BBC drama ‘Poldark’ has quickly become essential Sunday evening viewing, thanks in no small part to star Aidan Turner and his character's trademark shirtless scythe-wielding. But viewers were left a little disappointed during the series’ penultimate episode on Sunday evening, when in a shocking turn of events Poldark kept his shirt on.

Aidan TurnerA fully clothed Aidan Turner

Some viewers even took to Twitter, to complain about being deprived of seeing Turner’s tanned torso on their television screens. ‘No half naked scything tonight? (Sighs) #poldark2015,’ one viewer succinctly put it. While another, referencing the Beeb’s pre-episode warning regarding ‘upsetting scenes’, wrote, ‘Despite the @BBCOne warning before #Poldark my wife is traumatised by some of the scenes in which Aidan Turner kept his shirt on..”

The drama has proved a huge hit for the BBC, averaging around 8 million viewers each week, some of the highest viewing figures for the channel in recent years. Unsurprisingly it has already been recommissioned for a second series which is due to begin filming in September.

More: Second Series Of 'Poldark' Commissioned By BBC One

Speaking to the Radio Times Damien Timmer, one of the series’ executive producers, described the show’s steamy scenes “pretty innocent”, saying everything was in line with author Winston Graham’s original work.

“Honestly, we were pretty innocent about the shirt taking-off stuff”, he said. “No, really, Ross does it in the book, he goes swimming, he washes himself clean. And he’s a farmer, and it’s very hot in Cornwall! Besides, we didn’t audition him with his clothes off.”

But for star Aidan Turner, the new found fame the series has brought him is something he’s yet to get used to, “It was quite odd to walk into a newsagent and see myself holding a scythe with a peculiar smile on my face,” the Irish actor told the mag.

"I think I could easily get addicted to Googling myself if I did start doing it, so I just stay out of that entirely. It's better not to know, sometimes,” he added.

More: 'Poldark' Star Aidan Turner Getting Married To Long Term Girlfriend Sarah Greene

Looking ahead to series two, writer Debbie Horsfield, who is said to have already written five new episodes, revealed a few of the show’s future plot points. "Ross is reckless and forever getting stuck in, without being a crusading character, but he can't bear to see unfairness and inequality even when there's nothing in it for him,” the writer said.

"So he brings himself to the brink of disaster, and Demelza, a forceful and powerful character in her own right, is taken along with him.” 'Poldark’s' first series concludes this Sunday (April 26th) on BBC One.