The popular ITV drama topped a vote by I Talk Telly readers which saw them decide which show they'd love to see return.
The vote, open for two weeks, encouraged readers of I Talk Telly to vote for the TV show they'd most like to bring back.
They were able to choose from a shortlist of 42 shows (made up of the @mentions received in response to this tweet) and/or they could choose to submit their own show suggestions not originally on the shortlist.
After almost 3,000 votes, the poll has now closed and the results are...
1. Home Fires (36%)
Launching in May 2015, the popular ITV Sunday night drama followed a group of inspirational women living in a rural Cheshire community for whom the shadow of World War II cast a dark cloud over their lives. The series came to an end in May 2016 despite audience figures rising from 5.5m per episode for series one to 5.9m per episode for series two.
Home Fires was lead by Francesca Annis and Samantha Bond with cast across both series including Ruth Gemmell, Mark Bonnar, Frances Grey, Claire Rushbrook, Ed Stoppard, Chris Coghill, Clare Calbraith, Fenella Woolgar, Mark Bazeley, Mike Noble and Daniel Ryan.
The series two finale which turned out to be the final ever episode, ended on a huge cliffhanger which cast doubts over the future of some of Great Paxford's most-loved residents after a fighter plane crashed into the roof of one of the homes in the village.
So why did the series end? At the time, ITV said "the ITV commissioning team continues to refresh the channel's drama portfolio, hence the decision not to commission a further new season."
Fans went on to launch a petition to save the series which has had close to 58,000 signatures but ITV didn't go back on their decision and by topping this recent poll, it's clear that fans are not willing to put the Home Fires out anytime soon.
On hearing about Home Fires topping this latest vote, actor Daniel Ryan who played Miriam's husband and local butcher Bryn Brindsley, told I Talk Telly:
"I know I speak on behalf of the entire cast (because we still have a WhatsApp group!) we are just so touched that people took Home Fires so dearly to their hearts in the UK. We actually had a similar outcry of disappointment from America when they too learnt that the series had ended! It’s lovely that we still receive messages from downloads and catch up.
We just remain so delighted to have made a show that told stories that seemed to resonate with so many viewers. A drama that spoke to people and characters that were loved.
We wish it could have been otherwise, and I know that the strongest attempts were made to alter the decision, primarily due to so much support from the fans, but sadly time moves on.
Thank you so much to everyone who voted, we are thrilled that a torch is still being carried for the residents of Great Paxford and especially those phenomenal ladies of the W.I.
Keep the Home Fires burning. "
2. In The Flesh (21%)
Launching in March 2013, In The Flesh was a hugely popular BBC Three drama, written and created by Dominic Mitchell, which ran for two series before the BBC pulled the plug in January 2015. That‘s despite the series growing a very loyal fanbase, winning a BAFTA for Best Mini-Series in 2014 and Dominic winning Best Writer (Drama) at the BAFTA TV Craft awards a month earlier.
Set in the fictional village of Roarton, the series explored the results of a cure which saw zombies rehabilitated so that they could live back amongst living society. The cure came about following a rising which saw dead people rise from their graves and almost destroy Britain.
The series starred Luke Newberry as partially deceased teenager Kieren Walker, Emily Bevan as PDS sufferer Amy Dyer and Emmett J Scanlan as Simon Munroe, twelfth disciple of the Undead Prophet.
When In The Flesh was cancelled, fans took to social media to ask the likes of Amazon and Netflix to pick up the series and Dominic Mitchell even hinted at the possibility of a movie. However fast-forward four years and none of those things have surfaced. But as the results of this poll prove, there's still a lot of love out there for the series.
And no one appreciates that more than the show‘s creator Dominic Mitchell who upon hearing the results of this poll wanted to say “I’d like to thank all the fantastic “Rotters” out there who voted for In The Flesh! Eternally grateful. DEAD proud! Thank you! x”
3. Big Brother (8%)
Big Brother was the original social experiment and one of the greatest reality TV shows to ever grace our screens, but on the 14th September 2018 Channel 5 announced that Series 19, which launched that very same day, would be its last outing... on Channel 5 at least.
It was a somewhat inevitable decision which left fans angry but also optimistic that a new broadcaster would pick the series up and treat it better than Channel 5 did.
This isn't the first time that Big Brother has been axed of course. The series was originally hosted by Davina McCall on Channel 4 from 2000 until the final series in 2010. Back then it wasn't long before the series returned on a new channel and with a new host.
In 2011 it set up home with Channel 5 and former winner Brian Dowling took over as host, whilst Emma Willis (who had co-hosted the final series of Big Brother's Little Brother on Channel 4) hosted spin-off Big Brother's Bit on the Side. In 2013 Brian Dowling was replaced by Emma Willis and most-recent CBB winner Rylan Clark-Neal was drafted in to co-host BBBOTS, going on to host the show solo since 2015.
Just last week, Channel 5 rebranded the @BBUK Twitter account to promote 'Reality on 5' which includes shows like The Bachelor UK and Celebs on the Ranch. This lead to Rylan encouraging his followers to unfollow the account and follow @BigBrotherUK (formerly @BBAuditions) instead. Hinting that news was coming...
Sure. Pholographs have been circulating of the iconic house in Elstree being demolished, but with a rumoured three-year deal with Netflix secured, it seems that reality TV fans won't have long to wait before Big Brother returns. And when it does, hosts Emma Willis and Rylan Clark-Neal as well as voice of the show Marcus Bentley are all expected to return.
Completing the rest of the Top 10 were Celebrity Big Brother (4th), Gavin & Stacey (5th), The Bill (6th), My Mad Fat Diary (7th), Heartbeat (8th), Bad Girls (9th) and Waterloo Road (10th).
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