Project brief:

HOOK

The story comes to its dramatic conclusion. Will Ross and Demelza end up together or be torn apart by jealousy and the forces of history?

WHO are we targeting?

Our core audience of 25-54 year olds, with a skew to female. It’s a returning audience who have watched previous seasons either with us or the ex-premiere network, so capturing these viewers with the message Viasat is now the home of all new Poldark is essential. Couples might watch together and enjoy both the splendour of the costumes and the settings, the scandal, the romance and beautiful, sometimes scantily clad-people.

WHAT do we want to communicate?

That this is a territory premiere for Epic Poland and the final season. We find Ross and George both still bereft after the death of Elizabeth at the end of season 4. Ross is drawn back to London to come to the aide of a wrongfully imprisoned General whom he served alongside in the Revolutionary War. When Ross foils an assassination of King George the Third he is granted an audience with a man who can secure the freedom of his friend, but only if Poldark agrees to work covertly for him. Meanwhile in Cornwall, Demelza tries to keep good on her promise to find work for the discontented unemployed, but finds herself up against a fierce foe – Tess. And George slips into insanity, seeing and interacting with the spectre of Elizabeth, which results in him having to undergo psychotherapy of the day.

The key themes this season discusses are slavery (treatment of slaves on the colonies) race (General Despard is married to a black woman) mental health (George goes insane and receives 18th century treatment) and trust (Poldark loses faith in Britain and seems to swear his allegiance to France, but can we the audience trust this isn’t part of the covert operation he is assigned?). 

WHY are we doing it?

Poldark has been one of the most prestigious and high-rating shows on Epic. We need to embrace and promote this to build on the show’s popularity and go out with a bang!