It's 1796, and Aidan Turner's Ross Poldark is tasked with saving Cornwall from hunger.
The fourth series of the BBC One drama, which launched on Sunday night time, will see him defend Cornwall from native MP George Warleggan (Jack Farthing).
Britain can also be at warfare with France and Pitt the Younger has known as for a common election.
None of that issues although.
The most essential side of the present's return was, after all, the opening scene in which Ross Poldark is topless and rising from the ocean.
That was the main target of most of the newspaper evaluations, with The Guardian evaluating the present to an 18th Century model of Love Island.
He references Demzela's (Eleanor Tomlinson) affair in the earlier series with poet Hugh Armitage (Josh Whitehouse) and whether or not the state of affairs is over.
"There is the tricky love-triangle situation, plus Demelza's (Eleanor Tomlinson) suspicions that Ross has been getting rejiggy with Elizabeth (Heida Reed)," he writes.
"It just about is Love Island, no? Pecs v poetry, fab abs v the reward of the gab.
"This has (a few more) clothes, bigger clothes, somewhere-down-there-south-westish accents, stirring strings and a sea that doesn't go all the way around. Love Peninsular, perhaps."
The Radio Times' Ben Dowell additionally targeted on Demzela's affair and the "immediate and subtle reminder of the bombshell of the series three climax" that was introduced in the primary episode of the brand new series.
"While this infidelity was rarely addressed directly, it haunted every look between the pair and pretty much everybody else."
Gerard O'Donovan from The Telegraph offers it four stars and says the return of Poldark for every new series is "fast becoming an annual cause for early-summer celebration".
"It's as sure a sign as a budding rose that something ridiculously romantic is about to unfold. And good fun, too."
O'Donovan additionally factors out the topless opening scene, including that "the sight of Ross Poldark striding bare-chested from the waves in the opening scene was as a lot a realizing wink to viewers as an invitation to leer.
"Any drama with the confidence to indulge in such headline-grabbing self-parody is well worth welcoming back."
Carol Midgley from The Times gave Poldark three starsand recognized the primary themes of the present as "s3x and death with a dash of highly expositional politics and much dramatic galloping for Ross's black horse".
She additionally had some commentary on Ross's outfit decisions, he "seemed to be wearing beige chino shortswho knew Next was trading in the 18th Century?"
The Sun's Carl Greenwood focuses on a lot the identical as the opposite evaluations saying that Ross Poldark's "shirtless sea scene had viewers feeling hot and sweaty".
He in contrast Aidan Turner to an "old fashioned James Bond".
Sean O'Grady from The Independent disagreed with the vast majority of the evaluations and curiosity in the topless scene, writing "the trouble with Poldark the character and Poldark the show is that there isn't much to like about either".
He expanded, calling the opening scene an "absolute crashing bore of a cliche of getting Poldark emerge from the Atlantic waves shirtless.
"From there on, in fact, it was the drama that started to drown, which was the only way to derive much enjoyment out of it."