Summary

• Poldark had to make significant changes from the books to fit the time restrictions of each episode, resulting in some scenes being difficult to understand without the context of the books.
• Ross's character undergoes a drastic change in the show due to the condensed timeline, but the books provide a deeper understanding of his development and the reasons behind it.
• The addition of new characters in the show led to a different storyline and location, as the cast didn't return to Cornwall like in the novels.

Poldark, the historical drama based on Winston Graham’s books of the same name, ended in 2019 — but season 5 concluded in the year 1799, several decades before the novels final stories, which were set in 1820. As with most novel adaptations, many aspects of the books end up changing to bring the story to a more visual medium, and Poldark is no different, as there are major differences between the versions. While the show wasn't rife with unanswered mysteries, there are a few elements of Poldark that make much more sense upon reading the books.

Just as there are characters from the books that Poldark leaves out, the television show had to cut out both some side and backstories to fit the time restrictions for each televised episode. This makes some scenes difficult to decipher without referencing the books, while some storylines had to be adjusted for the small screen to accomodate the changed timeline. On the whole, the storylines in Poldark remained mostly loyal to the story the Graham novels sought to tell, but it is always nice to understand things from the book compared to the series.

10 Poldark Never Told The Story Of Demelza's Children

Twenty-One Years Of The Books Story Remains Untold

The fifth season of Poldark ended in the year 1799, while the book ended in 1820. The TV series ends with Demelza telling Ross she is pregnant. The show ends the story between the seventh and eighth Poldark books. After the pregnancy, Ross and Demelza’s characters become less important, shifting the attention to the next generation of Poldarks and Warleggens. The child Demelza is pregnant with grows up to be Bella in the 12th novel. The novels end with Bella and the three other children of Demelza and Ross happily married, traveling to Nampara to visit their now elderly parents.

9 Ross Finds Elizabeth In Trenwith Instead Of Charles

Ross's Line In The Books Explains His Frustration

At the end of Poldark, Ross goes to Trenwith to talk to Charles but instead finds Elizabeth there. Ross tells Elizabeth that it’s not pretty to make a complete fool out of himself and hold on to childish promises. The whole passage in the book unmasks that very vague line.

What Ross meant was that, when he first saw Elizabeth, he had no eyes for other girls and the only reason he came back was because of her. Elizabeth stops him for a moment, but Ross continues, asking her if their childish promises had any meaning to her and asking her if she felt something for Ross, even just a little.

8 Ross’ Drastic Change Was Due To Condensing The Story

The Reasons For His Change Took Place In The Next Book After Series Ended

Poldark’s writer, Debbie Horsfield, explains that as they were approaching the end of season 4, they had an 11-year time jump and five more books to go. However, the production was limited to five seasons (via PBS). Ross became a special agent, sent to report on the war against Napoleon, which is very different from who he used to be. He used to be reckless, restless, disillusioned, and had despaired of changing the world. In his new position, his outlook on life also appeared to have matured.

Author Winston Graham left some clues in the eighth book, The Stranger from the Sea, about what happened in those interceding years. This also explained the subtle changes in Poldark's personality. Horsfield, with Winston’s son’s permission, adapted Winston’s methodology of including real characters and events and introduced another character instead, who becomes Ross’ role model, Ned Despard.

7 The Poldark Cast Didn’t Return To Cornwall

This Was All Because Of Characters Exclusive To The Show

The series ended with the cast not returning to Cornwall at all. This was entirely because of characters that Debbie Horsfield added to the show. She intertwined the lives of Ross and Delmeza with Ned and Catherine, Ned’s wife who used to be a slave in Jamaica. Debbie concocted the consequences they had to face, which takes a big chunk of season 5. Because of these storylines, a return to the southwest of the U.K. wouldn't have worked as well as it did in the novels.

Other characters were also created, including William Wickham, who founded the British Secret Service, Joseph Merceron, the “Godfather” of London, and James Hadfield, the soon-to-be assassin of George the Third. With such high-stakes players involved, and many who had ties to locations like London, it was an obvious and logical decision to not return to Cornwall.

6 Ross Is A Solid Egalitarian In The Books

The Novels Explains Why This Is So Important To Him

In the screen adaptation of Poldark, Ross’ character was not only a believer in equal rights and opportunities for people, which the book has strongly emphasized. On the show, he is also portrayed as someone handsome, good at horse racing, drinks too much when he is unhappy, and often argues bitterly with Demelza.

The books give a better understanding and respect for Ross. He leaves Cornwall to fight in the American Revolution, trying to make up for the assault he made on an officer and his dependency on his sexual escapades and gambling. When he returns, he is concerned about the welfare of his tenants. He helps refugees, he fights swindlers and fraudsters, and he stands up to illegal animal hunters.

5 There’s Much More To Elizabeth Warleggan’s Cold Heartedness

Ross Was No Hero In The Books When It Comes To Elizabeth

Poldark may be one of the best British TV shows, but it doesn't come without a distaste for certain characters. Many Poldark viewers increasingly began to hate Elizabeth Warleggan in season 3. She moved to the country with her heartless husband, George, and their baby Valentine, leaving behind her first child, Geoffrey, to the nanny, Morwenna. Her sadness has turned her into a completely unpleasant character, making viewers hate her all the more.

But before hating her, it needs to be understood where all this sadness and hate came from. In the book, Warleggan, Ross breaks into Elizabeth’s house and sexually assaults her. Ross tells Elizabeth that it is about time he treated her like he sees her, and he assaults her. In the television adaptation, the supposed assault scene was made consensual to support Ross’ character as a romantic hero.

4 Ross Knows Of Demelza’s Affair With Hugh

The Books Show Why He Believed It Would Never Happen

Poldark viewers concluded that Demelza had an affair with Hugh Armitage as revenge on Ross and Elizabeth. In the book, Demelza spends a good deal of time musing about why she had the affair. It was not out of revenge.

In the book, Demelza had sincere feelings towards Hugh because he was attentive and romantic. He granted Demelza and Hugh an absurd amount of freedom to be together, even if he was suspicious. Ross was so angry at Demelza, because of his expectation that she wouldn't cross that line and after everything they had gone through. He defended his affair with Elizabeth by saying it was bound to happen to lead him to Demelza.

3 The Reason Elizabeth Never Saw Ross At Her Engagement Party

The Books Explained Why Ross Never Showed Up

There was a scene in Poldark where Elizabeth was waiting for Ross after her engagement party. Viewers were confused about why Ross didn’t show up to take her back, with the reasons for his absence left ambiguous. In the book, it's explained that Elizabeth had stronger feelings for Francis, and Ross knew it. Ross didn’t show up for a lot of reasons. He had nothing to offer to get Francis out of the picture. He had just arrived from war with no money and no estate to his name. Plus, their love is tainted in the first place, with Elizabeth not committing to the promise she made.

2 Demelza’s Age When Ross First Met Her

Demelza Was Much Younger In The Books

In the books, Demelza was 13 when Ross first met her. Poldark readers were taken aback since Demelza on the show didn’t look 13, as canonically Ross is 10 years her senior. In the books, they had a father-daughter dynamic until Demelza turned 17, four years after Ross took her as a helper. In the show, they had to make the pace slightly faster, making Demelza look older than she was in their first meeting.

It was a necessary change to not make the storyline awkward because of Demelza’s young age. The show shied away from and completely avoided the father-daughter dynamic between the two and dived right into the love story plot.

1 Demelza Hadn’t Experienced Good Relationships With Men

Demelza's Disappointments Were Broken Down In The Books

Demelza’s affair with Hugh was kept short in the Poldark series, making it look like Demelza did it out of character. There was disappointment with her character development and some speculated it was out of retaliation. This scene was beautifully written by Winston to depict human nature. Demelza, growing up, did not have a lot of good experiences when it came to men.

After being taken from an abusive family to work as a servant, there weren’t any chances for her to meet anyone else. Hugh enters and everything becomes a whirlwind of emotions for Demelza. The mutual attraction was unavoidable, given their backgrounds and the situation they were both currently in.