The Cinderella Service & Cinderella D-Day

Samantha Bond stars in two captivating stories set around a hostel for Land Girls during World War Two

Based in Devon in the 1940s, these two dramas follow the lives and loves of a group of young women, all from different backgrounds, but all determined to do their bit for King and country in the Land Army. Billeted in a hastily-converted farmhouse, they face cramped conditions and gruelling work - but there's always dances at the village hop and the chance of romance with a GI...

The Cinderella Service
It's 1943, and Alice Todd has just separated from her husband. With a ten-year-old son to care for, she accepts the position of Warden at a hostel for Land Girls: but is she up to the job? Looking after ten lively, independent women is hard, and when Alice's competence is questioned, she doubts her ability to cope. Will the loyalty and friendship of her girls persuade her to stick it out?

Cinderella D-Day
1944. Alice is still busy running the Women's Land Army hostel, as well as taking tentative steps in her new career and a fledgling relationship. But the girls in her care are finding that life in wartime does not run smoothly. As the hostilities rumble on, there is happiness and heartbreak in store, and the hostel residents face danger and some stark personal choices...

Created by Julia Stoneham - a regular writer on hit TV show The House of Elliott - these evocative wartime dramas star Samantha Bond as Alice, with a cast including June Barrie, Tilly Vosburgh, Becky Hindley and Deborah McAndrew.

Directed by Tracey Neale
Theme tune: 'This Time the Dream's On Me' by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc

The Cinderella Service
Alice - Samantha Bond
Edward-John - James Cohen
Rose - June Barrie
Annie - Tilly Vosburgh
Mabel - Cathy Murphy
Marian - Becky Hindley
Winnie - Deborah McAndrew
Martha - Rachel Lewis
Taffy - Elaine Claxton
Georgina - Annabel Mullion
Chrissie - Teresa Gallagher
Margery Brewster - Tessa Worsley
Roger Bayliss - Peter Yapp
Christopher Bayliss - Andrew Wlncott
Ferdie - Bill Wallis
Oliver Maynard/Fred - Ian Masters
Ron Chapman - David Collings
Mrs Bowden - Jilly Bond
Nora - Abigail Docherty
Andreas - Walter Van Dyke
Ruben - David Antrobus
Alec/John Boyce - Matthew Morgan
James Todd - David Jarvis
Mary Brewer - Eva Stuart
Other parts played by members of the cast
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 5-19 April 1995

Cinderella D-Day
Alice - Samantha Bond
Rose - June Barrie
Georgina - Louise Lombard
Christopher - Adrian Lukis
Annie - Tilly Vosburgh
Marian - Becky Hindley
Winnie - Deborah McAndrew
Taffy - Elaine Claxton
Martha - Rachel Lewis
Mabel - Cathy Murphy
Edward-John - Sam Collings
Roger Bayliss - Ioan Meredith
Margery Brewster - Tessa Worsley
Ferdie - Bill Wallis
Lionel Brewer - Alex Lowe
Mary Brewer - Ann Beach
Ruben - David Antrobus
Marvin - Robert Harper
Joan - Elaine Pyke
Kiwi - Joanna Monro
James - David Jarvis
Dave - Dominic Taylor
Eleanor - Abigail Docherty
Beryl/Mrs Tucker/Fran - Janet Maw
Lionel - Alex Lowe
Fred - Denys Hawthorne
Italian POW - Chris Pavlo
Arthur - William Howard
Other parts played by members of the cast
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 18 September-2 October 1996