‘When Hope Calls’ Returning To Television With Some Pretty Big Changes

It took nearly three years, but we finally have more information on the return of When Hope Calls.

According to Deadline, season two of the When Calls The Heart spinoff will begin filming late this month for a January 2025 premiere on Great American Family (GAF).  

When Hope Calls, a spinoff of Janette Oke’s When Calls the Heart book series, initially followed sisters Lillian Walsh and Grace Bennett as they opened an orphanage in the small Northwest town of Brookfield in 1916. The show centers on the residents of the town “who meet tremendous challenges while creating a hopeful, faith-filled community on the cusp of change in the frontier town while nurturing the children in their care.”

Fans of the series will recall that it originated on Hallmark in 2019 before moving to GAF for two Christmas episodes in 2021. 

Season one starred Morgan Kohan as Lillian, Jocelyn Hudon as Grace, and Ryan-James Hatanaka as Lillian’s love interest, Mountie Gabriel. But a new network isn’t the only thing different about the highly anticipated followup season. The cast is reportedly getting an overhaul as well. 

According to GAF, When Hope Calls’ opening episodes will “pay homage to the romance of Lillian and Mountie Gabriel” while new characters are introduced that are “seminal to the orphanage and children, the sprawling farms and ranchlands, and to the town of Brookfield who welcome a new Constable from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.”

Enter: Cindy Busby as newcomer Nora and Christopher Russell as Constable, Mountie Michael.

“We were fortunate early on to understand that Janette Oke’s faith-filled characters had such rich origins that building entertainment universes from this world would present themselves over and over,” Bill Abbott, President & CEO, Great American Media, said in a statement.

This is a developing story.