My esteemed partner, Mr Joseph Merceron.
Soon to be your esteemed partner, gentleman.
He was falsely accused by Hanson himself because he tried
to stamp out such greed and brutality!
My reputation within the House has been utterly ruined.
What exactly would you seek?
Revenge.
Forgery is a hanging offence.
I'll be forced to name these persons.
I've considered our situation and believe there's now
only one solution.
Ned was set up and will take down all who stand by him.
-I will stand by him. -Stay where you are! -I warned you what would happen
if you failed to keep him out of trouble.
Now, if he falls, he takes you with him.
Friends!
On behalf of Captain Poldark, who sadly can't be with us
here today, but who has gifted us this land
for the building of our school,
it'd give me pleasure to lay the first stone
and to ask a blessing on our mission
which is to bring knowledge and learning to all.
CHEERING
Mr Speaker! Mr Speaker!
Can any here give me reason why a loyal, high-ranking servant
of the Crown is being held, awaiting trial, without redress
in the most squalid of conditions?
Is this how we reward devotion to duty?
These accusations are demonstrably false!
Colonel Despard is a devoted patriot
who is being grossly misused by the Crown.
ALL CLAMOUR
My dearest Demelza, my hopes of a swift release for Ned
have come to naught.
Indeed, there is no prospect of release at all.
Still, I will not give up his cause without a fight.
I've petitioned Pitt, Canning, Addington!
Does no-one comprehend there's no grounds for Ned's arrest?
Captain, could it be that I've overestimated your capabilities?
Essential for a covert role is the ability to remain
-silent and unseen. -Is silence appropriate in the face of...?
What is appropriate is detachment!
To be invested in an outcome or a friend is a threat
to any mission.
A mission I never sought!
Yet you accepted the terms.
And now, when the subject has run his own head into a noose,
you continue to champion him.
Detach!
For your own sake!
Step away.
Your maiden speech in the House has not endeared you
to the tender-hearted.
Despite my saying what everyone knows -
that slavery is the foundation of our empire.
It's becoming less fashionable to say so.
But the success of our business dealings with Merceron and Hanson
rely on it.
Yes, indeed.
The irony is I've no opinion, one way or the other.
I was merely following instructions.
Ah, good to see you, my Lord.
Your Ladyship...
On the matter of Miss Hanson...
..does the connection still serve us?
It serves me to know that Ross and Despard will be brought to heel.
The girl is incidental.
Papa.
You must know that I did not wish Mr Poldark to ask for my hand.
That's very wise of you.
I told him to wait.
And I hope I can prevail upon you...
In Honduras, do you recollect how little you saw of me?
I was building, with my bare hands, the foundations of our fortune.
YOUR fortune.
Do you think that I would consent to throw that all away
on some disgraced and penniless boy?
He was not disgraced!
You know he was falsely accused.
One day...
..you will thank me...
..for providing you with a mate that matches your station.
Jeremy? Clowance? Hurry up and finish your breakfasts!
Make haste! Morwenna will be expecting you.
Here, take an apple each.
-Can Garrick come? -No, he may not.
Prudy! Coats!
Jeremy, your books.
-Clowance, you get your shoes on, please. Sit down. -I'll take 'em.
-No, I'd rather. -Zacky Martin's here to see.
-What? -Morning. -Zacky!
Come in, come in, go through there.
Make haste, my little chibbies!
Must you be in such haste to escape?
Were it up to I, I would never leave this bed!
Nor I.
Having feared it for so long,
I have much to make up for.
Five minutes?
Ten?
I waited a while, mistress, to be sure.
But now there be no doubt.
Ore comes up from the mine, is stored as we've belong to do,
but when it come to be processed, only half remains.
And the rest?
How long have you known?
Two months ago I first suspicioned.
This past week, I've put men on the weighing and measuring
and now there be no doubt.
Someone's stealing our ore.
Look...
..must it not be someone with a knowledge of...
..the workings and the movings of the mine?
One of our own?
Sadly, yes.
"My help...cometh even from the Lord...
"who hath made...heaven and Earth."
Excellent.
And thy health hath indeed come from the Lord.
That he may do greater good for the school.
Nay, Sam, I believe 'tis your patience
and kindness that have helped me so far.
You make learning a pleasure.
Now I must attend to my flock.
'Tis lucky they are, to have such a preacher!
'Tis a calling, to be a servant of God.
But do ye not find it some lonely?
Sometimes.
And I, though my own days be full,
do oft' find that I lack someone
to share 'em with.
Shall we read again tomorrow?
Gladly.
HE PANTS HEAVILY
Well, friend, am I not living proof of the adage "a healthy mind
"and a healthy body"?
I think you've looked better!
I'd look worse, were it not for my wife...
..whose acquaintance with this palace
has taught her who can be bribed
in order to make my life faintly less degrading.
Most of the guards think I'm a witch,
so I can threaten them with spells as well as coins.
SCREAMING IN DISTANCE
The dulcet tones of happy inmates
helping to advance medical science.
So far, I've been spared the privilege.
Excuse me while I, er,
hex the guards into ensuring that continues.
Please do.
Guards?
The nights are long here...
..and afford one ample time for reflection.
What do you reflect?
How I should have played the game.
Kept my head down and my mouth shut.
One way or another...
..I'll get you out of here, Colonel.
Captain.
Regarding Despard's impending trial, Lord Ellenborough's the judge,
Sir Spencer Percival the Crown.
It seems the prosecution agree that, while the due process of law
-must be observed... -Hm.
Trial by 12 good men.
True justice sometimes requires a little assistance
and, in this case, the names of 100 potential jurors
have been circulated by the Crown amongst their trusted associates
in order to ascertain where their sympathies might lie.
And who has been entrusted with the selection?
Gentleman.
Mr Merceron.
He will not be swayed.
So, now we have no choice!
None.
But how shall it be managed?
Leave that to me.
I'll send word.
I fear the Crown grows weary of Ned.
And may use this opportunity to rid itself of him,
once and for all.
But he's no traitor.
By today's reckoning, he is!
Of course, Ross thinks he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time
-with the wrong people. -And you think?
That whoever set him up has been clever.
Clearing him will be no easy matter.
Well, if the Crown doesn't kill him, prison will!
Kitty's bribes may be all that saves him from being tortured.
Is this true?
Oh, yes.
And sanctioned by governors, I'm sure.
Who can prevent them?
There might be someone who could advise me.
I've been documenting everything concerning Ned's predicament.
It appears the governors have turned a blind eye to his plight.
Whether through negligence or... or in exchange for bribes...
As magistrate, is it not in your power to call
the governors to account?
Perhaps you think I'd do better to petition parliament
to force the governors to act?
I would not advise it.
Let me think on it.
You were right to bring it to my attention.
May I keep the record?
I think I would prefer to retain it, sir.
As you wish.
Thank you.
Slow down, Garrick! I can't catch up with you.
-Jeremy! Jeremy, can you get the stick for Garrick? -Coming!
You do know if folk see us walking out together
they'll think we're courting?
I said that to Jake once.
And see how that turned out.
I shall always regret how things ended twixt my brother and me.
And yet, in the end...
..maybe not.
For it may yet all turn out for the best.
Oh!
You're a quick learner!
And you're a fine teacher.
If I dared...
..instruct thee on another matter?
Rosina, she'd make a fine wife.
Maybe I need no instructing there?
So, will you ask her?
Maybe.
Preacher Carne?
'Tis well met.
May I ask you, be there any hope for sinners?
Surely.
Can a body learn to live a good and purer life?
Anyone can do that.
Could ye maybe teach me how?
But perhaps I am too great a sinner for thy God to forgive.
The Lord would say there be no such thing as a body beyond forgiveness.
His mercy be praised.
According to Joseph, the girl is still consorting
with my brat of a stepson.
And does that distress you?
Not in the least.
The pain will be all the keener when they come to be parted.
I had it cleaned and mended.
Oho! I hope it still fits.
I think Erskine an excellent man.
He got Hadfield acquitted.
And Hadfield shot the king.
So, tomorrow...
..you'll be home for supper?
Shall we have beef?
Guinea fowl and four bottles of canary...
..followed by a gavotte!
A small, private ceremony.
I've scarce been widowed two years.
A grand affair would be vulgar and ostentatious.
As you wish.
I will leave you to communicate arrangements to the happy bride.
Cecily!
Prepare yourself. It will be the day after tomorrow.
-Captain Poldark. -How are we feeling?
Get up.
Turn around. Arms behind your back.
A useful part of a gentleman's education,
to see a traitor condemned.
Especially such a tiresome one.
All rise.
Gentlemen of the jury, we see before us today one
of the most heinous traitors this country has ever known.
Edward Despard was present at an illegal political meeting.
His fellow conspirators, including disaffected members
of the armed services, had illegal oaths in their pockets.
They were plotting nothing less than the cold-blooded murder
of the king.
CROWD: No! Shame!
How would they achieve this?
By turning a ceremonial cannon on His Majesty's carriage
as he passed on his way to the House of Commons
and the ultimate aim of this act of terror?
To signal the start of a revolt.
To overthrow the Government and Crown
and to establish a republic to emulate that of France.
Outrageous!
ANGRY SHOUTING
He'll be laughed out of court.
-There's not one ounce of proof. -No doubt.
Order! Order!
Sir.
CECILY: My love, we must act immediately or we are lost.
What other explanation could there be for a gentleman
of the prisoner's standing to be consorting with
the rags and tatters of society?
Perhaps he did not consider them as rags and tatters.
Did he have a motive?
This is nonsense! You have to do something!
How credible is it...
..that a handful of rags and tatters would seriously believe
they could overthrow the Government and Crown and single-handedly
establish a republic?
More to the point, is it likely that an experienced
and highly-decorated army colonel would share that delusion?
I invite you to consider not how improbable its success appears
to you but how probable its success might appear to them.
An English revolt?
Headed by the man who had already led a revolution
in Honduras by making convicts, rebels and slaves
the equal of their masters.
I keep thinking how it must be for Kitty.
And for Ross.
I dearly wish I was there
but, what, with this theft at the mine...
Well, here's where you're needed, sister.
Especially with such fainaigin's afoot.
He needs watching.
I'll go.
You have my forks fettled in time for supper.
-Can you, sir, please state your name to the court? -John Stafford.
I never once saw this man in the Oakley Arms.
I doubt many of these witnesses were ever there.
-So they perjure themselves? -For a price, I imagine.
"The King is our enemy."
And how many times did you hear him say this phrase?
Multiple times.
Multiple times. Thank you very much.
And what were the precise words that you heard the defendant speak
in the Oakley Arms?
-He said that we should kill the King. -How do we refute this?
We don't.
-And how many times did you hear him say this? -Enough of this...
On numerous occasions.
Call me to the stand!
Over there!
Someone's watching us!
Clem! Ruben! Get her!
You will not take the stand.
That's absurd, who better to speak for myself than I?
Someone who can say of you what you cannot say yourself.
I served with Colonel Despard in the American War.
Even though it was a war we lost,
his commitment to his country
and fellow soldiers never wavered.
If you lose this one, you'll have me to answer to.
Stich him up, Enys.
This war is not over yet.
After the war had ended and I had returned home,
he continued to the Spanish Main to fight alongside Horatio Nelson.
As a young officer in Jamaica he dug ditches,
built fortifications, risked his life countless times in battle.
In the diseased-riddled swamps of Honduras,
he learned that survival...
..depended on working WITH the so-called rags and tatters
of society. Native Indians, convicts, slaves.
Giving to all, regardless of sex, colour, class or creed,
the right to have a say.
He asked the question,
"Should nations be ruled by force, by an elite, or by consent?"
Everything he has ever done
has been in service to the Crown.
To suggest now that he seeks to murder his sovereign
and overthrow the nation for which he has laboured unswervingly
is, frankly, risible.
He is a patriot of the highest order
and the Crown should honour him...
MURMURS OF APPROVAL
..instead of attempting to cover up its mistreatment of him
by inventing crimes he did not commit!
MURMURING CONTINUES
We need to get Dwight Enys on the stand.
I suppose it's worth a try.
And were you recognised?
I don't think so, I was too far away.
Let's round up a passel of men and head straight for Jacka's.
Nay, I think we should wait.
We've still no clue what them up to.
Whether it is our ore they're shipping away.
Well, what else could it be?
I've no wish to confront them without just cause.
It's better to watch and wait.
And catch them in the act.
Agreed.
So, we give them no sign we suspect them.
No, especially not that one.
That's if she is involved and, so far, there's no proof of it.
I served with Colonel Despard as Army Surgeon
during the American War.
During that campaign, he sustained a number of serious head injuries.
Subsequent to tropical fevers and further cerebral wounds,
all sustained in the service of the Crown,
have taken their toll.
And I believe that permanent
and irreversible brain damage has occurred.
As in the case of James Hadfield, the true character of insanity
reveals itself not as wild frenzy or raving madness
but as delusion.
There is no doubt in my mind that Colonel Despard is delusional.
His actions, his speech, his view of himself and his place in the world
clearly indicate that he is not of sound mind.
I therefore ask the court to release him and allow him
to receive the humane treatment appropriate to his condition
which I will personally undertake to supervise.
MURMURING
All rise.
-Let's hope we're in for a lengthy wait. -Yes.
The longer they argue, the better the chance of acquittal.
KNOCK ON DOOR
GEOFFREY: My dearest Cecily, we leave tonight.
He has arranged it.
Already?
They took barely ten minutes.
I know. It's a surprise to me.
Excellent.
Why?
It means the jury agreed without arguing.
What did they agree?
What should they have agreed?
Uncle Ross's friend should go free.
UNCLE Ross?
He's no relation of yours, boy.
All rise.
Have you reach a verdict?
We have, my Lord.
Do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty?
We find him...
..guilty, my Lord.
SHE GASPS
My Lord, we do earnestly recommend the prisoner to mercy,
on account of the high testimonials to his former good character
and eminent services.
It was not enough.
Does the prisoner wish to make a final statement?
Innocence is its own statement, my Lord.
It now remains for me to pronounce...
..the dreadful sentence of the law, which is...
..that you be taken to a place of execution,
there to be hanged by the neck
but not until you are dead.
Then cut down and your bowels taken out
and cast into the fire before your face,
your head to be taken off
and your body quartered.
CROWD CLAMOURS
All rise.
I'm amazed.
Such a sentence has never been pronounced in 50 years.
Can we not appeal?
I regret there's nothing more we can do for him.
Break him from the jail?
I'll need you to get me into the prison in the first place.
I am known and always watched like a hawk, whereas you...
Caroline, help me knock some sense into him.
Doctor Enys will do whatever is required.
Caroline, are you mad?
Because Doctor Enys recollects that he himself has been
the beneficiary of such an escape.
Do you really compare the two?
I was a prisoner of war, captured in the service of my country.
Kitty, you must pack.
Ross will find you somewhere to hide
until you can get safe passage to Jamaica.
Very well, I will join you.
To make sure he doesn't break more heads than he needs to.
You're insane.
KNOCK ON DOOR
Yeah?
Dr Ransome to see the prisoner Despard.
-Who? -Man sentenced to hang tomorrow?
Been taken ill and I'm ordered to attend on him.
DULL THUD
Be careful with that bag, fool.
Drop it again and I'll have you horsewhipped.
Small token for your pains.
BOLT SLIDES
LOCKS CLICK
A friend of yours sent a message.
Kitty.
You know Kitty?
Asks if you would kindly leave the door open in exchange for these.
Don't stand there idling. The guards change at midnight.
Guards?
Kitty's drawn us a map.
It's basic but it gives us an idea.
We've just under ten minutes to reach the outside before
-a new patrol comes past. -You're breaking me out?
Did you think this was a social call?
You are both magnificent.
We are. Dwight, however, will not be joining us.
-What? -He'll return to the main gate,
-say he's attended a prisoner and then leave. -Absolutely not.
This is purely pragmatic.
If one guard has told another guard there's a physician here,
that physician must be seen to leave.
It'll give Ned and I more time to escape.
Very well.
First...
Well, then, you madman.
Best of luck.
Shall we?
Goodnight, Dr Ransome.
Goodnight.
Shall we breakfast together before the execution?
Er, no, I have another engagement.
Ah, yes, that one.
Hopefully not as bloody.
MERCERON LAUGHS
HOOVES CLOP
Do we break the journey?
Only to eat and change horses.
So, we will not lie together till we reach Gretna Green?
We will not lie together until we are man and wife.
GUNSHOT
HORSE NEIGHS
Lord save us!
Is it highwaymen?
Open the door.
Quick!
According to Kitty's map,
this leads directly to the cellars.
Sewers.
Not my ideal mode of exit but...
..beggars can't be choosers.
This one can.
And he chooses to stay.
What?
The moment I am missed...
..where do you think they'll look?
I've already arranged for a safe house.
Here in London.
What about Cornwall?
You think they won't come for your wife? Your children?
They cannot prove it was I.
Who else would be mad enough?
My friend...
..a soldier must know when to retreat.
No, no, no, Ned! Not this time!
Not when we've come this far!
Have you ever seen me weep?
No.
In court today...
..I did.
Not when I heard the verdict
but when I heard my friend describe who he thought was me.
But he was describing more than me.
He was describing an ideal...
..and he was describing himself.
You are everything I have sought to be...
..but better.
A soldier...
..but also a statesman.
You will make the world a stronger, fairer, wiser place.
DOOR SLAMS
So, leave me here...
..and go finish what I could not.
Get up!
God Almighty, can a man not sleep in peace
on the eve of his execution?
Can you not sleep, Mama?
Too many thoughts keep me awake.
Shall I sing to you?
Would you?
# When the moon is on the sea
# Kosk yn tar, kosk yn tar
# Silver pilchards call to thee
# Kosk yn, kosk yn tar. #
BELL CHIMES
Uncle Cary said I am to have a new mama.
That's not true.
No-one can replace your mama.
For either of us.
Will it do, do you think?
I think it will.
BELL CHIMES
Come.
Let me look at you.
That first day you arrived at the bay,
you had a button loose.
I asked you to mend it.
And afterwards you asked me what you could do for me in return.
And you laughed and said...
"Mend the world."
I fear that's too great a task.
But you DID mend the world.
For so many of us.
And for me especially.
And now I must quit the world...
..wishing I could leave you a better legacy.
But you have left me the best.
Here.
God.
BELL CHIMES
BELLS CEASE
Sir, your daughter is blameless.
It was my idea and I fully accept...
Not true.
I suggested it and Mr Poldark was merely the agent of my...
Why do some people fail to understand
where their best interests lie?
GEORGE: Why is he here?
I thought he might appreciate the spectacle.
Let us hope so.
Why the despair?
Miss Hanson is not altogether lost to you.
As wife to me, she will, in effect, be your stepmother.
Shall we begin?
Did my mother ever tell you why she married you?
My father died with debts and there you were,
throwing your guineas at her feet.
But her heart belonged to one man only.
It wasn't my father.
And it wasn't you.
Brave effort.
Almost worked.
Let us proceed.
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today...
Would you like a blessing, my son?
No, thank you, Father.
If any of you can show just cause why they may not
be lawfully married, speak now or forever hold your peace.
I wish to declare...
..that it's barely a day since...
..I gave myself, body and soul,
to Geoffrey Charles Francis Poldark.
So, if you wed her, you will always wonder...
..is her first child mine or yours?
You will live to regret this, my dear.
And so will he.
My lord, may I have your permission to address the people?
Fellow citizens, I come here,
having served my country faithfully for 30 years,
to suffer death for a crime I did not commit.
His Majesty's ministers know I am innocent.
Yet they choose to destroy a man because he's been a friend to truth,
liberty and justice.
CROWD: Shame! Shame!
Nonetheless, I hope that falsehood, greed and tyranny
will be vanquished...
..and this nation...
..which I have loved...
..will one day be a beacon of democracy, freedom,
justice and humanity.
CROWD: Reprieve! Let him go!
Shall we have rain, do you think?
Dear God, could he be pardoned?
The Prime Minister has seen fit
to remit part of the sentence.
To wit...
..the taking out and the burning of the bowels,
the dividing of the body into four parts
and the beheading.
The prisoner...
..will hang.
CROWD GROANS
KITTY SCREAMS
It could be argued you had a narrow escape.
A more pliable female might better suit.
There will be no other female.
ROSS SNIFFS QUIETLY
So, justice has been done.
Has it?
And hell awaits.
I imagine he'll find it an improvement on this place.
Oh, I trust not.
The governor has his reputation to consider.
The governor should be strung up.
You think?
Oh, were you not aware?
The governor of this prison...
..is I.
-This will be your world for the next month. -And then?
We travel to Honduras.
DOOR IS LOCKED
Heaven...and...
..Earth.
I never knowed a quicker learner.
We all know her game.
Sam thinks if there's a soul to be saved,
then he must save it.
Even if it's wicked.
ESPECIALLY if it's wicked.
And that one is.
I took a long time learning it.
So'll she.
Though 'tis maybe not my place to say it.
Demelza.
Ross.
You have no idea how glad I am to be home.
Judas!
I never thought that...
Oh, poor Ned.
Poor Kitty.
And you...
What do it mean for you that your friend was declared traitor?
Will your good name suffer?
-Do I care? -Well...
..not now, perhaps, but...
If I never see London again, it'll be too soon.
Did you weep...
..when he died?
What good would it have done?
You should not stopper up tears, Ross.
You should weep for him.
For the better part of him.
It is the better part of you.
I'll walk on and lay the table for supper.
FOOTSTEPS APPROACH
My love?
THUD!
Compliments of Mr Merceron.
Anything?
It's like he's melted off the face of the Earth.
Poldark has vanished.
Vanished?
Am I not bound to help the wife of a friend?
Now the widow of a friend.
Tess be up to some wickedness.
And you know this because...?
My father is, too.
This document must be stopped.
THEY must be stopped.
The Hyde Park incident was not sufficient.
I must devise a worse deterrent.
TERRIFIED SCREAM