Poldark could get another five series, says BBC executive

Poldark could return for another five series, it has been suggested, after a BBC boss revealed that he felt the drama may go on for longer than its current commission.

Starring Aidan Turner as titular hero Ross Poldark, the first series attracted an average audience of more than eight million.

Speaking to the Radio Times, outgoing BBC controller of drama commissioning, Ben Stephenson, said he believed that all 12 original Poldark novels could be adapted at two books per series.

Poldark's appeal has been largely credited to Turner himself who, as brooding soldier-turned-businessman Ross who returns from war to find his beloved engaged to his cousin, has won legions of fans.

Stephenson was responding to comments made by George Osborne, who complained: "I’m enjoying Poldark at the moment, but in a couple of weeks it will be over. Where are the BBC dramas thjat run for eight or nine years? I don’t think we run with our successes enough."

It was recently announced that the Cornish saga would return for a second series after the show proved to be a success for the BBC.

Figures showed it had won a quarter (25.2%) of viewers in peak times in the first three months of the year.

Turner is set to return as the drama’s hero, while Eleanor Tomlinson will also return as Demelza in a new eight-part series written by Debbie Horsfield.