Jack Farthing is George Warleggan

"I am a bit of a one for nostalgia and I have been languishing in the fact this is the final series - it is odd but also exciting for a number of reasons. Firstly because it has been a successful show and we are all so happy and proud of what we have achieved. But also because we have an amazing series this year - it's solely based on Debbie Horsfield’s writing and it has a different feel to the other series - it's very exciting. As much as it has been strange and sad it has also felt like we’ve all wanted to really nail it."

Jack talks about the traumatic end of last series and where we find George at the start of this final series.

"Losing Elizabeth (Heida Reed) at the end of last series was extremely traumatic for George. We pick up this series a few months afterwards. He is apparently back to normal, at his desk hard at work but crucially refusing to talk about anything - he doesn’t want to hear her name, pictures of her are being taken down from the house, he is getting on with his life. However, gradually you become aware that he is not anywhere near as calm as he appears, he is suffering inwardly and apocalyptically. George has been totally changed forever by what happened at the end of the last series."

How does George fair emotionally in the wake of losing everything he ever dreamed of in one fell swoop?

"At the beginning he is telling everyone he is fine, which is a commonplace response to a traumatic event, to brush it all under the carpet. But as soon as he is triggered and brought back to it, it is catastrophic for him and is a challenge like nothing he has ever faced. So he is more wounded and less stable than he has ever been. Elizabeth stays with George, it's like she is dead but her presence is as potent for him as ever - even when she is unmentionable she is still his moral compass and the reason for certain actions he takes this series. You see moments where he is looking at her picture and he is trying to see things through her eyes, he can still hear her and she guides him, and whereas he may have railed against that in the past it is like music to him now."

Jack reveals that filming this final series of Poldark has been the biggest acting challenge.

"The most challenging work I’ve done in the past five years is all in this series. George is grieving in a particular and dramatic way. There are climaxes to his sadness and some of them were pretty challenging to film. There are moments where Dwight (Luke Norris) takes him on as a patient and in a modern and intelligent way goes through talking therapy with him. Others are trying to lock him up or drown him, but Dwight realises that what he needs to do is talk to George, get inside it psychologically and make George confront it rather than allow him to continue to evade it.

There is a particular moment when we go back into the bedroom where Elizabeth died and Dwight makes George remember it, and that was really heavy. We filmed so much in that bedroom set that when we walk into that room my heart just sinks. I did a lot of running around in my nighty this series, which in the chilly weather is also a challenge. Standing on the edge of a cliff in a nighty is not all that much fun."

Jack did a great deal of preparation for his complex role this series.

"I did a lot of research to try and make the work I was doing feel real and authentic. I spoke with some psychologists about grief and the aftermath and the range of reactions they had seen. I found this wonderful woman called Dr. Jacqueline Hayes and we talked about complicated grief versus psychotic reactions, as George isn’t suffering from a mental illness, he hasn’t got a previous history with that and he is not psychotic, but it is very complicated post-traumatic grief and the range of reactions people have is infinite.

Around 60 percent of people who are grieving for a lost loved one have some form of contact with them, be that hearing, talking, smelling or touching, it is normal - people think they are going mad but they are just grieving, so it was important for me to hold on to that. As much as this is a dramatic and quite extreme version of that, it was so interesting to learn about it and try my best to make it feel authentic."

Jack has enjoyed playing a role that continues to evolve and shock audiences. He reveals that people will see a very surprising and unseen version of his character this series.

"What I think Debbie has done amazingly well is to surprise people. She hasn’t felt like she always has to sit back into the moulds of characters we established in series one, and that is probably one of the greatest strengths of all of the characters but particularly with George. People will have him labelled as a ‘baddie’ so it is interesting when you find yourself feeling sorry for him or momentarily sad for him. People are different all the time and so the audience don’t mind if you act unexpectedly, they’re still going to believe who you are, they’ll just think you are behaving out of character, which is what humans do. So I have embraced the ambiguities and they are by far my favourite things, those moments of thinking, would he do that…?’

Ross and George come up against each other for the final time this series. Might be hope for any reconciliation between them?

"Ross and George can see each other more clearly through the emotions of their antagonism towards each other. It is not that they are suddenly going to be friends or that they agree about anything but it is just that they can share a little bit more and that is possibly because they have both lost Elizabeth.

They saw each other at these very low ebbs at the end of last year and you bond over that experience, whether you like it or not. They know more than they let on about what the other might be feeling. But also along with that there are still moments of total fury and winding each other up. Ross more than anyone has the balls to come into the house and talk about Elizabeth, which is totally taboo and whilst he is not necessarily doing it with malice, inevitably it causes problems."

Jack reveals he will miss stepping into George Warleggan’s shoes every year and tells us about a special keepsake he has taken from set.

"I will miss playing George. I have been so lucky, it has been a lot to find and play with, and you take that for granted when you do that. Now it is coming to an end I realise how lucky I have been, playing this role and the quality of the people who make this show is incredible and are so friendly… it has been a total dream. I will miss telling his story but I am happy with how it has gone, and hopefully this series lives up to what it should.

I have a George Warleggan costume already hanging in my wardrobe at home. A jacket, britches and waistcoat that were all made for me - I spent the whole series in them and I just love them. It is pure nostalgia, although maybe one day I’ll wear it for a fancy dress party."

Foreword by Debbie Horsfield

"When I first picked up the novel Ross Poldark in 2012 I had no idea that seven years later I’d have adapted seven books and completed five series (43 hours!) of Winston Graham’s extraordinary Poldark saga.

In 2015, with great trepidation, we awaited the response to series one - knowing that the 1970s adaptation had been massively popular, and praying that we’d done justice to these amazing stories, characters and Cornwall. Fortunately the casting - Aidan (Turner), Eleanor (Tomlinson), Jack (Farthing), Heida (Reed), Luke (Norris), Kyle (Soller) and Ruby (Bentall) - found favour with audiences, and to our great delight we were asked for more.

Although none of us ever dared to look more than one series ahead, we found ourselves approaching the end of series four (and book seven, The Angry Tide) with something of a dilemma. Our cast was optioned for five series - so what to do with an 11-year time jump and five more books? We knew we’d never be able to wrap up five books in a single series, but no-one wanted to call time just yet, so we looked at another option.

In book eight (The Stranger From The Sea), 11 years down the line, we meet Ross abroad on a special mission for the government. How did he go from restless, sometimes reckless, and somewhat disillusioned MP, who despaired of ever really 'making a difference' in the world, to Special Agent Poldark, sent by the Crown to report from Portugal on the Peninsula War against Napoleon?

Winston Graham had left plenty of hints in book eight about events which had happened in those intervening years, but he gives little away about how Ross achieved that transformation. So for me it was the starting point, the way to navigate through series five. Winston Graham’s son Andrew endorsed my wish to continue his father’s methodology: looking at the historical context (Napoleonic Wars, Act of Union, fast-approaching Abolition of Slavery) and using real events and real people to drive the narrative.

So what would be our events and who would be our new characters? It seemed to me that one thing we had never met so far was a character to whom Ross really looked up to, even to the extent of hero-worship. So when I was researching the early 1800s I came across Colonel Edward Despard. Reading about him I was so reminded of Ross himself that I felt sure Winston Graham knew of him (though Andrew Graham thinks not).

Ned Despard was a war hero who, like Ross believed in justice, compassion, equality and liberty for all. His wife Catherine was a former slave from Jamaica. And her rise to be his equal, her determination in the face of prejudice and scorn was uncannily reminiscent of Demelza’s own journey. As was the love and devotion both couples felt for each other. I wanted Ned to be part of Ross’ journey towards greater maturity, to be the salutary lesson, his 'there but for the grace of God'.

Tracing Despard and Catherine’s real life story, intertwining it with Ross and Demelza’s and seeing them deal with the consequences of that entanglement, forms the spine of series five and introduces on the way other real-life characters such as James Hadfield (would-be assassin of George III), William Wickham (founder of the British foreign secret service) and Joseph Merceron (the 'Godfather' of East London). Inextricably involved with Ross and Demelza’s journey are Ross’s nemesis George Warleggan, as well as friends and allies Dwight and Caroline Enys, Sam, Drake and Morwenna Carne.

It feels strange, and a little sad, to be approaching the transmission of series five knowing that we won’t be returning to Cornwall, but it’s been an extraordinary journey for all of us and we feel truly fortunate to have lived with these characters and stories for so long. What’s next for me? A contemporary series. Watch this space. Not a tricorn in sight. I’m excited for the next project - but I’ll miss that Cornish surf!"

Character Descriptions

Ross
Ross hoped to put London behind him to focus on peaceful, family life, but a plea from his old Army Colonel, Ned Despard, compels him to the capital to help. As Ross’ world becomes entangled with the Despards', new alliances and old enemies threaten his loved ones and the nation itself, testing our hero’s resolve like never before.

Demelza
As she grows into her role of Cornwall’s beloved defender, Demelza is still looking out for the less fortunate of her world. But when the Despards enter her life, Demelza finds there are repercussions to getting involved: Cornwall needs her own help now more than ever, and new forces threaten all she holds dear.

Drake
Although he has finally married and settled down with Morwenna, Drake yearns to mend the wounds of her past. As the journey to wedded bliss proves uncertain, Drake’s love is tested. How far is he truly willing to go?

Sam
Sam is rising in the community and is admired as a leader. When Tess Tregidden makes it her mission to cause trouble, Sam makes it his to convert her wayward soul. As he helps Demelza in the community, an unexpected romance blossoms for him too.

Morwenna
Though reconciled with Drake in marriage, Morwenna struggles with intimacy, in the wake of her life with her brutish former husband. With the loss of John Conan still haunting her, Morwenna finds her old life overlapping with her new, but as the community come to rely on her she grows into a new role with a hope she had not foreseen.

Geoffrey Charles
Following his mother’s death, Geoffrey takes his future into his own hands and follows in Ross’ footsteps by joining the military. His path takes him to the capital, where an unlikely attraction finds him in the dangerous waters of forbidden love... 

George
Haunted by the loss of Elizabeth, George looks for his missing spark as he forges onward. His journey sees him entering into an alliance with merchant Ralph Hanson, whose business in the mahogany trade and influence in London promises to expand the Warleggan empire around the world.

Dwight
The future holds great promise for Dwight, who has finally gained recognition in his field. However, the arrival of the Despards comes to drive an ever-growing wedge between him and Ross, testing Dwight’s loyalty to his closest friend and the strength of his bond with Caroline.

Caroline
Caroline finds a new distraction in championing the Despards, but old insecurities arise as she joins her friends against their common enemy and finds she must battle with her demons once again.

Prudie
Having settled into her role in the Poldark family, Prudie is trusted to run the home and family in their stead. With new enemies emerging, Prudie‘s role as Nampara’s guardian becomes more important than ever and she must employ all her cunning to help save their world from being upturned.

Ned
An ex-army colonel and Ross and Dwight’s’ ranking officer in American Revolutionary War, Ned was made the governor of British Honduras, where he took a former slave as his wife and tried to implement policies ahead of his time. But when he locked horns with corrupt forces in his posting, Ned was recalled to London and locked away in Coldbath Fields prison, without a fair hearing, leaving him hungry for liberty, vindication and revenge.

Kitty
A former slave, Kitty fell in love with her master, Edward 'Ned' Despard, whom she married. In her fight to exonerate her husband, Kitty finds allies in our heroes and her resilience gains their admiration, as she carves a determined path through the moral corruption that surrounds them.

Tess
A former employee of Trenwith, when Tess suddenly finds herself without the means for an honest life, she harbours revenge against the upper classes. Bitter in her quest for a better life, Tess becomes a persistent thorn in our heroes’ sides, and her machinations threaten the stability of their homes.

Cecily
The daughter of Ralph Hanson, Cecily is a staunch supporter of the abolitionist movement, putting her at odds with her family and peers. Educated and independent, Cecily is ahead of her time. In pursuit of her own brand of happiness Cecily falls in love with a man in league with her father’s rivals, testing family loyalties as she tries to make her future her own.

Ralph Hanson
Father of Cecily and a wealthy mahogany merchant, Ralph Hanson seeks a new backer to fund his enterprise abroad. To this end he enters an alliance with the Warleggans, and crosses swords with our heroes when his dealings come to impact upon their lives.

Joseph Merceron
Joseph is a powerful and enterprising magistrate with connections and influence throughout the social and political tiers of London.

Related Programme Information

• Episode one
• Episode two