Jim and Jinny can marry.

Elizabeth gives birth to a boy, Geoffrey Charles. At the christening, Ross puts on a brave face but is angered to overhear people gossiping about his relationship with Demelza. Festivities take a turn when Charles suffers a heart-attack and takes to his bed. Things get worse when Jim is caught poaching and Ross must try to defend him in court, citing the terrible deprivation of the poor and pleading leniency because Jim has a terrible lung condition. However, he loses his temper with the presiding magistrate, Reverend Halse (Robin Ellis), and Jim is sentenced to a 'lenient' two years in prison.

Demelza's father, Tom Carne, visits Nampara to tell her she must come home. Fired by their respective misfortune and latent desire, Ross and Demelza share a passionate kiss and, despite misgivings, sleep together. The next morning Elizabeth visits to ask if Ross could speak to Francis about his responsibilities to both his family and his mine now that Charles is sick. Ross agrees to do so and also realises that he must take responsibility and move on with his life too. He stops Demelza from returning to her father's home and instead asks her to marry him.

The news of Ross and Demelza's marriage shocks Trenwith and Charles' amusement at the thought brings on a fatal heart attack. On his death-bed, he asks Ross to look after Francis who is drinking, gaming and whoring his family's money away.

Verity visits Nampara and despite Demelza's worry that she is too common for Verity, the two quickly become firm friends, and Verity teaches Demelza how to be a refined lady.

Wheal Leisure has still not hit copper and the money is running out. Ross turns to his investors, but finds they are unwilling to throw away good money after bad. Lead by Doctor Choake (Robert Daws), who refuses to trust a man so reckless in his choice of bride, all investors but Henshawe and Horace Treneglos withdraw any further support for the mine. They must hit copper soon or Wheal Leisure will have to close after Christmas.

Francis and Elizabeth invite Ross and Demelza to Trenwith for Christmas. Demelza is welcomed into the Trenwith Poldarks and appraised by Aunt Agatha (Caroline Blakiston), who never minces her words. The family Christmas is interrupted by George and Cary Warleggan (Pip Torrens) and John and Ruth Treneglos, who spends the evening insulting Demelza. However, everyone is bowled over by Demelza's beautiful singing. Ross and Demelza head home to discover that Wheal Leisure has finally hit copper and there is further good news for Ross, when Demelza tells him that she is pregnant.

Ross and Demelza welcome two new arrivals: Dwight Enys (Luke Norris), a doctor who plans to make a study of lung diseases at Wheal Leisure and their own baby daughter, Julia Grace Poldark. At Julia's christening, Demelza resolves to lift Verity's spirits by reconciling her with her lost love, Captain Blamey. Meanwhile, Mark has fallen in love with the capricious Keren, who demands he find her a home before they are married. Ross helps Mark renovate one of his dilapidated cottages.

Ross sets about forming an alliance with other mine owners to build their own smelting company and break the Warleggan stranglehold that is driving copper prices ever lower. However, as Francis is deeply in debt to George, he cannot join the venture. Deeply unhappy with his marriage to Elizabeth, Francis is spending what money he has left on lavish gifts for an ambitious prostitute, Margaret. Francis also secures Ross an invitation to George's house party, a seedy affair of drinking, gaming and whoring.

With Ross at the party, Demelza lures Verity into a trap designed to reconcile her with Captain Blamey. However, there is a riot in town over the price of corn and the three are lucky to escape with their lives. Hopeful again of being able to marry Captain Blamey now that Charles is dead, Verity returns home only to discover that Francis has gambled away the family mine on a game of cards with Matthew Sanson, a greedy corn merchant whose high prices caused the riot.

The Carnmore smelting company is a success and Ross makes more of an enemy of George by outbidding him for copper at auction. Meanwhile, Francis is increasingly volatile now that he has lost his mine and is reduced to working the land, so Verity avoids speaking to him about her plans to marry Captain Blamey.

When Ross and Zacky discover there is fever at Bodmin Jail just weeks before Jim is to be released, Ross asks Dwight to accompany him to the prison. Ross forces his way into the jail and discovers that Jim is near death. They break Jim out from the jail in a desperate attempt to save him, but Dwight cannot save him and Jim dies.

Returning home, Ross is expected to attend George's grand ball. He is sickened at the thought of going amongst the people responsible for Jim's death, but Verity persuades him that he must do it for Demelza and Julia's sake; to remind everyone that he is one of their class so they won't arrest him for the prison break. However, at the ball Ross is fighting drunk which lead him to make what appear to be a series of disastrous bets in a card game with Matthew Sanson. Demelza is aghast that she has been left to fend for herself at her first ever high society social event, however, she is clearly the belle of the ball and very well attended by a great many gentlemen. As the night wears on she watches as Ross recklessly stakes Wheal Leisure in the card game. George can feel victory within his grasp, but suddenly Ross catches Matthew Sanson cheating. He humiliates Sanson in front of everybody. He later discovers that Sanson is a cousin of the Warleggans and George will want revenge.

Ross is struggling to keep the Carnmore smelting company afloat, now that George is determined to crush it. George's agents are outbidding Carnmore in order to starve it of copper and George is trying to find ways to get to its shareholders, who all remain secret except Ross.

After a rockfall at Wheal Leisure, Mark returns home early to find that Keren is not there. He tracks her to Dwight's house and realises that they have been sleeping together. In the following argument, Mark accidently suffocates Keren and goes on the run.

Verity elopes with Captain Blamey and Francis immediately blames Ross for helping arrange the scandal. Ross is busy trying to help Mark escape the noose for murder and keep him away from Dwight. Narrowly escaping arrest, Ross heads to Trenwith where he furiously denies any involvement in the elopement, but Francis will not listen and the cousins break irreconcilably. George arrives at Trenwith to offer Francis a large sum of money to recompense any losses that Francis may have suffered because of Sanson's cheating. He seizes the opportunity of Francis' anger to get him to reveal the names of the Carnmore shareholders.

Ross tries one last time to turn around the fortunes of Carnmore, but after they are outbid he reluctantly folds the company. George has won and takes the opportunity to rub Ross' face in it, showing off his new ship, the Queen Charlotte, and inviting Matthew Sanson to return.

Meanwhile, Dwight is consumed with guilt over Keren's death and is throwing himself into work dealing with an outbreak of the putrid throat. When Ross learns that all at Trenwith are stricken with the disease he tries to persuade Dwight to see them, but they are unfortunately Doctor Choake's patients. Demelza, however, rushes to their aid despite the estrangement. Tragically, she becomes infected and passes it on to baby Julia. Demelza is still delirious when Julia dies and so Ross carries his daughters' coffin alone. However, at the church, he finds himself surrounded by mourners both rich and poor, including Francis.

Distraught and angry that he was unable to provide for all of the mourners, Ross takes a walk amongst a gathering storm and is cheered to see George's new ship being wrecked upon the rocks. Ross leads the local poor, many of whom are starving, in looting the contents of the ship and exacting his revenge upon George. Ross also saves many of the crew, but is too late to save the drowned Matthew Sanson. George asks Ross if he could have saved Sanson but Ross declines to answer.

To Ross' great relief, Demelza starts to come round and Ross tells her about the death of Julia. Overcome with grief they head out to the cliffs to give Demelza a chance to say goodbye. Soldiers approach and Ross is arrested for looting, inciting a riot and murder - accused by George Warleggan.