Saturday 25 February 2017

Aidan Turner: All Clued Up

Aidan Turner as Kili in The Hobbit

How impressive is this?

Aidan Turner has made The New York Times crossword!

The crossword on 23 February, 2017 contained the clue: Actor Turner of "The Hobbit" (56 Across). The answer, of course, is "Aidan". Aidan played the dwarf Kili in The Hobbit trilogy, prior to starring in Poldark.

Hilary Stillman, a Poldarked reader who regularly does The New York Times crossword, brought the puzzle to my attention saying, 'This is a big deal, as a public person has to have a certain level of recognition to be used as a clue. I've done the puzzles for a long time and this is the first time I've seen Aidan Turner recognised in this way.'

It's certainly the coolest crossword clue I've seen!

Picture credit: xwordinfo.com

Many thanks to Hilary for sharing this story with Poldarked.

Please remember to mention Poldarked when reposting.

Monday 13 February 2017

'Poldark' Nominated for RTS West of England Awards

Poldark RTS Wesr of England Awards, Eleanor Tomlinson, Aidan Turner

Congratulations! Poldark  has received three nominations for the Royal Television Society West of England Awards 2017 in the categories Best Drama, Best On Screen Performance and Best Cinematography.

Competing against Mammoth Screen's Poldark in the Best Drama category are:
Crazyhead - Urban Myth Films
Sherlock, The Abominable Bride - Hartswood Films
The Living and the Dead -  Monastic Productions

Eleanor Tomlinson is up for Best On Screen Performance along with:
Rachael Stirling - Sixteen, Seize Films
Roger Jean Nsengiyumva - Sixteen, Seize Films
Susan Wokoma - Crazyhead, Urban Myth Films

Cinders Forshaw has been nominated for Best Cinematography for Poldark. Others in this category are:
Suzie Lavelle -  Sherlock, The Abominable Bride, Hartswood Films
Justin Brown - Sixteen, Seize Films
Matt Gray - The Living and the Dead, Monastic Productions

A full list of the nominations can be found here.

The RTS West of England Awards will take place on Sunday 19 March at the Bristol Old Vic. Tickets are on sale from 20 February from the Bristol Old Vic box office (tel: 0117 987 7877) price £45.

The Crown at Wells on 'Poldark' Filming

Last Friday, Poldark returned to the City of Wells in Somerset for the final day of filming series three. Back in November they had filmed at the Bishop's Palace but this time the action took place in the Market Square, with the Town Hall becoming the Warleggan Bank.

Adjacent to the Town Hall is The Crown at Wells and their PR and marketing manager, Sara Blair, told me, 'We were lucky to have a birds eye view of filming. The crew were just super, ensuring we got a signed photograph of Eleanor Tomlinson and Aidan Turner. They were also kind enough to leave us a Crown Inn sign which is now up in our bar.'

If you happen to be in the area, why not pop in and take a look? 

Photo credit: The Crown at Wells



Photo credit: The Crown at Wells
Photo credit: The Crown at Wells























Photo credit: The Crown at Wells



Thursday 9 February 2017

'Poldark' Pics from Radio Times Covers Party

Here are some fun pics of the Poldark cast from the Radio Times Covers Party which was held at Claridges on 31 January, 2017.  Enjoy!

All photos are from the Radio Times.


Aidan Turner, Eleanor Tomlinson, Ruby Bentall, Beatie Edney and Harry Richardson

I'm sure I saw Harry Richardson arrive with a skateboard tucked under his arm! Very cool! Harry was in ITV's Doctor Thorne last year, which was also presented with a Radio Times cover award.





Tuesday 7 February 2017

Aidan Turner is Going to the BFI & Radio Times Television Festival!


Poldark, BFI & Radio Times Television Festival, Aidan Turner
Photo: Ellis Parrinder
Ever since the BFI and Radio Times Television Festival was announced back in December we've been hoping for this news! There will be a Poldark session at the Festival and Aidan Turner will be on the panel!

Aidan will be joined by screenwriter Debbie Horsfield and executive producer Damien Timmer for the event Ross Poldark: Old-fashioned Hero for a Modern World. They'll be discussing what makes Ross tick and there'll also be a clip from Poldark Series Three.

The event will be at the BFI IMAX on Saturday 9 April from 3.15 pm to 4.15 pm.  The IMAX seats 500 people, so is a little larger than the BFI Southbank theatre that has been used for the Poldark preview screenings.

Tickets go on sale to BFI members at 11.30 am on Friday 10 February (to Champions 24 hours earlier), to Radio Times subscribers on Saturday 11 February at 11.30 am and to the general public on Monday 13 February at 11.30 am.  They can be booked online or by phone on 020 7928 3232 (11.30 am to 8.30 pm) and cost £16 with concessions and member prices available.

There are plenty of other good things on at the BFI and Radio Times Television Festival 7-9 April such as sessions on Victoria (a Mammoth Screen production), The Crown, Line of Duty and The Night Manager. Check out the full line-up here.

UPDATE 8 Feb 2017: Please note BFI members can book a maximum of two tickets per member.

Wednesday 1 February 2017

Radio Times Covers Party: A Street View

Radio Times Covers Party, Poldark
Photo: Official Poldark
When there's an event that the cast of your favourite TV show are going to, how often have you thought, "If I lived there I'd go and see them arrive"?  I know I have! Well, I don't live in London but, when I heard the Radio Times Covers Party was on the 31 January I felt fate had dished this up for me because I happened to have an afternoon engagement in the area that very day. I decided to do something I've never done before and go along to Claridges to watch the arrivals.

I'd expected a good crowd of onlookers so I was pleasantly surprised to arrive around 6.45 pm to find only a dozen or so people waiting. Most were professional autograph hunters and there were a couple of freelance photographers and a couple of Poldark fans. Everyone was friendly and there was an air of expectancy as we waited for the guests to arrive, unsure of which entrance to Claridges they would use.

I have been to Claridges before, to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug press conference in 2014.
Photo: evie bowman for Middle Earth News
That had been held in the same room the Covers Party now occupied, so I knew the set-up, which helped somewhat.

Guests soon started to turn up and it was rather exhilarating going from one entrance to the other to try to catch people as they arrived. And what a polite crowd we were! Everyone asked permission before taking a photo and there was none of the frantic pushing I'd experienced from professional autograph hunters at the Poldark screenings at the BFI.  And here a particular mention for the Doormen. I had quite expected to be moved on or, at the very least, be given a hard stare but no! They happily allowed us to wait around the doors. Top marks to Claridges and its Doormen I say!

I saw Ruby Bentall (Verity) and Eleanor Tomlinson (Demelza) arrive and had a chance to give executive producer Damien Timmer our best wishes for Poldark for the evening. Before going in to the party Ruby spent time talking to the autograph hunters, some of whom had met her before. She then posed for photographs. I saw Eleanor with a fan, signing a picture and posing for a selfie.

Away from Poldark I was most pleased to see the screenwriters Andrew Davies (War and Peace, Pride and Prejudice, House of Cards) and Steven Moffat (Sherlock, Dr Who) and of course, Mary Berry - well, who doesn't love Mary?

The last of the guests arrived (and yes, they were late) and I thought of heading home when a rather strange thing happened. The first guests started to leave!  This left me in a quandary. Should I stay or should I go?  With the chance of getting pics of Eleanor and Beatie Edney and maybe even Aidan. I decided to stay a while longer, knowing Eleanor's car was parked outside. I got a glimpse of Aidan as he went from the party to the hotel, looking very cool in a dark blue bomber jacket, shirt and jeans, but no chance of a photo I'm afraid. Eventually, with no sign of our Poldark stars leaving, I headed home.

So, was it worth doing? Well, yes, in that it was an interesting experience.

Would I do it again? Probably not! I am glad to have tried it once though.  It's yet one more adventure in my blogging life!

Here are some pics for you to enjoy.


Radio Times Covers Party, Poldark
Ruby Bentall Aidan Turner  Selasi Gbormittahat
via @RubyBentall

Radio Times Covers Party, Poldark
Aidan Turner Karen Thrussell by @beatieedney


Official Poldark
Damien Timmer
Ruby Bentall and Beatie Edney via @beatieedney


Debbie Horsfield and Eleanor Tomlinson via @beatieedney

Related links:
Poldarked: Radio Times Cover Party 2016