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?
