Home Fires

This kept popping up for me to view and at first I did not watch as I wasn't sure I would enjoy the setting... war time. But the appeal of watching two extraordinary actresses : Francesca Annis and Samantha Bond.. drew me in in the end. So glad I watched. I felt the first episode had to take time to set the stage and the characters and from there it just got better and better.

I can remember my Mother talking about the second world war and what the women did in particular during that time. I feel as though this series really captured the essence of the strength of the women and the strength of people, women and men, when outside threats bring a community together. I loved how the small arguments between the WI members at the beginning fall away into respect and friendship as the months continued.

Of course Francesca Annis and Samantha Bond are outstanding but so are the rest of the cast, women and men alike. Claire Rushbrook, with whom I am not familiar as I have lived in the US for many years, is absolutely outstanding in the role of Pat Simms. As for Mark Bazeley as Bob, her cruel & vindictive husband, he's terrific, I just wanted to punch him!

The authenticity of the locations, sets, clothing, make up etc is first class and it must be quite hard to achieve that.. we are talking about a time which is now 80 years ago.

Like other reviewers, I am dismayed that ITV canceled it. I recall the same reaction when BBC canceled 'Merlin" ... even though Merlin had more viewers than Home Fires. It seems that viewing figures of 5 - 6 million is not enough to constitute keeping a show going. I wonder what the other long running dramas get ? I simply refuse to believe that more than 50% of the general public want to watch the boring, CGI, violent, blood spattering, badly acted rubbish that is in most shows nowadays. That stuff is being marketed consistently and yet it is these shows, portraying a time when communication between men and women and people in general was gentler, more respectful and shows humanity that many people want to see.

Thank you to the producers, director, cast and production crew for making such an authentic and engaging show.

I hope that some other production company will have the courage to take this up and continue the story. Amazon, Netflix, Hulu... are you listening?

I am currently watching Home Fires tv series in Denmark. I remember the Second World War very clearly and the producers have tried to recreate small town life in the 40's with a degree of success. However, I cannot understand why they don't have the scripts checked and get advice about wartime pronunciation. For example, I have heard two actors say 'skedule' and not schedule. Nobody said the American pronunciation which became popular during the 'Friends' long running comedy series among younger viewers. And the young lad on the farm greeting a lady exclaiming 'Hi !' This was impossible! Greetings were more formal in those days. Even so, the series is so well acted and I love the story line. I really wish ITV would have continued the series as the writers created many strong characters.

I honestly feel cheated. It is so irresponsible and completely DISRESPECTFUL of the powers that allowed this show to be cancelled after 2 wonderful seasons and a hell of a cliffhanger. I have been disappointed before when shows that I have loved have been cancelled but I understand this is a business and my patronage alone won't keep a show on. This feels disrespectful rather than merely disappointing because this show had a large viewership and wonderful ratings. The cast invested their hearts and talents and the audience invested their hearts and attention. Why Masterpiece would even requisition this show without demanding some commitment to completion even to resolve the cliffhanger is beyond me! 2 more shows would have been able to offer some consolation over the cancellation but it shows how utterly apathetic the production gods are to their viewship.

I am so disappointed that Home Fire series 3 has been canceled I have bought and watched both series 1 and 2 and cant believe that this show has been left like it was, what has happened to British drama. You can still keep shows like coronation st and Emmerdale going and then bring back Cold Feet but you cant finish a series off completely. Maybe another TV station can pick up this wonderful series which is also a lot of peoples own history as my interest stemmed from the fact my mothers family lived in Chester and Liverpool during the war. My mother who is now 95 years old loved this series too and she was able to relate this. We seem to be inundated with crime series from the BBC and in this time in history a gentle reminder of what a dictator tried to do to the world and what woman have achieved in the last decade was wonderful.

The network should have let them do a 3rd season so they could tie up all the characters stories. Instead it was a cliffhanger. A dismal cliffhanger.