Home Fires

Loved this excellent series when it showed in Australia.....and it ended on a knife edge which left a lot of unanswered questions.

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.

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 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.

Well my parents lived in this era and I still have my father's bird watching books WW2. It was very different - even compared from when I was young in the 70s. The first episode was excellent. Based on a book I have not read called Jambusters (sorry) I know it has not completely developed into a mini series yet but initially, at least, all the characters were interesting. We like the war dramas and this WW2 period piece has taken over from the very different crime drama Foyles War, at least it has in our house. Foyles War actually raced through WW2 (well we thought it did) and then had to survive in the Cold War. Everything about Home Fires seems to have the depth of the late 1930s and by that I mean not only the colours, like lots of greens and fawns/browns but also the correct and what are now antiques but also the cycling, or running after ambulances and being given a lift by a period tractor. The simple plots, blackberry collecting for instance, surely reflects the pace of that period. Most important the authentic characters with plenty of good actresses and actors have a great script to work on. There are interesting men, at least one nasty one, in the series so it's not just women and the Women's Institute. It might turn out to be a very memorable series. Please keep that era authentic. It's absolutely brilliant TV when it works and awful when it isn't done properly. Just one negative thing - get rid of the blue lens which gives grey hair a blue rinse!