Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

It’s a whole new world for Poldark star Eleanor Tomlinson

Undated BBC Handout Photo from The War of the Worlds. Pictured: Eleanor Tomlinson as Amy, Rafe Spall as George. PA Feature SHOWBIZ TV Tomlinson. Picture credit should read: PA Photo/BBC/© Mammoth Screen/Ben Blackall. WARNING: This picture must only be used to accompany PA Feature SHOWBIZ TV Tomlinson. WARNING: Use of this copyright image is subject to the terms of use of BBC Pictures' BBC Digital Picture Service. In particular, this image may only be published in print for editorial use during the publicity period (the weeks immediately leading up to and including the transmission week of the relevant programme or event and three review weeks following) for the purpose of publicising the programme, person or service pictured and provided the BBC and the copyright holder in the caption are credited. Any use of this image on the internet and other online communication services will require a separate prior agreement with BBC Pictures. For any other purpose whatsoever, including advertising and commercial prior
Undated BBC Handout Photo from The War of the Worlds. Pictured: Eleanor Tomlinson as Amy, Rafe Spall as George. PA Feature SHOWBIZ TV Tomlinson. Picture credit should read: PA Photo/BBC/© Mammoth Screen/Ben Blackall. WARNING: This picture must only be used to accompany PA Feature SHOWBIZ TV Tomlinson. WARNING: Use of this copyright image is subject to the terms of use of BBC Pictures' BBC Digital Picture Service. In particular, this image may only be published in print for editorial use during the publicity period (the weeks immediately leading up to and including the transmission week of the relevant programme or event and three review weeks following) for the purpose of publicising the programme, person or service pictured and provided the BBC and the copyright holder in the caption are credited. Any use of this image on the internet and other online communication services will require a separate prior agreement with BBC Pictures. For any other purpose whatsoever, including advertising and commercial prior

When Eleanor Tomlinson signed up to star in a brooding drama set in 18th Century Cornwall, she had no idea the impact it would have on her life.

Rewind to 2015 and the then 21-year-old unknown would play heroine Demelza in the TV adaptation of Winston Graham’s novels, Poldark, the servant-turned-wife of Aidan Turner’s Captain Ross Poldark.

It was a career-igniting role – and duet – that wooed the nation for five seasons, winning Baftas and culminating with a series finale this August.

Now aged 27, and having stepped out of her alter-ego’s shadow (other than still sporting the dyed red hair she adopted for the part), Tomlinson is keen to forge her own path. One she hopes is free from typecasting.

“I’m trying my best to force it to change,” Tomlinson explains when we meet.

“I’m trying to get as many different roles as I can under my belt, different characters, different periods – I don’t want to be pigeonholed!

“But I’m so flattered to be known as Demelza,” she’s quick to add.

“I love the fact I have that behind me, and I can walk into a room and people may have seen it.

“It’s opened so many doors in terms of what’s available now, things I’ll be seen for that I wouldn’t have been seen for before.”

Her latest outing is in the BBC’s The War Of The Worlds adaptation, a three-part TV reworking written by Doctor Who’s Peter Harness and directed by the notable Craig Viveiros, which started on Sunday.

Tomlinson – who embraced the high-action part – joins Rafe Spall, Robert Carlyle and Rupert Graves in recreating HG Wells’ iconic sci-fi story about the battle to save Earth from a Martian invasion.

Remarkably it’s the first revision (there’s seven in total – from Jeff Wayne’s musical version through to Stephen Spielberg’s Hollywood blockbuster) that’s true to its intended Edwardian era.

“It does seem crazy that it’s never been set in its time!” quips Tomlinson.

“Ours feels particularly current, in terms of taking the writing and adapting it to a modern audience.

“You now have a female leading it, whereas she’s not particularly present in the book.

“There’s so much they can do now, in terms of CGI, that it’s almost crazy not to set it in the time in which it was written; it’s that perfect mix of old meets futuristic.”

Tomlinson plays Amy, a fierce 20-something who faces the prejudices of society as she attempts to start a life with George (Spall), all the while swerving the ongoing chaos outside.

The “refreshing” decision to put Amy front and centre of the narrative was a huge appeal.

“She’s a really strong female character that’s breaking the mould of her time,” reasons the star, whose credits also include the troubled Mary Durrant in Agatha Christie’s Ordeal By Innocence.

“She’s strong, she’s independent, she’s got her own thoughts and feelings and she strives for that.

“She has this scientific brain and she wants to study, but she’s a single woman living with a married man, at a time in history when women weren’t allowed to study…

“To think that women, at one point, weren’t allowed to read books is horrifying. Thank God we are where we are now, but we are because of these women that fought against the system.”

But it’s still relative today, she adds: “In different countries we’re still seeing this control over women.

“But in terms of this industry, we’re seeing much more strong female roles coming out and that’s incredibly important!

“It’s much more interesting for us, as actresses, when we get a script and go: ‘Oh great, I’ve got something to do, I don’t have to wait for someone to rescue me!’”


The War Of The Worlds is on Sundays at 9pm on BBC1.