Millions of viewers will get the chance to see even more of Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark after the BBC signed him up for a second series of the Cornish saga.
The show, which pulls in an average audience of more than 8 million, has won the actor legions of fans with his brooding role as Ross, who returns from the American War of Independence to find his father dead and his love interest engaged.
Scenes showing him swimming naked in the sea and then working topless with a scythe in a field have drawn plenty of comment from viewers, while a question and answer session online saw him bombarded with indecent proposals with questions including: "How do I refrain from licking my flatscreen TV?" and "Can you scythe my lawn topless?"
The show, based on Winston Graham's novels, was originally made for TV in the 1970s when it attracted audiences of 15 million and the remake has helped BBC One to its highest share of an audience in a decade.
Figures released by the corporation show it won a quarter (25.2%) of viewers in peak times in the first three months of the year with strong showings from programmes including EastEnders, Still Open All Hours and Call The Midwife.
BBC One controller Charlotte Moore said it had been "an outstanding start" to the year.
She said: "We aim to maintain that momentum and continue to move with the times and bring audiences a range of distinctive, high quality programmes that feel relevant and reflect the diversity of modern Britain.
"It's exciting to see BBC One being recognised today as the most nominated channel in this year's Bafta TV Awards.
"I can also exclusively announce that Sunday night's new phenomenon Poldark that has captured the nation's hearts has been commissioned for a second series. Aidan Turner will return as Ross Poldark and Eleanor Tomlinson as Demelza in a new eight-part series written by Debbie Horsfield that will cover books three and four of Winston Graham's series."
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