Network: Reelz
Episodes: 18 (hour) + two-hour movie
Seasons: Two
TV show dates: September 11, 2012 — May 26, 2014
Series status: Cancelled
Performers include: Meg Tilly, Jodi Balfour, Charlotte Hegele, Ali Liebert, Antonio Cupo, Sebastian Pigott, Peter Outerbridge, Anastasia Phillips, Jim Codrington, and Lisa Norton.
TV show description:
Set in 1940s Toronto, this TV series explores the lives of various women who find themselves thrust into new worlds. They work in munitions factories, building the arms that keep their overseas husbands, lovers, brothers, and sons alive and fighting.
While they’re building bombs, the women also find themselves flourishing with newfound freedom, discovering strengths they never before imagined. At the same time they’re often woefully under-equipped for the new challenges they face. Amid propaganda and sexual harassment, crossing social and cultural boundaries, these remarkable women form a unique sisterhood.
Lorna Corbett (Meg Tilly) met her husband Bob (Peter Outerbridge) at age 18 before he shipped out to the Great War, and married after their affair left her pregnant. Bob returned a broken man, shell-shocked and paralyzed, and their dream of a happy life vanished. Lorna quietly relishes her new job as it’s a chance to escape an oppressive home and is secretly jealous of the other ladies’ happiness. She’s determined not to let them make the same mistakes she did. Lorna is especially resentful Gladys and seeks to break the spirited girl, even though she recognizes her own long-lost exuberance.
Gladys Witham (Jodi Balfour) is a wild child and the only daughter in a wealthy Rosedale family. Gladys’s privileged life has made her fearless with an appetite for life and she’s always gotten what she wanted. Now, what she wants is changing and its far less superficial. Does this leave room for James Dunn, her fiance?
New to Toronto, Kate Andrews (Charlotte Hegele) is eager to please and gifted at lifting spirits thanks to a staggeringly talented singing voice. Beneath her smile is a sheltered, insecure girl who’s on the run from her abusive street-preaching father. Cobbling together a new identity, Kate appears to have evaded punishment and her past, for now.
Betty McRae (Ali Liebert) is a recent arrival from rural Saskatchewan. An early arrival to Victory Munitions, Betty quickly rose through the ranks to be a well-regarded worker who doubles as Blue Shift’s on-floor trainer of the new workers. She fled her troubling past to live in a place with fewer men to mistrust. Betty has a hard attitude but for some reason, this doesn’t seem to apply to her interactions with Kate.
Blue Shift’s materials controller, Marco Moretti (Antonio Cupo), is responsible for the raw materials coming into the factory, as well as the export of every finished bomb. He gained his experience from his family’s fireworks factory, and now supports his mother, sister and nieces as the sole breadwinner. His father has been locked away in an internment camp alongside hundreds of other Italian immigrants. Though Marco considers himself a Canadian, he knows others see him as a potential enemy and is unable to enlist.
James Dunn (Sebastian Pigott) is smart, attractive, wealthy, and poised to take the world by storm. He’s a decent man whose refinement haven’t resulted in snobbery. Still, having been largely sheltered from the world’s harsh truths, he’s woefully innocent about matters of the heart. While he’s drawn to Gladys, her exuberance often threatens to overwhelm him. He was an American before Pearl Harbor and still doesn’t feel that the war is truly his to fight.
Vera Burr (Anastasia Phillips) is a Blue Shift worker and was disfigured in an accident at the factory and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. African-American Leon (Jim Codrington) works in the warehouse at Victory Munitions. A jazz musician and singer, he saves Kate from an attempted assault. Edith McAllum (Lisa Norton) is a floor worker at Victory, is close friends with Lorna, and befriends Bob while dealing with the aftermath of her husband’s death.
Bomb Girls: Facing the Enemy (series ending movie)
It is the Spring of 1943 and the Battle for the Atlantic rages as an Axis victory seems inevitable. The one hope the Allies have – production of newly developed sonar equipment – is moved to Victory Munitions when the British factories are bombed. Under the increased pressure, the women of Vic Mu — Gladys, Lorna, Kate, Betty and Vera — band together in a tight bond of support and friendship. Then, in the darkest hour of the war, a new and disturbing menace appears – a saboteur among the factory workers.
First aired: May 26, 2014.
What do you think? Do you like the Bomb Girls TV series? Do you think it should have been cancelled or renewed for a third season?
I echo Jennifer…best show ever…please don’t cancel!
We were so disappointed to find there was only one episode in season 3. I would have thought that the show would have continued through the end of the war (1945). Maybe it isn’t too late?
I liked the TV show. The final movie was really cheesy though. Upset they killed off Vera, hadn’t she been through enough?
NO! Bring it back!
I loved this serious. I watched it on DVD here in New Zealand and want to see the movie seems season 3 got cancelled which is a shame. Fancy leaving us all hanging like you did.
I loved this show and was sorry it was cancelled.
It was one of the best shows on.
it was a great ahow. different. very well put together. wish there were more shows like this. bring it back!
Damn, I miss this show. What gives? Acting was realistic. Setting was set in times of WWII. IS IT BECAUSE WOMEN WERE MAIN STARS?!
Bomb Girls was a great show. It is a favorite of mine. I enjoyed how it was a 1940’s era show from the point of view of the women and their roll that helped the allied forces win World War II. It was the great ensemble of actresses and actors that I fell in love with. I would love to see this story line be completed through VE Day. This show should be brought back.
I love the show I wish they would put it back on..
Yes, I thought the show was wonderful! The characters were well developed as were the story lines. I loved the sets, costumes, hair and make-up. A real treasure that I am sad to see cancelled.
this show is terrific. Myself and my wife both enjoy grate plots
I found Bomb Girls by accident via Netflix streaming and was delighted to find something so terrific! I loved the story lines but particularly the dedication towards keeping costumes, locations, hair styles, etc. all believable as to the period of the 40’s. The acting was superb! I’ve watched all three Seasons (Season 3, unfortunately, with only one episode). I only wish this had not been cancelled and would love to see more! I miss all of them.
Loved the show, it was a refreshing change from the usual humdrum of the many current TV series on television , which have gotten very old and boring with the repititousness of television viewing in this current day. It was nice to see a program that was not all about guns, drugs, thugs, murders, etc., I think you get my drift. I loved this show because it spelled out at least in my view the World War II era, which I know nothing about and it was well before my time, also enjoyed how the show evolved around all the… Read more »
This is one of the best shows and they are getting few and far between. Let Netflix have this show to carry on.