18 June 1918 - Cora Gidley (Season 14 start)

Home Front

On this day in 1918, the Times published plans for Alexandra Day, a project to sell pink roses to raise £1m, while in Ashburton, Cora Gidley sees her roses differently.

Written by Lucy Catherine Directed by Jessica Dromgoole

Notes

The Home Front story returns to Devon, a county central to the country's desperate hopes for a good harvest, in which the upheavals and social schisms of WW1 were felt particularly keenly. Summer 1918 marks the point when Britain was on the brink of starvation, with the most important harvest of the war looming, both literally and metaphorically. Women, children, prisoners of war and wounded soldiers are all being put to work on the land. However, there are also those unable or unwilling to help the Government drive to feed the war effort. Dartmoor prison now houses 1000 conscientious objectors, much to the fury of local people with family away fighting, whilst at nearby Seale Hayne, a radical new hospital for shell-shocked soldiers has opened. Season 14 challenges notions of a harmonious rural idyll.

Season 14 of Home Front is story-led by Sebastian Baczkiewicz, and subtitled "Needs Must When the Devil Drives".

Lucy Catherine, Katie Hims and Sarah Daniels complete the writing team for this season, which will also feature the return of Anton Lesser, Matthew Beard and Maggie Steed, and guest appearances from Geoffrey Palmer, Mark Heap, Jonathan Bailey and Damien Molony.