''Home Fires'' was a

Canadian television Television in Canada officially began with the sign-on of the nation's first television stations in Montreal and Toronto in 1952. As with most media in Canada, the television industry, and the television programming available in that country, a ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

series, which aired on CBC Television from 1980 to 1983. It was a

family saga The family saga is a genre of literature which chronicles the lives and doings of a family or a number of related or interconnected families over a period of time. In novels (or sometimes sequences of novels) with a serious intent, this is often ...

set in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and took its name from the expression " keep the home fires burning". Created and written by Jim Purdy and Peter Such, the series centred on the Lowes, a family in Toronto. Patriarch Arthur Lowe (

Gerard Parkes Gerard Parkes (October 16, 1924 – October 19, 2014) was an Irish-Canadian actor. He was born in Dublin, and moved to Toronto in 1956. He is known for playing "Doc" on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television series ''Fraggle Rock'' and ...

) was a doctor who ran a family medicine clinic in a working class downtown neighbourhood with nurse Marge (Sheila Moore), and was married to housewife Hannah ( Kim Yaroshevskaya), a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

immigrant from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Wayne Grady Wayne Desmond Grady (born 26 July 1957) is an Australian professional golfer. Early life Born in Brisbane, Grady turned professional in 1978. Professional career Grady began his career on the PGA Tour of Australia. He had much early suc ...

, "We'll Keep a Welcome". ''

TV Guide Canada ''TV Guide'' was a weekly Canadian magazine that provided television program listings information as well as television-related news, celebrity interviews and gossip, film reviews, crossword puzzles and horoscopes. It originated as a domes ...

'', November 8, 1980. As the series progressed, storylines increasingly focused on Arthur and Hannah's children Terry (

Wendy Crewson Wendy Jane Crewson (born May 9, 1956) is a Canadian actress and producer. She began her career appearing on Canadian television, before her breakthrough role in 1991 dramatic film ''The Doctor (1991 film), The Doctor''. Crewson has appeared in ma ...

) and Sidney ( Peter Spence) and nephew Jakob (Gil Yaron). Terry married her boyfriend Graeme (

Jeff Wincott Jeffrey Wincott (born 8 May 1956) is a Canadian actor and martial artist best known for his lead role in the television series ''Night Heat.'' Wincott was also the star of several martial arts films in the 1990s. In 1996 he was named one of the ...

) shortly before he was shipped off to serve in the war, where he was killed at

Dieppe Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to N ...

; she then served in the

Canadian Women's Army Corps The Canadian Women's Army Corps was a non-combatant branch of the Canadian Army for women, established during the Second World War, with the purpose of releasing men from those non-combatant roles in the Canadian armed forces as part of expanding ...

before taking a job as a welder in an aircraft factory, where she became a

labour union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (su ...

organizer. She entered a new relationship with Bruce McLeod ( Booth Savage), a war correspondent, and ultimately decided to attend medical school to become a doctor in the show's final season. Sidney, who was too young at the start of the series to register for military service, resented being unable to serve but signed up for the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

when he reached enlistment age. He was captured as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

, but eventually returned to Toronto with a new British

war bride War brides are women who married military personnel from other countries in times of war or during military occupations, a practice that occurred in great frequency during World War I and World War II. Among the largest and best documented examp ...

. Jakob was Hannah's nephew, a Polish refugee who had come to live with his aunt and uncle in Canada to escape the rising tide of European

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

in the leadup to the war; initially a supporting character, he became much more prominent after Sidney's enlistment. Crewson won an

ACTRA Award The ACTRA Awards were first presented in 1972 to celebrate excellence in Canada's television and radio industries.

as Best Continuing Television Performance at the 13th ACTRA Awards in 1984 for the show's final season."Popular mini-series dominates ACTRA awards: Empire earns big dividend". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', April 4, 1984.

References

External links

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TVArchive
CBC Television original programming Television shows set in Toronto 1980 Canadian television series debuts 1983 Canadian television series endings 1980s Canadian drama television series World War II television drama series {{Canada-drama-tv-prog-stub