Zacky Martin

Zacky Martin is one of the older, steadier hands among Ross Poldark's mining community — a family man and skilled miner whose experience and quiet authority make him a natural go-between for the miners and their new master. He watches Ross's return with cautious hope, weighing loyalty against hard practical sense.

He's the show's ballast: a working man written with real dignity rather than as background colour, giving Poldark's Cornwall its texture of community and consequence. Tristan Sturrock plays him with unshowy warmth and watchfulness, so his approval of Ross feels earned rather than assumed, and his presence grounds the drama in ordinary stakes.