Land Girls (TV series)

The titular Land Girls are Nancy Morrell (Summer Strallen), Joyce Fisher (Becci Gemmell), Bea Holloway (Jo Woodcock) and Annie Barratt (Christine Bottomley), who have arrived at the Hoxley Estate to begin their new working lives at the Pasture Farm—owned by Frederick Finch (Mark Benton)—and the opulent manor occupied by Lord and Lady Hoxley (Nathaniel Parker and Sophie Ward). The women have joined the Women's Land Army for different reasons but share the same goal – to help win the war. Nancy is forced into joining the Women's Land Army when female conscription begins. Joyce wants to serve her country like her husband. Annie signs up herself and her younger sister Bea so they can escape their abusive father. As the girls adapt to their new surroundings and begin the hard work, their lives begin to change. About a year later, Bea is married to Billy (Liam Boyle) and Joyce is still working at the farm. The brash Connie Carter (Selin Hizli) arrives to do her duty, and American industrialist Jack Gillespie (Clive Wood) comes to the Hoxley Estate on business. The third series once again focuses on the lives of the land girls at the Hoxley estate. After the local military hospital is bombed, the patients and staff relocate to Hoxley Manor. Connie is engaged to Reverend Henry Jameson (Liam Garrigan; Gwilym Lee) and Iris Dawson (Lou Broadbent) arrives at the farm. ==Conception and development==

Land Girls was conceived by Roland Moore, who wanted to cover the subject matter of the Women's Land Army in an ensemble drama. Once he had the idea, Moore set about creating the characters of Nancy, Joyce, Annie and Bea and devising story ideas from them. Keelan stated "I'm delighted to be able to place Land Girls at this time of the day as part of a unique week of programming. We hope to pay tribute, not only to the many lives that were lost in the Second World War, but also to the land girls who played such an important role on the home front. We hope it'll be seen by as wide an audience as possible." The BBC said the second series would see a return to the rural Forties and continue to examine the women who helped the war effort. Of the third series, Keelan said "It builds on the success of the previous two series which our viewers have loved for the dramatic way they have told the story of land girls – and their families and friends – in the Second World War." Trotter added that it was "brilliant" to continue the land girls' story and that the new series would give the team an opportunity to further explore "how those left at home lived their lives in the shadow of the Second World War." ==Production==

Casting Summer Strallen was cast in the role of rich girl Nancy Morrell. Strallen read diaries and books on the land girls while she was preparing for her role. Like Strallen, Gemmell read diaries of the land girls during her research for the role. She also spoke to a former land girl who gave her some inside knowledge. Bottomley also researched the land girls after securing the role of Annie. Of filming the series, she said "I loved the experience of working in a completely different era and the completely different look." Nathaniel Parker and Sophie Ward were cast as Lord Lawrence Hoxley and Lady Ellen Hoxley respectively. Parker and Ward had previously worked together on A Village Affair. Mark Benton was cast as Farmer Finch, Danny Webb as Dennis Tucker and Susan Cookson as Esther Reeves. Fourteen-year-old Mykola Allen joined the cast as Esther' son, Martin. The cast for series two was announced in June 2010. Woodcock and Gemmell returned to their roles of Bea and Joyce. Six other cast members from the first series also reprised their roles, including Sophie Ward, Mark Benton, Danny Webb, Susan Cookson, Mykola Allen and Liam Boyle. Raquel Cassidy was cast in the role of Lady Hoxley's sister, Diana Granville. Crew from the BBC's daytime drama, Doctors, worked on the shoot, which lasted for seven weeks. Hossington said that the biggest challenge of the shoot was finding a farmer who was prepared to plough a field out of season for use during an episode set in the winter months. Gemmell said that she did not get to fly in the plane and instead she was taxied around a field. As the pilot was getting ready to fly everyone on the set had to be quiet, so he could talk to people via the radio. Gemmell said "It's quite something standing with 30 people spread out across a field in total silence for a good 10 minutes, then hearing in the distance the rumble of a plane engine getting louder and louder." She also praised the make-up department for getting her wig to stay on during filming. Gemmell added that the second series was tough to film especially for the team behind the scenes. ==Broadcasting==

The first series consisted of five episodes lasting 45 minutes, which were broadcast across five days on BBC One beginning from 7 September 2009. The series was also available on BBC HD and the BBC iPlayer. Land Girls was given an early evening time slot of 5.15pm and it was later repeated on Sunday evenings. The second series of Land Girls began airing on 17 January 2011. On 19 January 2011, it was announced that Land Girls had been sold to Sundance Channel Global, which covers France, Benelux, Asia and Eastern Europe. The series will also be shown by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Danish broadcasting corporation, DR, the Globosat television service in Brazil and the Finnish broadcasting company, YLE. From 18 January 2012, series one of Land Girls was broadcast on Yesterday. The series was repeated on BBC One in September 2020, due to the lack of episodes of Doctors as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television. ==Episodes==

Series 1 (2009) Series 2 (2011) Series 3 (2011) ==Reception==

Land Girls surpassed the average audience share for the year in its slot by three per cent and peaked at 2.6 million viewers. The Daily Telegraph reported that the drama was criticised for its historical inaccuracies and the BBC notice boards attracted nearly a hundred comments and complaints about military uniforms and other general historical reconstructions. Awards and nominations Land Girls won "Best Daytime Programme" at the 2010 Broadcast Awards. Later that year, it was named "Best Drama" at the Royal Television Society Awards. Gemmell won the "Best Newcomer" award, with Ward and Webb winning the "Best Actress" and "Best Actor" awards respectively. ==Home media==

Series one of Land Girls was released on DVD in the UK by Acorn Media in November 2010, two months before the official January 2011 release date. The DVD contains all five episodes of the drama, a documentary about the real land girls and a photo gallery. The second series was released on DVD in the UK on 7 November 2011, while the third series was released in February 2012. Series 1, 2, and 3 were added to Netflix in late 2015. ==Novels==

In June 2016, Natasha Onwuemezi of The Bookseller announced that HarperImpulse, a digital imprint of HarperCollins UK, had signed a three-book deal with Moore to revive Land Girls as a series of novels. Publisher Kimberley Young said, "For anyone who cheered on the 'Land Girls', these novels get my vote!" A third, Christmas on the Home Front, was published in 2019. ==References==