Poldark

ITV commissions new political drama from Homeland writer

Fearless is a contemporary thriller about Emma Blunt, a solicitor with a reputation for defending lost causes. Starring Peaky Blinders actor Helen McCrory in the lead role, the show is described as "in the crash zone where law and politics collide.”

"The so-called War on Terror has put serious stress on the ordinary workings of the law. National security justifies all sorts of police and state over-reach – and the great majority of us are prepared to accept this," said Harbinson, who was a soldier before turning his hand to writing TV dramas.

Poldark writer pens new series for BBC One

Poldark,

Age Before Beauty is set in a family-run Manchester beauty salon and explores the modern fascination with staying young.

The series follows Bel, wife of Wesley for 25 years, who has spent the last two decades raising their twins. Now that the twins have left to go to university, Bel is left trying to fill that void.

Her brother-in-law and best friend, Teddy, asks her to step in and rescue their family's struggling beauty salon.

Poldark commissioned for third series

The second series of Poldark has yet to air on television, returning to BBC1's prime Sunday night slot this autumn, but the programme's makers have already been given the go ahead for a third.

Series one was watched by 9million viewers in 2015, and received much publicity alongside the UK general election. “People were asking ‘Where is the Ross Poldark of our time, where is our natural leader?’ Who could have predicted that?” said writer Debbie Horsfeld at an RTS event in April

The power of Poldark: Anatomy of a hit

Reviving a much-loved drama series from a less competitive and less knowing TV era was never going to be easy. But everything fell into place for the team that resurrected the swashbuckling period romance Poldark, originally a big hit for BBC One in the mid-1970s.

Even the notoriously unpredictable Cornish weather played ball – and the show went on to spark a media sensation when the rebooted Ross Poldark took his top off.

Poldark: "Who’d thought that one photograph would go global?"

Jack Farthing, Debbie Horsfield, Anne Dudley and Damien Timmins were on the panel of Poldark: Anatomy of a Hit (Credit: Paul Hampartsoumian)

Damien Timmer, Managing Director of Mammoth Screen, who made the series, suggested it was the period detail and how audiences could relate to the characters that appealed to viewers.

“Those 18th century characters, those 18th century costumes…there was something so relatable about it.

“There’s something about the show’s humanity, the way Debbie [Horsfield] wrote the characters and the actors played them, felt very truthful.” Timmer said at the RTS event, Poldark: Anatomy of a Hit.