Angela Griffin has seemingly taken a swipe at ‘Poldark’ for broadcasting a controversial ‘rape’ scene in the wake of her series ‘Brief Encounters’ getting axed by ITV.
The 40-year-old actress is "gutted" that her 1980s-set show – in which she starred as Ann Summers sales rep Nita Dempsey – has been dropped after one series, and in a bitter Twitter rant she appears to have slammed the BBC period drama for airing scenes of an explicit nature and ITV for not letting the "popular" and "funny" show develop, despite good viewing figures.
She tweeted: "Working class, women, northern, new writing, no dead bodies, dead kids or rape. Popular. Funny #briefencounters #gutted … 5.7m people watched #BriefEncounters for six weeks over the summer (2.3m more than the average). It hasn’t been recomissioned…. discuss… (sic)"
Angela could be referring to the scene in ‘Poldark’ in which Aidan Turner as titular character Captain Ross Poldark bedded his former fiancee Elizabeth Chynoweth [Heida Reed], despite her initial protestations for him to stop before then succumbing to his advances.
‘Brief Enounters’, which also starred Penelope Wilton and Sharon Rooney, won’t be renewed by ITV, the show’s writers Oriane Messina and Fay Ruslin confirmed.
A joint statement posted on Twitter read: "Thanks to the 5 million who spent their six week summer holiday with ‘Brief Encounters’. We got drunk together, argued, laughed, cried, got sexy and fell in love.
"Sadly, we won’t be holidaying together next year but we hope you will come with us on our next TV adventure."
ITV added in a statement: "We have taken the difficult decision not to recommission ‘Brief Encounters’ for a second series.
"As a broadcaster we seek to commission a diverse range of drama and as a consequence continually refresh our drama portfolio. We’d like to thank the writers Oriane Messina and Fay Rusling, the production team at CPL Productions and the Brief Encounters cast for their commitment and hard work in creating the drama."
However, CPL Productions have vowed to find a new broadcaster for the show.
They said: "Our funny and forthright women struck such a chord with audiences in the UK and worldwide that we are confident there is an appetite for more ‘Brief Encounters’, and are looking into all alternative options."
Brief Encounters star Angela Griffin seemingly takes swipe at Poldark
