How Is ‘Hope Valley: 1874’ Connected to ‘When Calls the Heart’? Cast Explains

Long before Elizabeth Thatcher (Erin Krakow) arrived in Coal Valley (now Hope Valley) during Season 1 of When Calls the Heart, Rebecca Clarke (Bethany Joy Lenz) embarked on her very own journey to the Western Canadian frontier with her 11-year-old daughter (Mila Morgan) and landed in the very same place. Hearties, welcome to Hope Valley: 1874!

Ahead of the premiere of the new Hallmark+ When Calls the Heart prequel, TV Insider sat down with the Hope Valley: 1874 cast to answer the one question on everyone’s minds: How exactly does Hope Valley: 1874 connect to When Calls the Heart other than it being an obvious prequel? Well, as Hallmark’s newest Mountie, Lachlan Quarmby, put it, “There are definitely things that true fans can look out for.”

Set on the land that eventually becomes Hope Valley, this new series follows Rebecca, a single mother who has no choice but to accept help from a local, Tom Moore, played by Benjamin Ayres after her wagon breaks down. Putting down roots in the pioneer community, Rebecca finds herself growing attached to Tom and a local pioneer woman named Hattie Quinn, played by Jill Hennessy.

The series also follows Hattie’s daughter, Olivia, played by Roan Curtis, who finds herself caught between Clayton, played by Jedidiah Goodacre, a local whom she’s known her whole life, and Alexander, played by Quarmby, a Mountie who’s just arrived in town.

Jeff Weddell / Hallmark Media

“I would describe Rebecca as stubborn and cynical with great mental fortitude,” Lenz told TV Insider on the set of Hope Valley: 1874 in Vancouver. “She’s fiercely protective of her daughter. She’s got a really soft heart, and she’s really generous, but she’s old enough and wise enough to know that gets taken advantage of in the world. So, she’s very protective of herself and her child.”

On the other hand, Ayres revealed that Tom “is a protector,” arguing that there’s a “sense of control he’s hoping to have by coming out here and building this land from scratch.” Now that he’s been in the area for three and a half years, it’s “really important for him to be able to build a community for anyone who comes here, to be able to thrive within it and also protect them.” Of course, Rebecca and her daughter are very much included in that sentiment.

So how does Rebecca and Tom’s story connect to the When Calls the Heart narrative we know and love? Ayres explained, “I think the Hearties will really enjoy seeing how it all started.” He also mentioned that while you don’t need to have watched When Calls the Heart to enjoy Hope Valley: 1874, there will be “very special Easter eggs for When Calls the Heart fans” throughout, including some names that might be familiar to you. “I joke that if you want to better understand When Calls the Heart,” he revealed, “you should watch us first to see where it all came from.”

More from this section

Movies and TV shows casting across the US

Lenz noted, “What I love about Hope Valley [is that] the setting is its own character.” From the animals to the costumes and the cold Vancouver weather, all painting a picture of what Hope Valley looked like before it was even called Coal Valley, Lenz explained, “all these different elements coming together to form something that will, I hope, feel like a new way of seeing a world that they’ve known existed but had never spent time imagining.”

Diving deeper into the setting, Providence Falls favorite Quarmby, who joins the Hope Valley: 1874 cast as Constable Alexander Vaughn, one of the first members of the newly created Royal Canadian Mounted Police, explained, “It is the town you know as Hope Valley, but that’s more of the area, the piece of land you know as Hope Valley, before it was Coal Valley. Before it even had a name, it was just a couple of people coming out here and settling in this area. I think that Hearties are going to really enjoy seeing how the place comes to be, and see the town that they know and love right from its genesis, both in terms of buildings being where they are, but also in terms of the morals that this town was built on, community and people helping each other.”

Related

‘Hope Valley: 1874’ Trailer Teases ‘When Calls the Heart’ Spinoff

When it comes to When Calls the Heart, the similarities don’t stop with the setting. Curtis told TV Insider, “I think that there’s the through line of a burgeoning community, and the ways in which people, particularly women in this community, lift each other up, and support each other through these trying times on the frontier, which is going to really resonate with people.”

Hennessy added, “There are so many little hints about what’s to come in When Calls the Heart. I won’t spill the beans here, but there are little character hints, and locations that figure prominently in When Calls the Heart. You’ll see them in their infancy here, or the reason they came to be in the first place. There are hints sprinkled throughout with love and precision. I think Hearties are gonna love it from beginning to end because every episode has little tidbits and juicy details.”

Hope Valley: 1874, Season 1, Premieres March 21, Hallmark+

More Headlines:

• ‘Call the Midwife’ Star Helen George Opens Up About ADHD Diagnosis
• How Is ‘Hope Valley: 1874’ Connected to ‘When Calls the Heart’? Cast Explains
• Empty House Near Nancy Guthrie’s Could Have Been Hideout for Kidnappers, Say Ex-SWAT Boss
• Hoda Kotb Shares Glimpse Inside First-Ever Joy 101 Wellness Retreat
• Is CBS News Boss Set to Be Fired Over Ratings Disaster?