• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, November 2, 2022

Poldark’s got a beard in the new crime thriller “The Suspect” coming to Sundance Now and AMC+ this week.

Actor Aidan Turner first came to prominence in the lead role of “Poldark” on PBS -- the brooding and handsome Capt. Ross Poldark.

He made such a strong impression on “Poldark” that “Poldark” fans, of which there are many, are sure to focus almost immediately on Turner’s new look in “The Suspect.” 

This is why the always eager-to-be-helpful TV Blog is displaying both versions of Aidan Turner in the photo above.

However, thoughts and memories of Ross Poldark fade almost immediately as the now-bearded Aidan Turner applies his charisma to the role of a London psychologist who finds himself involved in a murder case (in ways that would constitute spoilers if described here).

Who is the suspect of “The Suspect”? This is not made entirely clear in the premiere of this five-part limited series, although suspicion is thrown on more than one character before Episode One is over.

“All problems are illusions of the mind,” reads a quote from Eckhart Tolle that is shown onscreen at the outset of the series.

The quotation sets the stage for a series in which psychology and journeys of the mind are central to the story.

But before any of that becomes apparent, Turner’s psychologist character -- Dr. Joe O’Loughlin -- must talk a patient off a very narrow ledge at the hospital where he works, and prevent the patient from committing suicide.

This edge-of-your seat scene is the first one in the series, and the producers and writers of “The Suspect” were shrewd to put it there. It draws you in, and keeps you there.

With “Poldark’s” Aidan Turner in the lead role, “The Suspect” would have felt right at home on PBS.

But that did not happen, and now, Sundance Now and AMC+ are in possession of a prime "Suspect."

“The Suspect” starts streaming on Thursday (November 3) on Sundance Now and AMC+.