Poldark TV series
Aidan Turner, who plays Ross Poldark, with Heida Reed, who plays Elizabeth, has defended the scene that many say is a 'damaging' depiction of 'rape fantasy' BBC

Poldark's ongoing second series polarised viewer opinion with its most recent episode, after a scene which some claim is a "glamourisation of rape" while others are not sure whether the backlash is valid. The BBC has received numerous complaints as well as huge backlash on social media after the show's eighth episode, which aired on Sunday 23 October, saw Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner) turn up unannounced at the house of his former lover, Elizabeth (Heida Reed), urging her to cancel her upcoming wedding to his rival, banker George Warleggan (Jack Farthing).

Despite her protestation and numerous attempts to get him to leave, Poldark kisses her, to which she pushes him away and insists that she loves George. Determined, Poldark kisses Elizabeth once more before pushing her on to the bed. "You will not dare. You will not dare," she begins to say to him, but he quickly answers: "I would, Elizabeth. I would and so will you," and she seemingly succumbs and responds passionately.

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Sarah Green, co-director at charity End Violence Against Women, said of the controversial scene: "It is a really appalling message.

"They have made the representation of non-consensual sex ambiguous by making her appear to change her mind."

Meanwhile, anti-rape campaigner Julie Bindel told MailOnline: "What they are showing is a woman enjoying rape. It's a rape scene that turns into a fantasy. This is one of the most damaging myths about rape. I think it's really pernicious."

Chief executive of the Survivors Trust Fay Maxted shared a very similar viewpoint to Bindel. She told The Guardian: "This is some sort of rape fantasy where the man is overcome by his lusty passions and the woman resists but she really wants him after all. It's a complete rape myth."

But not everyone sees the events depicted in the sequence in that way. Andrew Graham, whose father, Winston Graham, wrote the Poldark books on which the TV programme is based, defended the BBC's portrayal, claiming that "there is no 'shock rape' storyline in the novels" and "to say so is to misconstrue [his] father's text".

"The BBC has cut nothing and [Poldark production company] Mammoth Screen's portrayal of these scenes is entirely true to my father's writing," he said in a former statement . "The only way to judge what my father intended is to read the novels as a whole. Doing so it becomes clear, from earlier scenes as well as from Elizabeth's immediate reactions and later mixed emotions that what finally happened was consensual sex born of long-term love and longing."

Turner – who plays the titular character – previously spoke about how he saw the [then upcoming] scene too. Talking to The Sun, he said: "It seems consensual, and it just seems right. He goes to talk. He doesn't go to commit a crime. They talk and it seems like there is still this spark between them, this unfinished business emotionally. Certainly, that's how Ross feels. He doesn't force himself upon her."

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