Broadchurch VERA SERIES VI Press Pack ! Produc on notes January 2015 Series 2 Produc on notes Contents
Introduc on 3
Character biographies 5
Cast interview: Q&A with Samantha Bond 11
Cast interview: Q&A with Francesca Annis 14
Cast interview: Q&A with Claire Rushbrook 18 Cast interview: Q&A with Daniel Ryan 23
Cast interview: Q&A with Ed Stoppard 28
Cast interview: Q&A with Jodie Hamblet 32
Author Julie Summers 36
Synopsis 38
Cast and produc on credits 39
Introduc on
Following the success of series one, acclaimed Bri sh actresses Samantha Bond (Downton Abbey, Outnumbered) and Francesca Annis (The Li le House, Cranford) are reunited with the impressive ensemble cast including Ruth Gemmell (Penny Dreadful), Claire Rushbrook (Whitechapel), Ed Stoppard (Cilla), Chris Coghill (EastEnders), Clare Calbraith (Vera), Fenella Woolgar (War & Peace), Mark Bazeley (The Frankenstein Chronicles), Mike Noble (Mr Selfridge), and Daniel Ryan (Mount Pleasant).
It’s the summer of 1940 and the village of Great Paxford is caught up in the nightmare of the Ba le of Britain. Two weeks a er the defeat at Dunkirk, the German army is advancing through France and Britain is bracing itself for invasion.
Throughout the series the residents at the heart of this rural Cheshire community face their own personal challenges and conflicts as reputa ons are tarnished, loved ones lost, and shocking secrets are discovered. The women, under the auspices of the Great Paxford Women’s Ins tute, unite and discover inner resources that will change their lives forever whilst helping maintain the na on’s fabric in its darkest hour.
New characters and friendships will also emerge as exhausted and ba le-hardened Czech soldiers arrive to set up camp just outside the village.
Produced by Louise Su on (Death in Paradise, Midsomer Murders), Home Fires also stars Leanne Best (Ripper Street), Antony Calf (New Tricks), Philip McGinley (No Offence), Rachel Hurd-Wood (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer), Leila Mimmack (Midwinter of the Spirit), Jodie Hamblet (My Mad Fat Diary), Danish actor Alexandre Willaume (Rita), Will A enborough (The Hollow Crown), Brian Fletcher (The Passing Bells), Frances Grey (Shetland), Claire Price (Rebus), Mark Umbers (Mistresses), Gillian Dean (Doctors) and Daisy Badger (The Archers BBC Radio 4).
Inspired by the book ‘Jambusters’ by Julie Summers, creator and writer Simon Block (Lewis, The Shoo ng of Thomas Hurndall) devised the second series with Execu ve Producers, Francis Hopkinson (Wallander, Lucan, Jekyll & Hyde) and Catherine Oldfield (Collison, Fingersmith, Foyle’s War). Simon is also an Execu ve Producer and has wri en episodes for the new series alongside Glen Laker (Vera, Holby City).
Robert Quinn (Jekyll & Hyde, Primeval) has directed episodes 1-3, whilst John Hayes (Strike Back, Game of Thrones) directed episodes 4-6.
The music for the news series has been composed by Samuel Sim, whose work for the first series won him two RTS Cra & Design awards for Original Score and Original Title. His other credits include the ITV drama series Maigret, the BBC adapta on of Jane Austen’s Emma and feature films Awake and The Damned United.
Home Fires was recommissioned for ITV by Director of Drama Steve November and Controller of Drama Victoria Fea.
3 Regular Characters
Frances Barden played by Samantha Bond
Frances is the heart and soul of Great Paxford’s WI and the village community. Formidably intelligent and with a strong entrepreneurial drive, she can’t help but dominate any forum. She’s a great woman to have in your corner, but a terrible opponent. Having wrestled with Joyce for control in series one, the new incarna on of the WI under Frances’ leadership is thriving. Whilst her emphasis on honesty and loyalty haven’t waivered, she has mellowed and become more democra c in her leanings.
The Barden household is a happy one, and Frances’ marriage to Peter a stable one of equals. But all that changes in series two, when Frances is forced to confront the fact that her happily ordered life isn’t quite what she thinks it is.
Sarah Collingborne played by Ruth Gemmell
Sarah is two years younger than Frances, and spends most of her me smoothing over waters churned up by her sister. Married to Great Paxford’s vicar, (though lacking the requisite belief in God), Sarah performs her village du es pa ently – she’s insigh ul and a fantas c listener. When Adam enlisted again to serve as an army chaplain in series one, Sarah was le in the company of RAF officer Nick Lucas, with whom she strikes up a strong friendship. However, a misunderstanding between them at the end of series one le their rela onship uncertain, and when Nick returns to the village from Dunkirk in series two, the pair must recalibrate the terms of their friendship. At the same me, some devasta ng news about Adam sees Sarah uncertain about the future.
Pat Simms played by Claire Rushbrook
Pat is one of those women who simply take up the slack le either by those who aren’t pulling their weight, or by the absence of enough people to take on tasks. Through her friendship with the other women Pat becomes much more self-assured – a confidence that sadly doesn’t extend to her home life. Husband Bob is a cruel and manipula ve, and Pat lives in the constant shadow of his psychological abuse. Happily, at the end of series one Bob heads off to France to become a war reporter, whilst Pat is le at home in the rela ve freedom of Great Paxford. As series two opens, Pat is a happy and independent, an outgoing member of the WI and an outgoing member of the community. However, this freedom is short lived when Bob returns home injured.
Regular Characters
Erica Campbell played by Frances Grey
Erica is neat, wry, and quiet, and runs the village surgery for her husband Will, the local GP. Her ra onal a tude towards life and perspec ve towards its events are what keep her on an even keel – and what make her such an important friend to other women. For Erica, family is the most important thing in her life, and she fights fiercely to protect them. In series one, Erica faced innumerable challenges as husband Will ba led lung cancer and her daughters each faced heartbreak.
Erica’s deep-rooted sense of right and wrong led her into trouble in series one, when she tried to intervene on Pat’s behalf. As series two opens, Erica is wiser and more cau ous in her approach, though she will ba le to the end to support her family and friends, including Will’s worsening cancer and Laura’s scandalous behaviour.
Miriam Brindsley played by Claire Price
Miriam is the wife of the village butcher, Bryn. Immense prac cality and a dis nct lack of squeamishness make her perfectly suited to being a butcher’s wife; she and Bryn have a solid partnership based on trust and years of shared experiences. They have one son, David, who ran away to join the navy in series one, despite Miriam’s best (and illegal) efforts to stop him. Miriam was le paralysed with fear for his safety, but worse was yet to come when she and Bryn receive news that he is missing at sea at the end of series one.
Across series two, Miriam must ba le the authori es and her husband as she fights to prove that David is s ll alive. At the same me, she must prepare for the arrival of a new baby a er discovering she was pregnant at the end of series one.
Alison Scotlock played by Fenella Woolgar
Alison has been a widow since 1916 a er her George died in the Great War. Le only with her dog Boris she’s se led into a happy enough existence in the village. She lives with local schoolteacher Teresa in a small co age on the outskirts of the village – although insular by nature, Alison values Teresa’s friendship and they have a close bond, each keeping the other’s closely guarded secrets.
Alison is a bookkeeper, and relies solely on the small local businesses to keep her head above water. She ran into serious trouble in series one when she got unwillingly involved in a profiteering scheme, forced to doctor dodgy books for corrupt businessmen. As series two opens, her future is s ll uncertain – she’s been arrested for fraudulent accoun ng, and must use all of her skills if she is to avoid a jail sentence.
Regular Characters
Steph Farrow played by Clare Calbraith
Steph can do everything on their farm that her husband, Stan, can do. She is as strong as an ox, and rules the farm and her family with the same brusque, no-nonsense manner. Steph and Stan have a son, Li le Stan, who is now 15 and desperate to do his bit in the war. Despite his reserved occupa on as a farmer, Stan chose to enlist in series one, and headed off to France, leaving Steph and Li le Stan to cope with the farm alone.
The WI has become an invaluable part of her life – she’s exactly the kind of person who benefits from their community, and they rally round when Steph faces difficul es in running the farm in series two. She faces different challenges when Stan comes back on leave, and for the first me their rela onship is rocked.
Teresa Fenchurch played by Leanne Best
Teresa is the devoted local primary school teacher – exactly the sort of smart, forward-looking woman that Great Paxford needs. She is very bright and brilliant with the children, determined to help them come to terms with the new, difficult, and poten ally frightening circumstances that may come with the war. Teresa is a rela ve newcomer to the village, having le Liverpool in a hurry a er her secret affair with another teacher, Connie, was discovered. Her landlady, Alison, is the only person in the village who knows her secret, and that is how Teresa would like it to stay.
She’s come to Great Paxford to start a new life, but can’t help but live in constant fear of her secret past being discovered, knowing that if it emerges her reputa on in the village, and the career she loves so much, could be ruined forever. In series two, Teresa takes dras c steps to avoid jeopardising the new life she’s built for herself.
Joyce Cameron played by Francesca Annis
Joyce likes to be in charge of everything because she likes to be in control and she truly believes she knows best and others are just misguided. Guided by this innate sense of right the war offers her further scope to extend her influence as commi ees spring up to oversee everything from salvage to requisi oning. Frances and Joyce clashed in series one over their contras ng a tudes to the WI leadership, but eventually they came to a begrudging truce, each recognising the strengths of the other.
Joyce’s family life is a joyless one. Her husband, a magistrate and local councilor, works all hours and her only and estranged son lives in Canada with li le contact with his mother. Joyce le the village at the end of series one to du fully follow her husband to the coast, but in series two she’s back. But is it the same old Joyce, or has she changed? And why hasn’t her husband come back with her?
Regular Characters
Claire Hillman played by Daisy Badger
Claire works as a housemaid for Frances, who took her on a er she was ignominiously sacked from Joyce’s employment. Claire is generously openhearted, makes friends easily and is uns n ngly loyal to those around her – even when they don’t deserve it. She is, therefore, taken advantage of by those who should know be er, and in series one Claire was inadvertently caught in the middle of Joyce and Frances’ poli cal power play.
Claire isn’t one to give up easily, and over the course of series one she fought for the heart of Spencer, the local postman. By the end of the series she has firmly won it, despite tac cs by the sly Jenny. As series two opens, Claire and Spencer’s rela onship has moved up a gear, but they must now navigate the muddy waters of married life.
Laura Campbell played by Leila Mimmack
Laura is bright, impetuous, immature and ill-equipped to deal with some of the situa ons she gets herself into. Her rela onship with sister Kate is a complicated one – she loves her, but when Kate met her husband Jack in series one, Laura was horribly jealous, and threw herself into an ill-advised affair with her married boss, Wing Commander Richard Bowers.
Naïve and looking for love, she failed to see the rela onship for what it was – nothing more than an amusing diversion for Richard. The situa on came to a head at the end of series one when Richard’s wife saw them together and announced she was going to divorce him, ci ng Laura as the co-respondent.
When Laura’s disgrace becomes public in series two, she is unwillingly thrust into the limelight, and must work hard to rebuild her confidence and her reputa on in the village.
Isobel Reilly played by Gillian Dean
Blind since birth and brought up in a bustling city, Isobel has spent her whole life under a strict set of rules about what she can and cannot do. She relishes the sudden freedom she’s offered in Great Paxford, when she is evacuated from Liverpool to go and live with Frances.
Under the guidance of Steph and Frances, she is encouraged to explore opportuni es now available to her. The women admire her quiet confidence and resilience, and some realise that they may be able to learn as much from her as she from them.
Regular Characters
Jenny Marshall played by Jodie Hamblet
Jenny runs the village telephone exchange with a perfectly manicured iron fist, un l she takes a job behind the bar at the mess at RAF Tabley Wood (to increase her social circle and bag a pilot). There, she is encouraged to take herself more seriously and make more of a contribu on to the war than simply flir ng with exhausted airmen while pouring pints. Jenny joins the WAAF and trains as a Radio Operator at the sta on, direc ng pilots during sor es, and guiding them back to base. It is an intensely challenging and chastening experience, and it is here that Jenny is forced to mature and see the world through others’ eyes.
Jenny is a young woman for whom the phrase "I speak as I find" was invented. It isn't that she doesn't care about the consequences of her inadvertently cu ng tongue, she simply doesn't no ce them. She is far from stupid, but as a pre y girl developing into an a rac ve young woman to whom the opposite sex is easily drawn, she has hitherto found the world has granted her much favourable a en on with li le effort on her part. She assumes that's the natural way of things.
However, the war challenges and changes that, forcing Jenny to now earn the approval and admira on of others. As the war proves to be the destruc on of many, it is possible that it could prove to be the making of Jenny.
Bob Simms played by Mark Bazeley
A journalist by trade, Bob’s first book was a best-selling fic onalised account of his experience in WW1. But he’s achieved li le since then, and he now earns his living as a stringer for whichever paper will hire him, while trying to crack that elusive second success as a novelist in his spare me. As a consequence, Bob is somewhat bi er and deeply frustrated, and he vents both in his rela onship with Pat.
He resents her doing anything that shi s focus from him and his needs, and ba les with her over the WI. He desperately tries to seize back control by psychologically and physically abusing Pat, determined to crush her spirit. A er several thwarted efforts, Pat’s friends managed to conspire to send Bob away from the village at the end of series one, leaving Pat in rela ve freedom. But when Bob returns injured at the top of series two, he is determined to retain the status quo.
Will Campbell played by Ed Stoppard
Will is a greatly respected village GP who knows his pa ents inside out, and understands the importance of forging rela onships, and building trust between pa ent and doctor. A er the horrors witnessed in 1914-18 (he was decorated for his work) he’s more than happy to provide care and comfort to this small Cheshire village. He and Erica make a fantas c team in the doctor’s prac ce.
A er being diagnosed with lung cancer in series one, Will was forced to be the pa ent rather than the doctor. However, he is not simply someone to give up and die. Despite the dire prognosis, he and the rest of the family are determined to live life to the full and make the most of every day. This a tude is challenged in series two as Will gets worse, though there may be hope on the horizon.
Regular Characters
Bryn Brindsley played by Daniel Ryan
With wife Miriam by his side, Bryn took over the family butcher’s business and it quickly became one of the most popular and well-run shops in Great Paxford. Bryn is immensely proud of his only child, David. Even when David ignored his parents’ wishes and ran away to join the navy, Bryn had nothing but love and admira on for his son – in his situa on he would have done exactly the same thing. However, when news came at the end of series one that David has been declared missing, Bryn is devastated and can’t help but presume the worst.
His rela onship with Miriam struggles in series two as they both try to come to terms with the loss of David. At the same me, Bryn wants to inject some hope and joy in their lives by trying to get Miriam excited about the prospect of the new baby. Unlike Miriam, he can see her pregnancy as a chance to rebuild their family unit.
Stanley Farrow played by Chris Coghill
Stan is a farmer to his marrow, like his father and grandfather before him. He’s never known any other life. Stan’s only regret is that he’s never been able to buy his own farm – he and Steph are tenant farmers who rely on the renewal of their lease. Together, they run the farm in the same efficient and no-nonsense way they approach most aspects of their lives.
Despite Stan’s reserved occupa on status, when war came he made the difficult decision to enlist, leaving Steph to run the farm alone. He is determined to be part of the defining event of his genera on. But when he returns on leave in series two, the impact of his experiences in France is felt not only by his family but also by the rest of the village. For the first me, the Farrows’ secure and happy marriage begins to falter.
Spencer Wilson played by Mike Noble
Spencer’s job as the local postman provides ample occasion to cycle around the village, charming all who he meets. But when he fell for Claire in series one, it took more than charm to woo her – Spencer had to overcome his own shame and the village’s nega ve reac on when he revealed himself to be a conscien ous objector.
Spencer took ma ers into his own hands and decided to help the war effort in the best way he can – he joined the Auxiliary Fire Service. In series two, Spencer and Claire must navigate their young rela onship through the uncertain mes that war brings, finding opportuni es for joy as well as anxiety.
Regular Characters
Wing Commander Nick Lucas played by Mark Umbers
Nick Lucas has been promoted in series two – from Squadron Leader to Wing Commander. This comes as no surprise to those who know him – he graduated top of his class, and has outstanding leadership abili es.
The only thing missing from Nick’s life is a partner – he s ll maintains that there is one person out there for everyone. Unfortunately, Nick thinks he’s found that in Sarah, but knows that she would never betray her husband Adam. Across series two, Nick searches for love in unexpected places whilst ba ling the responsibility that being a Wing Commander brings.
Captain Marek Novotny played by Alexandre Willaume
Marek was a reservist with the Czechoslovakian Army when the country was invaded by Nazi Germany. He fought his way across southern Europe with 3,000 comrades un l he was rescued from the French coast by the Royal Navy, and brought to England to be sta oned in Cheshire.
Marek's speciality in the army is bomb disposal. In civilian life he was a schoolteacher who taught German, French, and remedial English. He has a love of the arts. Marek was married for six years when his wife succumbed to tuberculosis - they had no children.
Marek and Pat are a racted to one another and begin a secret affair that con nues - with increasing difficulty - a er Bob returns injured from Dunkirk. But this is no casual fling for Marek.
Cast interviews Q&A with Samantha Bond - Frances Barden
Q: The first series of Home Fires a racted an average audience of 6.2 million viewers. How did the cast feel about that success?
“We’d had such an absolutely glorious me making it and we just kept praying that sort of enthusiasm and love for these women would somehow translate into people’s living rooms. We were over the moon so many people liked Home Fires and thrilled to get a second series.
“I think what appealed to everyone is an en re village of vibrant and different women all with their own stories. In series one you had to get to know all of us. And there’s a lot of us. Now that you do know us, series two really does hit the ground running.”
Q: How would you say the series has evolved and developed?
“Knowing who everyone is becomes a very important shorthand. For example, the moment you see Pat (Claire Rushbrook), you know exactly her story so far. I think the na on took Pat to their hearts. What our writer Simon Block has done so cleverly is take a situa on and twist it in such an unexpected way.
“When we did the script read-through for episodes one to three in this second series there were so many gasps. And laughter. Then we got to the end of episode three and half the table was in tears. A lot of it is an emo onal rollercoaster for many of the women.”
11
Cast interviews Q&A with Samantha Bond con nued:
Q: It’s June 1940 when we return to Great Paxford. How have things changed?
“The fear of invasion is now very real. There is no panic. But the English Channel is just 21 miles across. That’s nothing for a fleet of German boats.
“The aeroplanes fly over the village on a regular basis. You feel the terror felt by the community and it really pulls at the heart.
“The other big thing that has made the war very immediate for the village is the arrival of Czech soldiers, based nearby having fought their way across Europe, which really brings the war home. It’s there on your doorstep. People need looking a er, feeding and comfort.”
Q: At a church service to silence the bells, Frances’s sister Sarah (Ruth Gemmell) says, ‘Next me we’ll hear these bells for invasion or victory. We don’t know which.’ How was that to film?
“And they really didn’t know whether it would be for invasion or victory. It’s the most beau ful performance from Ruth. It’s just stunning. I was si ng on the front pew, trying to be the grown- up big sister, sending your li le sister waves of support. And I just kept crying. We were all in pieces.
“Also a lot of the women si ng in that church have men who are away. The vicar - Sarah’s husband Adam (Mark Bonnar) - is away. Big Stan (Chris Coghill) is away figh ng. We don’t know where David Brindsley (Will A enborough) is. The whole village is feeling it. That sense of loss.”
Q: Does the WI s ll feature in this series?
“It does but it’s less prominent in series two. In series one the WI was a means to get to know everyone. It showed you friendships and support networks, all of which are s ll there.”
Q: Frances’s husband Peter (Anthony Calf) is s ll busy at his factory, now helping the war effort. How would your describe their marriage?
“Their marriage is rock solid. Very happy. She’s always known that he works very hard and spends many nights away at the factory in Liverpool. Now he is involved with the war effort, making parachutes. They are childless but are very happy.”
Q: Frances’s housemaid Claire (Daisy Badger) has a surprise in store for her employer?
“At the start of the second series Claire and Spencer (Mike Noble) go off and get married without telling anyone. Someone finds out, tries to spoil their homecoming and thinks Mrs Barden is going to be cross with Claire. And, of course, Mrs Barden adores Claire, has watched her rela onship with Spencer develop and would never be cross with her.”
12 Cast interviews Q&A with Samantha Bond con nued:
Q: What would you say about the issues Home Fires has to say to an audience?
“It’s a great advert for community and helping each other. I think that’s its big appeal. I truly do. It’s that sense of community and looking out for one another that we’ve very much lost nowadays, par cularly in the bigger ci es and towns. I do think there is a huge longing for that.”
Q: What has it been like reuni ng with the cast?
“It was absolutely glorious. I’m afraid we are appallingly happy and we relish each other’s company on set and off. I can’t remember ever having been in a company so happy and so funny and so full of love. All immensely suppor ve of one another. I adore them. And our men. All brilliantly wri en by a man. Simon Block has done a fantas c job.”
Q: How would you sum up Frances’s journey in this series?
“She goes through a mangle, really. The whole series, for her, is an emo onal rollercoaster. At the beginning of episode one she could never have imagined the emo ons that would be called on.”
13 Cast interviews Q&A with Francesca Annis - Joyce Cameron (ep 2 onwards)
Q: Joyce returns from living at the coast in episode two. Was it a surprise to be back?
“That’s the way with these series. It doesn’t only take the viewer by surprise, I can assure you it takes me by surprise. Life being as it is, things didn’t quite turn out as Joyce had expected. So she is back in Great Paxford, a li le chastened by life and wan ng to be back in the fold of the village.”
Q: How did you feel about the success of the first series?
“Not only am I very pleased, I’m also very relieved as you never know what is going to capture the audience imagina on. Having seen the first episode of the second series I do think it is excellent and everybody in it is excep onally good. And it’s very touching.
“Home Fires is very real. It’s not over drama sed. That’s what people like to see. We are forever interested in other people’s lives and you can easily empathise with these characters. You’re not being cynical about them.
“I’ve only worked on serials before and I don’t think I’ve done a series where my character goes on and keeps developing. So it’s quite interes ng to me how it can change from one day to the next.
“With Joyce’s storyline they’ll come to me on a Monday and say, ‘What do you think about this?’ And I say, ‘Well, that interes ng.’ Of course I’m thinking they’re talking about maybe the next series. Then they say, ‘OK, well it’s going in on Wednesday.’ Then they’ll give you a few new lines and so on. It keeps you on your toes, I have to say.”
14
Cast interviews Q&A with Francesca Annis con nued:
Q: What happens to Joyce?
“When Joyce returns to the village her husband doesn’t stay for long. They are separated. Joyce is a bit of a surprise in this series. Even to me. It’s such a rich period for drama and unexpected things happening all the me. There are twists and turns. You’re mining a different area. This is not a part with love interests. Unlike so many things I have played. Joyce is different.
“It’s good to be coming to a woman from a different angle. It’s also terrific and great fun working with lots of women on the series. I felt much more relaxed filming this me because of the familiarity. It is amazing how richer it gets because you start to relax a li le bit and delve deeper, as you do with a rehearsal period in the theatre – TV is much more spontaneous and instant. It comes more easily.”
Q: Is Joyce less bri le in this series?
“I think that’s partly Joyce coming back and being a li le humble. She isn’t in the big house she had and she hasn’t got the status she had with her husband. Also she is a woman who has le her husband, which would have been rather frowned on by the local community. Then later in the series part of her past life comes back. Which is a bit of a shock.
“At one point she goes out into the farm fields to help others and people start to see her differently. And in this series Joyce has a domes c life, whereas in the first series Joyce seemed to be forever confron ng people in the street.”
Q: But she falls under suspicion. How?
“With very real fears of a German invasion, people were encouraged to keep their ears and eyes open for anything untoward going on. And there’s Jenny (Jodie Hamblet) in the village exchange who is listening in to everyone’s telephone conversa ons. She picks up on something and thinks Joyce is a Nazi sympathiser. But she has got that wrong. Joyce suffers as a result but comes out all the stronger. She is a survivor.
“It’s hard to imagine that fear. What invasion can be like. We’ve not lived with it for so long in England. It must have been terrifying. Also with those huge German bombers overhead. Very frightening. Great Paxford is on the flightpath to Liverpool and other ci es.”
15 Cast interviews Q&A with Francesca Annis con nued:
Q: Joyce is a woman alone. Many people must have suffered loneliness in the war.
“It was a hugely turbulent me of change in rela onships and in women’s lives. They suddenly did jobs they wouldn’t have done before. And, of course, the Women’s Ins tute came into its own because of transi on from eli sm to embracing all women.
“It must have been an extraordinary me in terms of, hopefully, empathising and sympathising with people. There would have been so many people who lost husbands and sons.
“I remember my mother talking about receiving a telegram about my father, who was in Burma. She just stood looking at it and couldn’t bring herself to open it, went to a neighbour and asked her to read it. Actually it was saying that my father had been seriously injured and was being brought home. But that dread of the postman and the telegram boy arriving is easy to imagine.
“So women were suddenly on their own. Especially difficult for the English because the English are so private. There was a public persona when they go out and then there was a private domes c life. So your husband and family was everything to you because that was your internal life. But, of course, when you lost that…
“The La ns, for example, have a much wider family circle. So anything that happens you bear it with the en re family. But that’s not such an English thing. There must have been a lot of very lonely women.”
Q: You later found war me le ers wri en between your mother and father.
“I keep saying how le er wri ng is so important s ll. When both of my parents had passed away that’s when I was handed all the le ers. It was absolutely fascina ng to read about their journey through the war. It’s history. Also family stories that through Chinese whispers as they came down to me and my brothers were actually rather different when you read the le ers.
“Now I say to my children, ‘Please keep wri ng to me. Because this is your history. It’s not mine. When I’ve gone, the le ers and cards you have sent me, that’s all you’re going to have to trace back to that day or that event.’ Because selec ve memory is, well, exactly that.’
Q: When the war hits home in the village, what does Joyce suggest?
“She thinks everyone should have first aid training. You can see her WI background coming out but also Joyce is much more hands on in this series. She is very bright, Joyce. And she’s no pushover.
“I’m not trained in first aid and I do remember once a young, rather grungy-looking guy collapsing and asking for, ‘Sugar, sugar.’ Everybody was saying, ‘Oh, he’s into drugs.’ Of course, they were wrong. He was diabe c and he needed sugar.
16
Cast interviews Q&A with Francesca Annis con nued:
“Of course I am sorry now that I didn’t know something as simple as that. He was somebody simply asking for help.”
Q: You visited Cuba between filming of series one and two. How was that?
“I flew to Cuba last year and when I landed my suitcase and everything in it had been smashed in transit, including my iPad and camera. So I had no communica on. In all the years I’ve been travelling that’s never happened to me before.
“Then I could not find a room to stay in Havana. Everywhere was full. So I got on a 28-hour bus to Guantanamo at the other end of Cuba and thought, ‘That will take up the night. I don’t need somewhere to stay then. And I’ll make a plan for the next two weeks as to how I’m going to work my way back all round Cuba.’ And that’s what I did. It was fantas c.
“But I didn’t see enough. So I’m going back.”
17 Cast interviews Q&A with Claire Rushbrook - Pat Simms
Q: What can viewers look forward to in this second series of Home Fires?
“I definitely think the bar has been raised across the board. They are really strong scripts. The founda ons laid in series one were picked up and run with. That became such a strong series and it has really built and built. Certainly for myself playing Pat, I’ve been thrilled with the ante being upped the way it has.
“The cast were thrilled about the reac on to the first series. I kept my head down in terms of social media so I didn’t see much of the response there. But out and about I had very good reac ons. I was surprised by how open people were and how they responded to the character and shared some of their own resonances with me. Obviously it's a sad story for Pat a lot of the way and I heard about the challenging circumstances others had experienced which was moving.”
Q: Where did we leave Pat at the end of the first series?
“She’s in a very damaged marriage with her husband Bob (Mark Bazeley) who, as we’ve seen in series one, has exerted psychological and physical control over her. It’s a pre y miserable existence she had come to accept as normal. Pat has enjoyed the outlet the WI has offered her in terms of ge ng away from the house. But such was the me and the nature of what she’s going through that she has borne it all on her own.
“The end of the first series saw writer Bob called away to report on the war. Then very quietly at the end of the last series we see it dawning on Pat that it may be a different experience being in her home without him.
18
Cast interviews Q&A with Claire Rushbrook con nued:
“Having said that, she’s pre y ground down and her self-esteem is low. So I don’t think anyone is an cipa ng a buoyant Pat bouncing back straight away. She’s damaged. But it’s hopeful.”
Q: How is Pat when we meet her again?
“We see her at the very start of the new series with a lighter weight on her shoulders and the beginnings of a sense she can relax in her own home. You see the beginnings of a sense of perspec ve and context for what she has accepted as being normal.
“Just by the very nature of being able to get up and put the radio on, have a leisurely breakfast and go out to the shops and not be med for when she comes home. And not have the threat of whether she’s bought the right thing or spent too much money, along with more serious threats. So her days are simpler and far, far more relaxed and enjoyable.”
Q: Has her look so ened slightly, away from the rigidity Bob insisted upon?
“In series one, I was helped enormously by the costume and make up department who established Pat’s physical appearance. And then in this series, she is freed from the constraints of her husband, so is able to take a li le more care of her appearance. Don’t expect any Grease-style Sandra Dee transforma on.
“The sad thing, on a serious note, is her self-esteem is rock bo om and it takes a long me to think oneself worthy of all sorts of things. So the fact she does buy herself a new, albeit very func onal, day to day dress and she does spend a li le bit of me on her hair, it’s very slow steps because she would not want people to look at her and make judgements.
“She does not feel a rac ve, she’s been told many mes she isn’t. So it would be odd for her to suddenly crack open the champagne and put her heels on because her husband has gone away.
“Life had been a grind and certainly there was not me to stop and feel the sun on your face. Those moments you can enjoy of just living. Her husband was not happy about her working, so she had to leave the house, get straight there, do the job and come straight home. She was on a schedule of being oppressed.
“So the fact she can now walk down the street and feel the sun on her face, not to have to rush and worry is a big thing for her. It was lovely to play. Great to have a break.”
19 Cast interviews Q&A with Claire Rushbrook con nued:
Q: Who does she encounter in this second series?
“Pat is walking to work a er a relaxed start to the day and just beginning to feel accustomed to this new life without her husband. Then out of nowhere a brawl happens outside the village pub and she is knocked flying. Which is horrible at the best of mes. But when you have been on the receiving end of physical violence I think it is par cularly shocking for her to find herself splayed out on the ground.
“She is helped to her feet by a Czech Army captain who has endeavoured to stop his soldiers brawling with the local men. But Pat is humiliated, cross, upset and embarrassed to have been knocked over in public and just wants to get home. So she gives him short shri and isn’t aware at the me that he is breaking up the fight. She thinks he was involved in it.
“Pat goes off and doesn’t give him a second thought or glance. Un l later on there is a knock at the door at Captain Marek Novotny (Alexandre Willaume) - the man who helped her - is there with some flowers. He very gently introduces himself and sincerely apologises.
“Pat is completely wrong-footed because she’s not been sent flowers for years and years and has rarely been talked kindly to, having been on the wrong end of Bob’s physical violence. So it’s quite an affec ng mee ng. But it’s the furthest thing from her mind that it is anything more than a gentleman making a gallant gesture.
“Very gently Pat and Marek develop a cau ous friendship. She would not dream of thinking it would be anything more. She doesn’t think she is a rac ve, has anything that would appeal to someone. And she’s married, has a very moral code and high sense of what’s right and wrong. So it’s a friendship.
“Captain Novotny is a strong man but he has a vulnerability. We learn his wife passed away three years before and he has that vulnerability about him that she has never really seen in anyone. Even within her women friends and colleagues at the WI, to speak openly without guard as he does, on occasion, is very endearing, sincere and truthful and she responds to it. He definitely has an impact on her.”
Q: What does Marek represent to Pat compared to Bob?
“He represents, in the best sense of the word, a simplicity, an openess of heart and mind not clouded with trying to judge, manipulate or steer her. Marek is as you find him. Pat is a very strong woman but she is vulnerable with what she has been through. So she comes to know and talk to a man who isn’t afraid to show his own vulnerability as he learns about Pat and some of the things she has become used to in her life with Bob.
“For Pat it truly is the first me she has been able to talk openly about her real life as opposed to the constructed version it would be so easy to give to her friends at the WI or people out and about on the street. That’s not to say that she spills her emo ons all over him. It’s very restrained and of its me.
20
Cast interviews Q&A with Claire Rushbrook con nued:
“And he shows her genuine interest and unwi ngly presents a context and a much bigger perspec ve on her life than with her head down, as it has been. He doesn’t persuade her or try and coerce her into this friendship deepening.
“She just can’t help it because through spending me with him and ge ng to know him she can see how her own marriage is as poisonous as it is. Which when you’re in it, I can imagine, is very hard to see. So it’s a very gradual but tender layering of trust and affec on that grows between them.”
Q: How does Pat feel when an injured Bob eventually arrives home?
“It’s easy to dismiss the marriage with Bob as out and out bad. But it’s important to remember they were very much in love once. It wasn’t always bad. It was a very exci ng marriage. We didn’t see it in series one but he was a successful writer, she helped and inspired him, and it was a loving marriage once. That is very deeply seated in her before you even get to the moral obliga on of you marry a man and that’s who you’re with.
“So when he comes back she is glad, as his wife, that he is not dead. But on the other hand it is absolutely the most upse ng thing that can happen because of her burgeoning freedom and these wonderful feelings she’s experiencing with Marek, that she has not felt for a long me, are absolutely in peril.
“It does weigh around her head and heart like a millstone because she can’t do anything apart from try and navigate her way through it. Which she does as the pressure increases and as the weight around her gets heavier. It’s fascina ng to play as an actress but appalling for her.
“And all of this takes place against the backdrop of the war and the daily low level sense of dread, digging deep, being brave, showing for tude and it just being an onerous me.
“I was very affected by reading the diaries of Nella Last. It became a television drama in 2006 called Housewife, 49, with Victoria Wood. Based on the real personal diaries of a Barrow-in- Furness housewife during the war. I read them over and over again.
“She talks very candidly about how just ge ng up in the morning and going about your business but with the reality of the war happening, how it affected her nerves and disposi on. It’s important to remember that context.”
21
Cast interviews Q&A with Claire Rushbrook con nued:
Q: Would you say Bob is also damaged?
“Yes. He also cuts a vulnerable figure, even more so now he’s injured. I’m not qualified to talk much about it but I do know he was not born bad and she is very conflicted because he needs her.
“So there are lots of grey areas to play and I am very fortunate working with Mark Bazeley as Bob and Alexandre Willaume as Marek. They are both fantas c actors. We really tried to find interes ng choices and try and get stuck into those grey areas where it is neither black or white.”
Q: What was it like reuni ng with the mainly female cast of Home Fires?
“We just had an absolute ball together. Most of us are in our 40s and really relishing the chance to be in such a strong ensemble piece. The writers do a fantas c job of keeping lots of very integral stories going at the same me. It’s a joy.
“We didn’t all come together so o en but when we did it was a real pleasure to touch base and catch up. I know we’re all very much looking forward to watching it. Of course we’ve all read the scripts but things change and obviously you put flesh and blood into those scripts. So we’re looking forward to seeing what we’ve all been up to.”
Q: Did you get any reac on during filming of the second series?
“People were always very friendly and recep ve when we were filming the first series in Cheshire and they con nued to be so. We weren’t mobbed by tourists or anything like that. We were able to get on and do the job. But most of the response has been very favourable.
“It’s an absolutely beau ful part of the world and certainly scenes with Pat and Marek when they’re out in the countryside, you do have to pinch yourself that you’re working. Because it’s just stunning around there.
“You’re called for make up before dawn some mes. But the bonus is you’re in the car being driven to work and watching the most glorious of sunrises over the Cheshire countryside. I don’t mind ge ng up early when it’s like that. It’s gorgeous.
“I hope the viewers enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it.”
22 Cast interviews Q&A with Daniel Ryan - Bryn Brindsley
Q: What did the cast think about the reac on to the first series of Home Fires?
“We were all so pleased with the audience figures for the first series and the way people loved Home Fires. The audience really engaged with the human stories of that period.
“I’m not saying we’d forgo en about the Second World War but there have been so many other huge stories of different kinds of war. I think Home Fires really struck a chord with people. Just remembering. And I feel it’s important we do remember a me like this. Even though there is some terrible stuff going on in the world today, we’re lucky we don’t have to go there again in this par cular way.
“You just think of communica on now. We know what’s going on at every turn on the planet. But back then people would get on buses, go off to war and you never knew when you were going to hear from them again.
“And a load of planes could suddenly appear to bomb you. We would know today in plenty of me if that was going to happen but it was more or less instant back then.
“I have learned from doing this series about what it maybe felt like at the me. I think that’s what the show does. I hope it really captures that.”
23
Cast interviews Q&A with Daniel Ryan con nued:
Q: Where did we leave butcher Bryn, his wife Miriam (Claire Price) and son David (Will A enborough) at the end of the last series?
“Bryn and Miriam had the horrible telegram telling them their young son David was missing. He’s a sailor in the Navy and missing at sea can only mean one thing. But when we come back to them at the start of the second series, Miriam can’t give up on the concept of this word ‘missing’. And, of course, she wants to know more. She wants every detail.
“For anyone who has lost somebody - and genuinely using that word ‘lost’ - they have no closure. Miriam is desperate for some kind of closure. Bryn also wants them to move on together, especially as she is pregnant.
“Bryn saw ac on in the First World War. He knows about death in war and he knows they need to move on and get on with their lives. It’s horrible, it’s hard and who would want to be in that situa on? But they have got to live and work, the war is s ll going on and they have to face up to what it is.”
Q: It’s a natural human feeling to want to know how a loved one died.
“It’s that horrible thing of you do want to know every detail. Otherwise all you’re le with is your imagina on and that can be such a dark place. Just knowing the truth and what happened is all Miriam wants. And somewhere underneath Bryn’s facade of that Bri sh s ff upper lip, he also can’t bury the fact that David is missing. There’s a finality that isn’t there.
“Bryn now has this almost ritualis c habit of going to the village bus stop every day to wait for the bus to arrive. I don’t know what he’s expec ng but it becomes a rou ne part of his day to go there. In just the loose hope that one day David will get off the bus.
“It’s where he saw his son off to war and is the last physical link he has with him. It’s just something that has to be done every day. Almost the same as pu ng flowers on a grave.”
Q: Even with the best of inten ons, those who lost loved ones must have been envious of the good fortune of others who welcomed their husbands, sons and fathers home.
“Those are the surprising things you get from watching Home Fires. The aspects of war you haven’t thought about. That’s where our writer Simon Block really gets under the skin of the period and the characters. And we’re talking about human life and death. Not just finding a tenner on the ground. The stakes are so enormously high all the me.”
24 Cast interviews Q&A with Daniel Ryan con nued:
Q: Does the war hit home in other ways?
“Great Paxford is on the flight path of German bombers on their way to Liverpool and elsewhere and also has an important canal link and air base nearby. And now some 3000 Czech soldiers camped in hundreds of tens just outside the village with a real fear of a German invasion.
“So the war very much hits home. There’s a scene where a soldier comes back and he can’t believe everybody is ge ng on with their lives. But what else are you going to do? The villagers are in an air raid shelter and he says the Germans are coming, we will be invaded and he talks about what’s going to happen.
“It’s absolutely terrifying. Almost like War of the Worlds. You forget the concept of an army coming into your land. It was so real. Even so, I don’t think people wanted to think about it. But it was always there in the background. It’s absolutely tangible. That life will never be the same again.
“There was an underlying paranoia all the me. Who is this knocking at the door? Why are these trucks going through the village now? The siren is going off again. There must have been a whole period of people being on edge all the me. While trying to go about their business.”
Q: Are the Czech soldiers welcome?
“Aside from an incident at the pub, the village, including Bryn, is certainly very grateful and very welcoming when they arrive. But, again, it’s an extraordinary thing. That thousands of men from another army turn up to help defend you. If you’re talking about upping the ante of the paranoia, that really makes it believable. There will be war in our land.
“It’s so beyond what we think about now. When was the last me our lands were invaded? Hundreds and hundreds of years ago. But we’re an island and people may arrive in ships at any point.
“So in the fields surrounding Great Paxford there are hundreds and hundreds of tents. Which makes you think about the parallels with what’s happening today in places like Syria and the migra ons across Europe.
“There is that scene where there is some tension outside the village pub. But as a country we opened our arms to anybody who wanted to help us. And we could help each other. We’ve got that desire now. But we’re all frightened of how it’s going to affect our economy and so on. Whereas then there was one message, which was, ‘We’re helping each other.’ There was that humanity.
“We look at the world in a different way now. But it’s perhaps good to remind a younger audience that without all of these people, the Czechs, the Poles and so on, we might well have lost the war.”
25
Cast interviews Q&A with Daniel Ryan con nued:
Q: There is a real sense of community in Home Fires. People helping each other.
“I’m such a big fan of community. It’s something we struggle with these days. One of the things that really struck me about Home Fires was the whole idea of community. We don’t know our next door neighbours any more. And this has an en re village helping someone. That’s an extraordinary thing. Again, I really hope it makes the audience think about their fellow men.”
Q: One character says: ‘War isn’t just about the lads who go and fight. It’s also about the families we leave behind. We all go through it together.’ Does that sum up the series?
“Yes, it absolutely does. It encapsulates the series. That is really what the show is about. The story we are trying to tell.
“There is a scene where a local branch of the Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen and Families Associa on is ins gated. I had absolutely no idea about the SSAFA but it’s the UK’s oldest military charity. The whole series is a massive history lesson for me and makes me realise how li le I know about the me. For me the Second World War isn’t ancient history. I find it fascina ng as a lesson as well as a human drama.
“I’m o en surprised by the level of emo on a lot of the scenes make me feel as an actor. I don’t have anything to say in that par cular scene. I just have to listen. And I was absolutely overwhelmed with emo on, because I feel very affected by things I’ve never thought about. In this case, the whole concept of self help groups beginning. And that’s hopefully what is being translated for the audience.
“So I find lots of the scenes really emo onal and it always takes me by surprise. I think it’s ge ng caught up in the period and with what my ancestors had to deal with.”
Q: Is butcher Bryn s ll top of the chops?
“There was plenty of meat for me to deal with, including sawing at a pig’s rib cage. The prop men are s ll going, ‘Please could you be careful with this knife, it’s quite sharp.’ But o en they’re very blunt.
“So if I do look slightly hopeless making my way through whatever part of the animal they have given me to chop up, it is because quite o en, for my safety, they’re not actually the sharpest of knives. I’m some mes carving away saying, ‘This isn’t sharp enough. I can’t get through this.’”
26
Cast interviews Q&A with Daniel Ryan con nued:
Q: Was there any difference returning to Cheshire to film with people now having seen the first series?
“The locals were very tolerant and it was nice to be back in Cheshire. There were a lot more people coming to watch us filming. It’s always a really strange jump going from ‘Ooh, what are you filming?’ to ‘Is it Home Fires?’
“The village was, again, very accep ng of us having to cover the roads and put certain things up on the side of their houses to cover them. Removing their plants because people didn’t have an olive tree in their front garden in 1940. The lengths they have to go to is amazing.
“I just hope people take Home Fires into their hearts again.”
27 Cast interviews Q&A with Ed Stoppard - Dr Will Campbell
Q: How did the cast react to the way viewers took the first series to their hearts?
“We live in an age where things are even less certain in terms of a TV audience with so many channels and choices. So we were over the moon. First of all we were just very pleased with how the show came out. O en when you’re involved in a project you watch it and think, ‘That’s really good.’ And then no-one else watches it and you wonder, ‘What’s wrong with the world?’ You’re le mys fied as to why it doesn’t find an audience. So it was doubly gra fying the public seemed to like it as much as we did.”
Q: How has this second series evolved and developed?
“One of the benefits of a second series is being able to hit the ground running. Not having to lay down a lot of exposi on and viewers knowing who the characters are. As ever, the more me you have to tell your story the greater depth, colour and detail you can employ in doing that. You can just get straight into your storylines.
“So things have richened and deepened in this series and the actors are the beneficiaries of that. We’re always very pleased when our characters are given even more fully formed and rounded out storylines and rela onships to try and portray.
“When you’re portraying fic onal characters you are always to some extent at the mercy and the whim of the writer. But we’ve all got great trust and respect for Simon Block, the other writers and the execu ve producers. All those people who are looking a er the characters while they are out of our hands. There is also an element of excitement. It piques your interest to think, ‘Where are we going next?’”
28
Cast interviews Q&A with Ed Stoppard con nued:
Q: Where did we leave Will at the end of the first series?
“Will had been diagnosed with lung cancer. The second series picks up a ma er of weeks a er we le the first and it’s the summer of 1940. Things are really in the balance for Will. Dealing with this poleaxing news, which would have been all the more so then. So that’s what we explore over the second series. How he copes with that.”
Q: His eldest daughter Kate (Rachel Hurd-Wood) tries to persuade her father to have radia on treatment. Why does he resist?
“I think he’s frightened. Like anyone he is afraid. There’s an element of denial as well. Because he himself is a doctor, he knows the survival rates in 1940 of an illness like lung cancer. And he knows at his age, the chances are it’s pre y virulent. His ac ons are mo vated by his own fear of confron ng, accep ng and acknowledging the truth of it.
“As soon as you say, ‘Right, I’m going to get radia on therapy,’ there’s an acceptance at that point that this is your life, your reality. You are extremely ill with a real risk of you dying in a very short space of me. It’s a magnified version of ge ng a bill and shoving it underneath some paperwork. It’s exactly the same human reac on. But thankfully he sees the sense in exploring treatment and therapy.”
Q: Radia on treatment then would have been fairly primi ve. Was that the case?
“Radia on treatment in 1940 was a pre y blunt instrument. If you watch some of the documentary footage at that me it wasn’t very precise, focused and specific. And it wasn’t terribly sophis cated in calibra ng exactly the potency of the treatment and precisely where in your body it was targeted. So it’s a tall order.
“I did some research because I wanted to try and have an idea of what he would understand by going down that path. By choosing to undergo the treatment. Also to have some strong images in my head of what that would look like. You want to know how a person undergoing that sort of treatment would feel physically so you’re not returning from a bout of treatment saying, ‘Oh, I’ll take that heavy suitcase upstairs for you, darling.’ Because it would be all you could do to drag yourself to an armchair.
“It’s all just useful. Even if your director winds up saying, ‘Can you stop doing that kind of really exhausted breathing stuff. It sounds really terrible on the mic.’ It’s much be er that you do it and then someone says, ‘Let’s not do that.’ Rather than turning up with nothing in your hands. You’d much rather turn up with an armful of stuff and you and the director and the other actors in the scene can discuss it. That’s a much be er way to go in my opinion.”
29
Cast interviews Q&A with Ed Stoppard con nued:
Q: What impact does the treatment have on Will?
“Outwardly the pa ent wouldn’t necessarily look that different. But they feel like hell. Having this treatment every day for five weeks there’s really no recovery me. Your body doesn’t get a chance to bounce back. So it would have been very tough and not much respite.”
Q: Dr Will contemplates his own death, leaving his wife and daughters behind.
“It’s a very truthful piece of wri ng. These people are outwardly very together, deliberate, professional, considered and all the things we imagine a doctor to be. And Will generally is. But in their private moments they’re just human beings in the end with the same frail es as everyone. That’s the truth of human existence.
“I really love that scene and thought it was very concisely but very per nently wri en. Those scenes are interes ng. Our writer Simon Block hit the honest emo on of it. Will is frightened and also feels impotent, the feeling of not being able to do anything about it. The inevitability of it. And Simon found that in the dialogue. That’s a really important moment.
“When the chips are down like that it’s those closest to you, the people you love, that you cling to. And quite literally cling to, o en. I didn’t feel it was a sobbing scene with shoulder shaking. Because to my mind that’s the behaviour of a person who is feeling grief. And the scene is not about that. The feeling is more one of fear. Will has not had the chance to process the fear into a feeling of sadness yet. It’s how frightened he is at the prospect.”
Q: Will says, ‘New war. Same old story.’ He knows about the horrors of war having served with dis nc on as a medic in the First World War?
“He knows about war. What the costs are, what’s at stake and what it all means. And that quote s ll holds today, of course.”
Q: His younger daughter Laura’s (Leila Mimmack) reputa on is ruined a er her affair with a married man.
“Reputa on was very important in 1940 and she is named as co-respondent in the local newspaper. Although the advent of the internet has made such an occurence possible again. There’s a very good book by Jon Ronson called ‘So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed.’ It’s about people being shamed on the internet and their reputa ons being completely and u erly destroyed.
“It’s many mes worse today because your reputa on now is not confined to your village, town or even your na on through your na onal newspaper. You can be shamed across the globe, lose your job and have your life ruined. In the age of the internet and social media everyone knows exactly what it means to trash someone’s reputa on.”
30
Cast interviews Q&A with Ed Stoppard con nued:
Q: Her affair also has financial consequences for Dr Will and his wife Erica (Frances Grey). How does this manifest itself?
“It hadn’t really crossed my mind un l I read those scripts. But certainly it would absolutely have been a big concern for them and something they have to deal with. Pa ents leaving his medical list to go elsewhere.
“Also because most of us have grown up with the NHS, we don’t generally think of a GP being a business today. Back then doctors effec vely ran a small private business. As much as Will’s primary concern would have been the health and well being of his pa ents, he’s also got to pay the gas bill. So the fall out from Laura’s affair has repercussions for the business.”
Q: Would you say Home Fires celebrates community?
“War brings people and communi es together. That idea of all hands to the pump. 70, 80 years ago the no on of community meant considerably more than it does today. If you asked someone to describe their community they’d probably start talking about their Facebook friends.
“But in those days community was a very tangible thing. Community meant a lot to people and was valued by its members. Even in mes of peace, people would help each other.
“I don’t think it was unusual for people in the local community to help out with the harvest, for example, because it’s in the interests of that community. People viewed themselves as living much less in isola on compared to people nowadays. Today people go, ‘As long as I’ve got wifi, what else do I need?’”
31 Cast interviews Q&A with Jodie Hamblet - Jenny Marshall
Q: What response did you get to the first series of Home Fires?
“We were all a li le surprised at just how much the audience took to the first series. Everybody worked so hard on it and wanted it to be a success. But we were all shocked and really pleased at how well it actually did.
“It’s great to come back for a second series and I think this one is even be er, especially as we all know the characters now and want to find out what is happening in their lives.”
Q: What did people think about Jenny?
“The people who spoke to me loved her. Everyone goes, ‘She’s a bitch! She’s not very nice.’ But they love her. I think she’s a loveable bitch. It’s a great character to play. So much fun. Jenny is different from all the other characters, which makes her stand out a li le bit. She’s so self- righteous and full of herself.”
Q: Where did we find Jenny at the end of the last series?
“In the first series there was a love triangle between Jenny, postman Spencer (Mike Noble) and housemaid Claire (Daisy Badger). Jenny lost Spencer to Claire. She didn’t really want Spencer but from her point of view he was the only single man in the village who didn’t s nk of manure. And she didn’t like that he chose Claire over her.
32
Cast interviews Q&A with Jodie Hamblet con nued:
“Jenny is the sort of person that will pre y much do anything she can to get where she wants. It’s all about status and she’s very materialis c. Jenny doesn’t really care about other people’s feelings. She only cares about herself. She is always on her own. She’s never with any friends.
“So on the one hand Jenny is quite powerful. She knows who she is. She worked her way up to become the head of the local telephone exchange and is a nosey-parker in everyone else’s business. She gets her kicks out of watching people suffer.
“But I think it’s all a facade for the outside world. When she goes home at night she’s all alone and not the big personality she projects to everyone else. Maybe a li le bit bi er about everybody else’s happiness.”
Q: Is Jenny s ll up to mischief as the new series begins?
“Claire and Spencer go away and get married in secret. But when they ring home to break the news to their families Jenny listens in on the call from the telephone exchange and finds out. Then she tries her best to put a downer on their homecoming.”
Q: And what about at the telephone exchange?
“Jenny listens in to calls but says she is only checking for Nazi spies. She does think she is somebody she’s not. That’s why she listens in to the calls. Jenny has her nose in everybody’s business and snoops on a lot of calls, which she is confronted about in the end.”
Q: The war hits home in Great Paxford where there is bombing and a real fear of German invasion. Was it easy to imagine what that would be like?
“It is extraordinary to think about and was amazing to film. Being in those loca ons and the way they transform them back to 1940, you actually feel like World War Two is going on. Jenny does feel that fear and anxiety like all the characters but she is a strong character.
“There is a scene where she is training Claire at the telephone exchange and the air raid siren goes off. She tells Claire she doesn’t have to stay at her post. Jenny will stay on her own. Obviously Claire stays. But it shows what a strong person Jenny is.
“The telephone exchange operators stayed at their posts during air raids and were a vital link of communica on at a me of crisis. That’s Jenny’s place and she accepts that. She’s not a coward, so she will stay.
“And I think Jenny respects Claire more for having also stayed with her during the air raid. So she’s not constantly horrible to Claire. There’s always going to be bi erness between them, but we do see a friendlier side from Jenny as they have to work together.”
33
Cast interviews Q&A with Jodie Hamblet con nued:
Q: Were you able to talk to anybody in your family about the Second World War?
“My grandad was in the Army. My nan and grandad had a li le farm and said everyone was on ra ons and it was really difficult. If we go out for something to eat and I leave something on my plate, my nan would say, ‘During the war you’d have to eat that. I hate leaving food. Eat all your food. Never waste anything.’ That was really drilled into her at that age during the war.”
Q: Do any of the Czech soldiers now camped outside the village interest Jenny?
“Jenny’s not interested in the Czech soldiers. She wants a Bri sh pilot. That’s part of why she later joins the WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force). Jenny is always thinking about men, always trying to look good with her lips ck, eyeliner and nail varnish. Her hair and clothes have to be perfect. All the money she has earned will be spent on her appearance to get the man.”
Q: Is that her only mo va on for joining the WAAF?
“She thinks it’s her duty and she wants to have a purpose. I think she’s a lonely person so going to actually help the pilots, she is in her element there. It’s all about status as well joining the WAAF. She feels like she’s top dog there and enjoys going back to the exchange, not necessarily to see how they’re ge ng on but to brag about how well she is doing.
“It’s also about respect. She likes the power. She wants people to respect her but she doesn’t do it in the right way. People laugh behind her back but Jenny has no idea about that. She’s oblivious.”
Q: Does wearing the uniform help your ac ng performance?
“With any character when you have the costume on you become that character. It definitely helps your performance. So when I put the WAAF uniform on it was great. I really got into the role then. It makes you feel important. She’s easy to play because the wri ng is so brilliant for Jenny.”
Q: Jenny then applies to be a radio operator on RAF flight opera ons. That must have been a very responsible job?
“I did do my own research about it, which helped. It was a very important role. But the things that happen can be really shocking. You have a pilot on one end of the radio and the operator on the other and it can be life or death. It’s really emo onal. You feel as if you have their life in your hands. Jenny has the realisa on that this is all very real. Before this she has floated around everyone else’s business. But with this new job she realises there are more important things happening.”
34
Cast interviews Q&A with Jodie Hamblet con nued:
Q: Home Fires is revealing about things people may not realise occurred in the war, par cularly for a younger audience. Do you agree?
“The response I got to the first series was from all ages. We’ve got 70, 80-year-olds that love it. Right down to teenagers who watch it and really enjoy it. Because they don’t really know about what it was like at home during the Second World War. Even I don’t really know what happened. I think Home Fires is very real, especially with the woman’s point of view. It’s natural and truthful.”
Q: What is it like working with a mainly female ensemble cast?
“It’s very empowering. We have a huge cast of characters. And while it is mainly the women, we have a lot of great male actors. Every single character is really strong. But working with the women is great. We are a close cast as well. That helps and it shows, I think, on screen.”
Q: You have scenes with Francesca Annis, who plays Joyce. How was that?
“She is amazing. It was like working with royalty. It’s Francesca Annis. Oh my goodness. She is so down to earth and an amazing actress. I actually did feel honoured to work with her. To have a few scenes with her. She can just switch it on. She is on fire that woman in front of the camera. I’ve learned so much from everybody else in the cast. It’s nice to work with such a fantas c group of actors.”
Q: What’s the reac on of local people when you’re filming Home Fires in Cheshire?
“The locals are great because we take over their village for three months. It is hard for them. But they loved it and can get involved as well. Some of the locals were extras on the set. They had obviously watched the first series and couldn’t wait for Home Fires to come back. It’s such a gorgeous area where we film. It’s stunning and looks amazing on screen.”
35
Author Julie Summers
Julie Summers is the author of eleven works of non-fic on, including the best-selling book Jambusters which inspired the ITV drama series Home Fires.
Born on the Wirral and brought up in Cheshire, Julie spent the first half of her career working in the art world. However she had always wanted to be a writer and when the opportunity arose to work on a biography of her great uncle, Sandy Irvine, she took it with relish.
Fearless on Everest was published in 2000 and was followed by The Colonel of Tamarkan, a biography of Brigadier Sir Philip Toosey, the ‘real’ colonel who built the Bridge on the River Kwai in 2005. Since then she has been exploring the impact of the Second World War on people’s lives, with par cular focus on women on the Home Front. Stranger in the House looked at how women coped when the men came home from the war, while When the Children Came Home examined the impact of evacua on on family life in the war’s a ermath.
Jambusters celebrates the extraordinary work of the Women’s Ins tute in the Second World War and has been her most successful book to date.
Earlier that year she published Fashion on the Ra on which was selected as one of The Times history books of 2015. The book accompanied an exhibi on at the Imperial War Museum, London. The show will open in IWM/North in spring 2016.
36
Author Julie Summers con nued:
Julie is currently working on a new book looking at the secret life of houses during the Second World War. This will be published in 2018. In the mean me, she con nues to advise ITV as a consultant on storylines and historical script details.
Julie has appeared on Radio 4 on Woman’s Hour; Start the Week and Excess Baggage and numerous radio programmes. She was also interviewed for The Wildest Dream film and appeared on the BBC in a A Century of Fatherhood and more recently in 100 Years of the WI with Lucy Worsley.
For further details contact Francine Fletcher at Fletcher Associates www.fletcherassociates.net
Julie’s website can be found at: www.juliesummers.co.uk
37
Synopsis Episode 1 | wri en by Simon Block
It’s June 1940, and Britain faces the threat of imminent invasion. As the Ba le of Britain looms, the villagers of Great Paxford live under a cloud of fear and suspicion. Pat (Claire Rushbrook) strikes up a friendship with a Czech soldier sta oned nearby, but her joy at independence from Bob (Mark Bazeley) is short lived.
Meanwhile, Laura (Leila Mimmack) is forced to face the consequences of her affair with Richard Bowers (Philip McGinley), whilst Spencer (Mike Noble) and Claire’s (Daisy Badger) rela onship takes an unexpected turn. Sarah (Ruth Gemmell) receives some shocking news about Adam, but her sorrow is overshadowed by a tragedy for Frances (Samantha Bond). Meanwhile, Alison (Fenella Woolgar) strikes a bargain with the police.
38
Cast and Produc on credits Cast credits
Joyce Cameron...... FRANCESCA ANNIS
Frances Barden...... SAMANTHA BOND Sarah Collingborne...... RUTH GEMMELL Pat Simms ...... CLAIRE RUSHBROOK Bob Simms…………………………………………………………………………………………..MARK BAZELEY Erica Campbell...... ……….FRANCES GREY Will Campbell...... ED STOPPARD Kate Campbell...... RACHEL HURD-WOOD Laura Campbell...... LEILA MIMMACK Miriam Brindsley...... CLAIRE PRICE Bryn Brindsley...... DANIEL RYAN Steph Farrow...... CLARE CALBRAITH Stan Farrow…………………………………………………………………………………………CHRIS COGHILL Li le Stan Farrow...... BRIAN FLETCHER Alison Scotlock……...... FENELLA WOOLGAR Teresa Fenchurch...... LEANNE BEST Claire Hillman…………..……………………………………………………………………….…DAISY BADGER Spencer Wilson...... MIKE NOBLE Captain Marek Novotny………………………………………………………...ALEXANDRE WILLAUME Thumbs…...... …………………….JIM WHELAN Cookie...... JACQUELINE PILTON Wing Commander Nick Lucas………….………………………………….………………MARK UMBERS Jenny Marshall…………………………………………………………………….…………….JODIE HAMBLET Richard Bowers………………………………………………………………….…………….PHILIP MCGINLEY Peter Barden……....……………………….……………………………………………………….ANTONY CALF
Isobel Reilly………………………………………………………………………………………..…GILLIAN DEAN
39 Cast and Produc on credits Cast credits
Sta on Adjutant Symons...... ROBIN SIMPSON
Commander Statham...... CHRIS FINCH Officier Tom Halliwell...... ROB HEAPS Registrar...... JOHN GULLY Charlo e Bowers………………………………………………………………………….ELISABETH HOPPER
Douglas Cameron…………………………………………………………..……….PAUL ANTONY-BARBER Naval Officer...... ……………….DREW CAIN Mrs Esposito...... ANIA MARSON DS Reynolds...... NIGEL BOYLE Albert Stoddard...... STANLEY CIEKA Mrs Talbot……………………………………………………………………………………………PHILLIPA PEAK Reverend James………………………………………………………………………………………….LEO ATKIN Dr Neville Manford………………………………………………………………………..HOWARD CORLETT Mr Roger Pryor…………………………………………………………………………………..NICK SAMPSON Mr Taylor……………………………………………………………………………………………...JAMES QUINN Edith Talbot……………………………………………………………………………..FRANKIE MAE TAYLOR Neil Lyons………………………………………………………………………………………………ROBERT BECK Ian Lyons………………………………………………………………………………..…….STEPHEN FLETCHER Mr Lakin…………………………………………………………………………………………..….PHILIP LOWRIE Officer Duncan Finch………………………………………………………………………………….PETER ASH Annie……………………………………………………………..……………………………………..…JO HERBERT Brian Benne …………………………….………………………………………………….…JASON FURNIVAL Noah Lakin…..…………………………………………………………………………………….OLIVER NELSON Stephen Banks………………………………………………………………………………….…MARK ROWLEY Mrs Leveson……………………………………………………………………………..…WANDA OPALINSKA Lord Malcolm Cornell…………………………………………………………………………RICHARD LAING Vicar...... ROGER BINGHAM
40 Cast and Produc on credits Produc on credits
Execu ve Producers……………………………………………………………..CATHERINE OLDFIELD ……………………………………………………………………………………………..FRANCIS HOPKINSON Execu ve Producer and lead writer ……………...... SIMON BLOCK Co-writer, episode 2…………………………………………………………………………….GLEN LAKER Producer...... LOUISE SUTTON Directors...... ROBERT QUINN ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………JOHN HAYES Director of Photography...... …………………………….JOEL DEVLIN Line Producer...... ALISON LOOSE Cas ng Directors…...... KELLY HENDRY …………...... …………………………………………………………………………………..VICTOR JENKINS Editors…...... MARK THORNTON ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….JAMES TAYLOR Composer…………………………………………………………………………………………..SAMUEL SIM Produc on Designer...... MAURICE CAIN First Assistant Directors……..…...... JOHN BENNETT …………………………………………...... SIMON NOONE Costume Designer……...... HOWARD BURDEN Make Up Designer…...... SAMANTHA MARSHALL Script Editor………………………………………………………………………………..SOPHIE BICKNALL Sound Recordist………...... PETER BRILL Produc on Coördinator……...... ELLA BROOKES
41