Charles Poldark

Charles Poldark presides over Trenwith as the head of the family Ross returns to, a bluff, hearty squire more concerned with land, lineage and appearances than with sentiment. He is fond of his nephew in his gruff way, but firmly believes duty and property matter more than romantic notions of the heart.

Warren Clarke plays him as a man entirely of his class and era, comfortable in his certainties, and that solidity gives the younger Poldarks something real to push against. He is never a caricature of the pompous elder; there is warmth under the bluster, which makes his old-fashioned convictions feel lived-in rather than merely obstructive.