When Calls the Heart


When Calls the Heart is a Canadian-American television drama series, inspired by Janette Oke's book of the same name from her Canadian West series, and developed by Michael Landon Jr. The series began airing on the Hallmark Channel in the United States on January 11, 2014, and on April 16, 2014 on Super Channel in Canada.
The series originally debuted as a two-hour television movie pilot in October 2013, starring Maggie Grace as young teacher Elizabeth Thatcher and Stephen Amell as North West Mounted Police officer Wynn Delaney. In the television series Erin Krakow is cast as her niece, whose name is also Elizabeth Thatcher, and Daniel Lissing plays a Mountie named Jack Thornton, with Lori Loughlin reprising her role as coal mine widow Abigail Stanton.
On March 21, 2018, Hallmark renewed the series for a sixth season. The season premiered with a two-hour Christmas special that was broadcast as part of Hallmark's Countdown to Christmas event, and was to continue for a 10-episode run starting in February 2019. However, due to the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal involving Loughlin and her subsequent removal from all Hallmark properties, the season was put on a "retooling" hiatus and resumed in May to conclude in June, with Loughlin's scenes edited out.
On April 13, 2019, the series was renewed for a seventh season which aired from February 23 to April 26, 2020. On April 26, 2020, Hallmark Channel announced via a video from Krakow that the series would return for an eighth season in 2021.

Plot

When Calls the Heart tells the story of Elizabeth Thatcher, a young teacher accustomed to her high-society life. She receives her first classroom assignment in Coal Valley, a small coal-mining town in Western Canada which is located just south of Robb, Alberta. There, life is simple, but often fraught with challenges. Elizabeth charms most everyone in Coal Valley, except Royal North West Mounted Police Constable Jack Thornton. He believes Thatcher's wealthy father has doomed the lawman's career by insisting he be assigned in town to protect the shipping magnate's daughter. Wishing to thrive in this 1910 coal town, Elizabeth must learn the ways of the Canadian frontier.
Abigail Stanton's husband, the foreman of the mine, and her only son—along with 45 other miners, were killed in an explosion, due to the mining-company site manager's irresponsible management and lack of due care in his management of the mine. The newly widowed women find their faith tested when they must go to work in the mine to keep a roof over their heads, food on the table, and help pay the wage for the town's teacher. The town of Coal Valley was renamed Hope Valley in first episode of the second season after the coal mine was closed.

Episodes

Cast and characters

Main

The series, originally planned to be filmed in Colorado, is filmed south of Vancouver, British Columbia, on a farm surrounded by vineyards. The fictional frontier town of Coal Valley was erected in late 2013. Some of the set trimmings and a stage coach came from the Hell on Wheels set. The Thatcher home is the University Women's Club of Vancouver.
The series was renewed for a second season, which aired from April 25 to June 13, 2015. Hallmark Channel announced in July 2015 that the series had been renewed for a third season, which aired from February 21 to April 10, 2016, with a sneak peek airing during the 2015 Christmas season.
In mid-2016, it was announced that Season 4 would premiere on the Hallmark Channel Christmas Day with a two-hour special. On April 11, 2016, Lissing and Krakow announced via the series' Facebook page that Hallmark Channel had renewed the series for a fourth season, which aired from February 19 to April 23, 2017.
On April 24, 2017, series star Erin Krakow announced via the Hallmark Channel website that the show would return for a fifth season, which premiered in February 2018 and ended in April. Filming for season five began in Vancouver on August 22, 2017, and ended on December 21, 2017.
On March 14. 2019, Hallmark announced it had dropped Loughlin from future company projects due to her role in the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal. On April 10, 2019, it was announced that season six would resume on May 5, 2019, with Loughlin's scenes edited out.
On April 13, 2019, the series was renewed for a seventh season which premiered on February 23, 2020.
On April 26, 2020, Hallmark Channel announced via a video from Krakow that the series would return for an eighth season in 2021.

Broadcast

The first season of the series was subsequently picked up by CBC Television for rebroadcast as a summer series in 2015. The network has since aired all six seasons. The series became available internationally on Netflix in August 2017.

Spin-off

A spin-off of the show, When Hope Calls, was announced at Hallmark's Television Critics Association summer press tour on July 26, 2018. The series debuted on August 30, 2019, as the initial offering of the Hallmark Movies Now streaming service.