This anthology series transformed acclaimed children’s books like Anne of Green Gables and The Chronicles of Narnia into television films. (Photo: The Walt Disney Company / PBS, screengrab via YouTube) That probably explains why it was rebooted in 1996 as a TV movie and then again in 2015. Poldark became one of the most successful British television adaptations of all time and became beloved by American audiences as a part of PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre in the late 1970s. The two seasons follow Ross as he struggles with new love, old passions and making his mining business a success. The show follows Ross Poldark (Robin Ellis), a British soldier recently returned from the American Revolutionary War who comes home to Cornwall to discover his fiancee has married another man. Running for just two years, Poldark was the original television adaptation of a series of novels by Winston Graham.

The 2015 Poldark television show may be taking audiences by storm, but viewers might be surprised to learn the British romantic saga is actually a reboot of a series that premiered in the mid-1970s. Robin Ellis as Ross Poldark in the original 1975 series.

The quirky series caught on with viewers and became a pop-culture hit. Each 90-minute episode mirrored the style of old-fashioned films, which was a change from the usual educational content PBS produced at the time. Matinee at the Bijou ran for five seasons, each season consisting of 16 episodes.

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