What Year Is When Calls the Heart Set? When Does WCTH Take Place?

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Hope Valley is its own universe, so it’s understandable why fans have wondered since Season 1 what year When Calls the Heart is set and the time period Hallmark Channel’s drama series takes place in. Well, while the series is fiction, there is a year each season of When Calls the Heart is set in and it could clue to how long the series could run for.

What year is When Calls the Heart set?

When Calls the Heart is set in the early 20th century. (Author Janette Oke’s book series, Canadian West, which when Calls the Heart is based on, is also set in the same time period.) When Calls the Heart Season 1 started in 1910. It’s estimated that each season represents on year, as seen by glimpses of The Valley Voice newspaper in Season 10 that list the year as 1920.

Chris McNally, who plays Lucas Bouchard, also confirmed that When Calls Heart is now in its 1920s in an interview with Entertainment Tonight in 2022. (The time period is also indicated in a scene where Lucas buys a radio for the saloon.) “We’re … moving into the 1920s and exploring a new decade — the Roaring Twenties,” McNally said. “And I think that that’s another character element in itself that will be really fun to play with.”

Andrea Brooks, who played Faith Carter, also told TV Fanatic in 2023 about how When Calls the Heart has evolved as the time as gone on. “I think with the passing of time, it is so interesting,” she said. “This show started in the early 1910s, and now we’re well into the 1920s, and so much changed between those two periods. And it’s been cool to play a character in a town experiencing change consistently.”

When does When Calls the Heart end?

Oke’s Canadian West book series also gives a clue to when the When Calls the Heart TV series could end. The Canadian West series, which was first published in 1983, consists of six books: When Calls the Heart; When Comes Spring; When Breaks the Dawn; When Hope Springs New; Beyond the Gathering Storm; and When Tomorrow Comes.

The last book, When Tomorrow Comes — which was published in 2001 — is set during World War II as Canadian men volunteer for the war. Given that World War II didn’t begin until 1939 and end until 1945, it’s possible that the When Calls the Heart TV series could run for another 20 seasons.

As for how the When Calls the Heart TV series could run for that long, the sixth book, as well as the fifth book in the series, Beyond the Gathering Storm, shifts the focus from lead character Elizabeth Thatcher to her children, Henry and Christine Delaney. Oke also published a spinoff series, Return to the Canadian West, consisting of three books — When Courage Calls; Where Trust Lies; and Where Hope Prevails — in 2014. The books follow Beth Thacher, Elizabeth’s niece who’s inspired by her to make a life of her own.

That said, the When Calls the Heart TV series is only loosely inspired by Oke’s books, so, while there’s inspiration for at least 20 more years of the series, the show could deviate a lot by the time When Calls the Heart gets to the point where Elizabeth’s children take over as the leads.

How accurate is When Calls the Heart?

While When Calls the Heart is historically accurate in some ways — such as the introduction of new technologies like the telephone, automobile, and radio — the series also lacks to mention historical events that would have affected the characters of Hope Valley. One example is World War I, which occurred from 1914 to 1918 — around Seasons 4 to 8 of When Calls the Heart — and involved thousands of Canadian people.

Daniel Lissing, who played Jack Thornton on When Calls the Heart, also addressed the lack of violence that would’ve occurred in a frontier town like Hope Valley in the early 1900s. “This is a Hallmark [series] so we’re not shooting ’em up too much,” he told Calgary Herald in 2014.

Costume designer Barbara Gregusova also told Cheat Sheet in 2020 that When Calls the Heart’s creators wanted the character’s costumes to be accurate of the time period but also fit Hallmark Channel’s style.

For more on When Calls the Heart, check out the most shocking exits over the years in the gallery ahead.

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