Get ready Hope Valley faithful: Hallmark is expanding the When the Heart Calls universe with an all-new prequel series.
Bethany Joy Lenz, Benjamin Ayres i Jill Hennessy are set to star Hope Valley: 1874which will begin production next week, Hallmark announced on Friday, December 12.
“Hope Valley: 1874 gives us a wonderful opportunity to further explore the universe of When the Heart Calls and build a deeper world around this show for our devoted fans, who have helped make it one of the most successful and enduring series on television today,” said Hallmark Media’s head of programming. Michelle Vicaryhe said in a press release. “We’re excited to have the Hearties join us as we tell this rich origin story filled with the kind of heart, community and hope they know and love.”
The series, set in 1874, will premiere in March 2026 exclusively on Hallmark+. During its eight episodes, the show will highlight the early days of the settlement before it was named Hope Valley.
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Lenz, 44, will play Rebecca Clarke as she travels from her home in Chicago with her 11-year-old daughter across the western Canadian border.
“When his wagon breaks down, he has no choice but to accept the help of local rancher and confirmed bachelor, Tom Moore (Ayres),” the entry reads. “Despite Rebecca’s best intentions to stay on the loose, the future she dreams for herself and her daughter along with the people she meets in this new town, including vigilante Tom and tenacious trailblazer Hattie Quinn (Hennessy), ultimately forces her to put down roots and start over.”
The prequel will also star Roan Curtis like Hattie’s daughter Olivia Lachlan Quarmby like Constable Alexander Vaughn, who the network says is “one of the first members of the newly formed Royal Canadian Mounted Police.”
Hallmark said viewers will meet “adventurous farmers, gold prospectors and early pioneers” throughout the series, “who worked together to navigate and embrace the changes of a new era and ultimately build a small, close-knit community in the harsh and hopeful pioneer era.”
Kailey Schwerman/Hallmark Media Pascale Hutton is already planning the future of Elizabeth and Nathan’s When Calls the Heart wedding, even if they aren’t engaged. “I would love for Rosemary to be the officiant,” Hutton, 45, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting her new Hallmark Mystery, Nelly Knows Mysteries: A Fatal Engagement, premiering in (…)
before Hope Valley: 1874Lenz and Ayres, 48, and Curtis, 28, have starred in the Hallmark romantic comedies. Quarmby made its network debut earlier this year in three parts Providence Falls movie series, while Hennessy is new to the Hallmark family.
Fans will have to wait and see which, if any, connect Hope Valley: 1874 the characters have the beloved residents they have met When the Heart Calls.
In the meantime, viewers can tune in season 13 of WCTH when it starts in January. When the Hallmark Channel series premiered in 2014, it followed teacher Elizabeth Thatcher, now Elizabeth Thornton, played by Erin Krakow as he migrated from the big city to teach in the mining town of Hope Valley to the west.
when WCTH returns, Elizabeth and boyfriend Mountie Nathan Grant (Kevin McGarry) will live in Cape Fullerton as his son, Little Jack (Hyland Goodrich), receives treatment for his diabetes.
“We don’t get to spend much time outside of Hope Valley, so it’s always very special when we do,” Krakow, 41, explained exclusively Us Weekly in November of the coming one. “We see how they’ve spent this past summer and how it’s affected their relationship, both romantically and in some ways as this pseudo-blended family, before the marriage and it’s really lovely.”
The actress – who is pregnant in real life with her and to cost Ben Rosenbaumthe first baby — said that Elizabeth and Nathan will be a little different when they return to Hope Valley.
“Nathan has embraced the mustache life again, which Kevin loves so much,” Krakow said with a laugh. “I mean, she looks great anyway, people. And Elizabeth changes her look, too.”
He added, “I think they’re both influenced by spending time in the big city, and they bring that to Hope Valley. So yeah, there’s a lot of interesting changes for them.”
When the Heart Calls returns to Hallmark Channel for Season 13 on Sunday, January 4 at 8:00 PM ET.