‘Poldark’ season 2 debate: Should there be a Christmas Special?

This year, Britain aired a wide array of different Christmas Specials spanning a wide array of different periods. You had many shows set in the past (“Call the Midwife,” “Downton Abbey”), and then you also had one that was set in more time periods than we can count (“Doctor Who”).

So what about “Poldark“? Over the past year the BBC hit starring Aidan Turner has developed an enormous following, and not just fans of the original product. It’s picked up many along the way thanks to some strong performances, poignant writing, and a few moments in every episode that sends social media into a bonfire. These episodes are tremendous viewing events in the spring, but would it carry over into Christmas? It makes some sense to look at both sides.

The case for it – For one, there’s a hole opening in the market. With “Downton Abbey” ending on ITV, their viewers have to flock somewhere. Why not “Poldark”? We imagine that there may be a carry-over between the two shows, and given the space between the show’s proper season and Christmas, this could be thought of as a nice little appetizer to tide fans over. There are some occasions in which we would bemoan taking an episode away from a run for the sake of a Christmas Special, but we wouldn’t mind it here. Sometimes in the course of a season we take individual episodes for granted, and we certainly wouldn’t in this case.

Also, just because an episode airs at Christmas does not mean that you have to have Ross and Demelza off decorating a tree somewhere. For example, “Downton” has aired a Christmas Special before that was not set anywhere near the holiday. These episodes also air in other countries on different dates, and it may provide less context or confusion there.

The case against it – The biggest thing that we can say is that “Poldark” may struggle with pressure on Christmas to lot leave everyone sobbing into their dinner and desserts over what happens on the screen. No one wants to be sad on December 25, and this is a show where sometimes, terrible things happen. A certain event with Matthew Crawley on “Downton” sent fans into a tailspin years ago, and the same could happen here.

Also, Christmas ratings do tend to be a tad lower than regular episodes for obvious reasons. While a Christmas Special may be more of an “event,” you’ll have to rely more on casual viewers to catch up.

Where do you stand on the subject? Share now in the comments!

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