13:27, 27 April 2015
By Sherna Noah
Six million viewers tuned in to the emotional final episode of Poldark last night - and lamented the end of the first series.
The finale featured the sudden death of Poldark and Demelza's baby daughter Julia and ended with a cliffhanger which will run in to the second series.
The episode peaked with 6.1 million viewers on BBC1, winning its 9pm slot.
It averaged 5.9 million and a 25.4% share of viewers - more than last week but not matching the heights of the first episode - which secured almost seven million.
The installment left many viewers in tears.
"I went to bed with tears streaming. Harrowing but superbly acted," Jo Cooper wrote on Twitter.
Fiona Rose McGregor wrote: "I need a bucket for my tears."
The finale attracted warm reviews, with Allison Pearson in The Daily Telegraph saying that it was "hard to remember a more emotionally pummelling hour of television drama".
On Digital Spy, Cameron K McEwan wrote that it was "a brave move to have such a cheerless finale, but the emotional resonance amid the events of this packed 60 minutes will reward fans immeasurably."
Ellen E Jones wrote in The Independent: "Poldark is not a sophisticated drama, but the simple things can sometimes be very satisfying."
Jim Shelley wrote on MailOnline: "There was only one way the nation's swooning viewers could find brooding, pouting, heartthrob Ross Poldark any more irresistible - make him Tragic. So it proved in the final episode of the swashbuckling Seventies revival."
The BBC is planning a second series of the Cornish saga.
(I am coping as best I can... - Karen V. Wasylowski)
