Customer Reviews

Poldark: Series 2 Volume 1 [Region 2 Import - Non USA Format]

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This is a first rate period piece, set in late eighteenth century Cornwall. It focuses on Ross Poldark, scion of a well known Cornish family. He is a member of the established gentry and a gentleman. Having been gone from Cornwall for a time to fight against the colonists, he returns battle scarred only to find that his father has died and left the family estate in ruins and in debt. He also finds that the love of his life, Elizabeth, believing that Ross had been killed in battle, has become engaged to his first cousin, Francis Poldark. He also discovers to his dismay that the upstart but wealthy Warleggan family, for whom Poldark has no love, is trying to buy the Poldark family mine. This mightily upsets Ross, as the Poldarks represent old money and the established gentry, while the Warleggans represent new money and are social upstarts.

As Ross Poldark tries to rebuild his estate and family fortune, he takes in a red headed, feisty, young street urchin who turns out to be a hoyden with the unlikely name of Demelza. Firmly ensconcing herself on the Poldark estate, she helps Poldark rebuild his estate, scrubbing. cleaning, all while falling in love with the brooding Ross, as he moons for Elizabeth and fends off the Warleggans who appear to conspire to ruin Poldark at every turn. A night of passion, however, finally finds Poldark looking at Demelza with new eyes, and his sense of honor compels him to marry her, little knowing that he would be getting the bargain of his life in doing so.

This is the story of Ross Poldark and Demelza, their families and friends, their loves and enemies. It is a story of sweeping proportions and a fine dynastic saga. It is also a story of the intense rivalry between the Poldarks and the Warleggans, a rivalry that would pit the scions of each of these families, Ross Poldark and George Warleggan, in a life long personal battle that nearly destroys them both. Based upon a series of books by Winston Graham, the Poldark series does honor to the author's work.

Robin Ellis is outstanding as the honorable, though brooding, Ross Poldark. When the viewer first sees him, the viewer wonders what on earth all the fuss is about. Within minutes, however, the viewer finds oneself half falling in love with his character. Angharad Rees is delightful as the feisty, impish little red head and is guaranteed to win the heart of every viewer. Robert Bates gives an affecting performance as Poldark's enemy, George Warleggan, a despicable yet, at the same time, curiously touching, individual. Jill Townsend is appropriately cool and aloof as the ever unattainable Elizabeth of Ross' dreams. Richard Morant gives a stellar performance as the kind and compassionate Dr. Enys, a close friend of Ross Poldark. The rest of the supporting cast is also quite strong and contributes to the success of this tale of romance and adventure in the Cornish countryside.

This is a DVD set well worth having in one's personal collection. Bravo!

This review is not on the storyline of the miniseries, but on the reported run times of this particular DVD set. If you wish to view the uncut version, be aware that this set is missing roughly over 2 hours from the original broadcast.

The UK (region 2) Playback DVD set is shown to carry the following run times. They condensed the 50 minute episodes into 2 parts each for Series 1 and 2. The overall run time is around 1377 minutes. There is an Australian (region 4) Magna Pacific DVD set that is reported to have an overall run time of 1500 minutes (820 minutes for Series 1 and 680 minutes for Series 2). So, the UK version appears to have edited out over 2 hours of the original broadcast (the DVD cover has a disclaimer that states "due to contractual reasons certain edits were made").

Series 1, Part 1 - 5 hours, 57 minutes
Series 1, Part 2 - 5 hours, 57 minutes
Series 2, Part 1 - 5 hours, 39 minutes
Series 2, Part 2 - 5 hours, 24 minutes

From having viewed the entire DVD set, it appears that the editing occurred mostly in the Series 1 DVD set.

My sister has always raved about the Poldark series that was shown on Masterpiece Theatre in the mid nineteen seventies. When it first became available on video, though it was expensive, she promptly bought the first set of six tapes and has yet to tire of watching them. Knowing how much I love period pieces, she urged me to watch it, telling me that she was sure that I, too, would love it. Well, she was right.

This is a first rate period piece, set in late eighteenth century Cornwall. It focuses on Ross Poldark, scion of a well known Cornish family. He is a member of the established gentry and a gentleman. Having been gone from Cornwall for a time to fight against the colonists, he returns battle scarred only to find that his father has died and left the family estate in ruins and in debt. He also finds that the love of his life, Elizabeth, believing that Ross had been killed in battle, has become engaged to his first cousin, Francis Poldark. He also discovers to his dismay that the upstart but wealthy Warleggan family, for whom Poldark has no love, is trying to buy the Poldark family mine. This mightily upsets Ross, as the Poldarks represent old money and the established gentry, while the Warleggans represent new money and are social upstarts.

As Ross Poldark tries to rebuild his estate and family fortune, he takes in a red headed, feisty, young street urchin who turns out to be a hoyden with the unlikely name of Demelza. Firmly ensconcing herself on the Poldark estate, she helps Poldark rebuild his estate, scrubbing. cleaning, all while falling in love with the brooding Ross, as he moons for Elizabeth and fends off the Warleggans who appear to conspire to ruin Poldark at every turn. A night of passion, however, finally finds Poldark looking at Demelza with new eyes, and his sense of honor compels him to marry her, little knowing that he would be getting the bargain of his life in doing so.

This is the story of Ross Poldark and Demelza, their families and friends, their loves and enemies. It is a story of sweeping proportions and a fine dynastic saga. It is also a story of the intense rivalry between the Poldarks and the Warleggans, a rivalry that would pit the scions of each of these families, Ross Poldark and George Warleggan, in a life long personal battle that nearly destroys them both. Based upon a series of books by Winston Graham, the Poldark series does honor to the author's work.

Robin Ellis is outstanding as the honorable, though brooding, Ross Poldark. When the viewer first sees him, the viewer wonders what on earth all the fuss is about. Within minutes, however, the viewer finds oneself half falling in love with his character. Angharad Rees is delightful as the feisty, impish little red head and is guaranteed to win the heart of every viewer. Robert Bates gives an affecting performance as Poldark's enemy, George Warleggan, a despicable yet, at the same time, curiously touching, individual. Jill Townsend is appropriately cool and aloof as the ever unattainable Elizabeth of Ross' dreams. Richard Morant gives a stellar performance as the kind and compassionate Dr. Enys, a close friend of Ross Poldark. The rest of the supporting cast is also quite strong and contributes to the success of this tale of romance and adventure in the Cornish countryside.

This is a video set well worth having in one's personal collection. Bravo!