Why is 'Poldark' ending and how many episodes are in Season 5? Here's what we know about the period drama's finale.
Only a few more episodes of Poldark remain before the series officially comes to an end, and fans are desperate to know why the beloved period drama isn’t sticking around for another season.
As it turns out, this may not be the last time we see Ross, Demelza, and the rest of the Cornwall gang.
Why is Poldark ending?
According to various interviews with producers and cast members, the team behind Poldark wanted to end the show on a high note, a common practice in British television. (The historical series aired on BBC One in the U.K. before it aired on PBS in the U.S.)
"We are trying to serve the story to the best of our ability and the storyline of Ross and Demelza would have a time jump we'd really battle with, and it is right to end the series now while it is so strong and while these characters are loved and not diminished in any way," actress Eleanor Tomlinson, who plays Demelza, explained in an interview with Digital Spy.
"I feel very sad about it ending. I'm really going to miss the cast and crew and I'm really going to miss Aidan [Turner, who plays Ross Poldark]," she added. "We have a brilliant bond and a brilliant relationship and it is going to be very strange not going to work."
When announcing that Season 5 would be the series’ last, executive producer Karen Thrussell hinted that the show could return in the future, a prediction Aidan views as a real possibility.
"It doesn’t feel like an ending," he admitted to Digital Spy. "I don’t think that is the BBC being crafty and keeping it open-ended for another series in time, but [while] it feels right, it doesn’t feel final."
Fans have also speculated that the writers opted to end the show now that they’ve finished adapting the first seven novels of Winston Graham’s Poldark book series. However, Season 5 was not actually based on any of the author’s previous works.
It’s been suggested that BBC One might create a spin-off based on the remaining five books in Graham’s series, which take place in the early 19th century and follow the lives of Ross Poldark’s descendants.
How many episodes are in Poldark Season 5?
The final season contains eight episodes and will finish airing in the U.S. on Nov. 17. A brief description of the finale reveals that it takes place several months after Episode 7.
"With their lives on the line, Ross and his friends must launch their most daring plan yet, to save themselves and the country from enemies both at home and abroad," the synopsis reads.
Writer Debbie Horsfield teased what viewers can expect from the show’s conclusion. "Writing the end of this final season was sad, but the ending itself is uplifting," she shared, adding that it was much easier to compose than the Season 4 finale.
"To be honest, the saddest scene I've had to write was the death of Elizabeth. That was awful, so nothing in this season was as harrowing as that!"
The remaining episodes of Poldark air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on PBS.
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