Wind at My Back

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Wind at My Back
Format	Drama
Starring	Shirley Douglas, Kathy Greenwood
Country of origin	Canada
No. of episodes	65 (+ TV Movie)
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	CBC
Original run	1996 – 2001
External links
IMDb profile

Wind at My Back is a television series which aired in Canada on CBC Television between 1996 and 2001. It was produced by Kevin Sullivan, best known for his adaptation of Anne of Green Gables. The series had five seasons, each with 13 episodes, and a Christmas-themed movie produced to wrap up loose ends, following the unexpected cancellation of the series.

The series is set during the Great Depression of the 1930s, in the fictional small mining town of New Bedford in Northern Ontario. The family drama followed the members of the Bailey family as they lived through a time marked by hardship.

In the first episode, Jack and Honey Bailey lose their hardware store and are forced to move back to Jack's hometown in Northern Ontario, where his family owns a silver mine. When Jack is killed in an accident, Honey is forced to leave her children with her domineering mother-in-law while she searches for work. The series follows Honey, her children, their extended family and friends as they attempt to survive and thrive during the 1930's.

The show was filmed in the town of Bowmanville, one hour east of Toronto. It was filmed in the Bowmanville Museum and also in the Tyrone Mills also near Bowmanville.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Major characters

Honey Bailey (played by Cynthia Belliveau, Seasons 1-3, and Laura Bruneau, Seasons 4-5) - When the show begins, Honey is married to Jack Bailey. They own a small town hardware store but it is forced into bankruptcy when the bank calls their loan. When Jack dies in an accident soon after, she is forced to leave her two sons with her mother-in-law, and her young daughter with distant relatives, while she looks for work. After a series of disasters, Honey is forced to return to New Bedford and seek a home with her mother-in-law. After she discovers how May has been intentionally manipulating her and all involved in her life, Honey takes her children and begins living in a local hotel. She and Max Sutton are married soon after this. Shortly after their marriage, Honey discovers she is pregnant and gives birth to a son named Zach. Her joy quickly evaporates when she is diagnosed with Tuberculosis. She leaves for a sanitarian to recover and Max is forced to raise the four children. When she returns months later, Honey finds that the children have grown and changed and that everyone in town is scared of her due to her illness. She recovers her business, the local hair salon and tries begin her life again. Soon her life is back to normal.

May Bailey (played by Shirley Douglas) - May is Honey's domineering mother-in-law, who resents Honey for taking her son away from the family mining business. She also despises the fact that Honey is Roman-Catholic. She separates Honey from her children after Jack's death. She views the boys as a second chance and an opportunity to fix the mistakes she made with her own sons. While her decisions are often harsh and manipulative, May honestly believes that her decisions are what's best for the family. In the second season, it becomes apparent that she has a serious heart condition and suffers a number of severe heart attacks. She attempted to hide her condition from the family but it is discovered after her heart attacks. May is frustrated by her family's attempts to care for her and insists they are only interested in taking over the mine. She resists the advice of the doctor, her private nurse and family whenever possible so she can attempt to control the mine. Eventually, she fires the nurse and regains her position as head of the mine. Her relationship remains rocky with Honey until Honey gives birth to her son Zach, in the mining office. May delivers the baby and decides to put her differences with Honey aside. Later in the series, May suffers a stroke that leave her partially paralyzed on one side. With the support of her family and a new nurse, she slowly recovers. She still maintains her position as head of the mine. May apparently recovers from her stroke very well because she travels to Europe with about eighteen months after the stoke. She and Grace are recovering the body of Grace's deceased husband, who was killed fighting in Spain. This is mentioned in the Christmas Special.
Grace Bailey (played by Kathy Greenwood) - Grace is Honey's unmarried sister-in-law who lives under the same roof with her domineering mother. It appears that Grace has never left home because her mother crushes her self confidence and frequently states Grace could never make it for five minutes on her own. While Grace mostly obeys her mother, when she strongly believes in something, she will stand up for herself. She can her sneaky, when she wants to be. When the boys move into their Grandmother's home, Grace teaches them secrets of how to survive in the household. Mid way into the series, Grace begins a job as a telephone operator and then a job as the local radio station supervisor. She later moves away from home and shares a house with her former sister-in-law, Toppy. Grace is involved with a series of men but nothing ever works out between them. It was mentioned that there was once a 'true love' but for reasons unknown, it never worked out. In the final season, Grace eventually becomes involved with a man named Van and after a short whirlwind affair, she marries him. She quickly finds out that he is actually a con man and lied to her about everything except how he feels about her. After her disgust with his deceit, Van joins the army and goes to fight in Spain. He is killed and Grace is forced to retrieve his body from Europe with May. Her trip occurs during the Christmas Special so neither she nor Grace are seen.

Hubert "Hub" Bailey (played by Dylan Provencher) - Hubert is Honey's eldest son. In the first season, Hub is twelve years old. He is somewhat mischievous and tough. He is incredibly stubborn and frequently resists his Grandmother's control over him. Soon after his arrival in New Bedford, Hub begins to get into trouble and fail in school. His problems are caused by his loss of his father, his far-away mother and younger sister and his frustrations with his Grandmother. Once his family is reunited and his life settles down, his problems fade. As he grows older, he becomes interested in the mine. May encourages this interest and begins to prime him to become the future head of the mine. When he is older, he works in the mine and discovers the injustices in the miner's life. He and May work together to create a plan to improve the miner's lives. As Hub moves into his later teens, he loses his tough side and becomes a quieter, gentler boy. He is frequently concerned with injustice and doing good. At one point, he even offers to marry a pregnant friend so that she and her baby will not be alone. After much contemplation, he decided that his career is not going to be running the mine. He wants to become a priest, which he feels will let him do good. May is outraged by the decision and disinherits him. They eventually settle their difference but it is not clear if Hub is re-inherited. During the Christmas Special, Hub is attending Seminary but his attention is drawn away from his studies but a young Jewish girl, who escaped Germany. His relationship with her eventually influence his decision to drop out of seminary and find another way to do good in the world. It is likely that he joined an underground organization that worked to help European refugees, who are escaping the upcoming war.

Henry "Fat" Bailey (played by Tyrone Savage) - Henry is Honey's younger son. He is about ten when the series begins. He is kind hearted but very mischievous. To Hub's annoyance, Fat frequently tags along on his adventures. While Hub frequently resents his grandmother, Fat appears to like her. He often helps her and spends time with her. He frequently manages to be affectionate with her, something that none of the other family manages to achieve. In the second season, Fat makes friends with a tomboy named Maisey. While she frequently bosses him around, Fat enjoys her company as an alternative to Hub. When Fat gets older and spends less time with him, Fat relies more and more on Maisey for friendship. As Fat gets older, he finds himself getting into trouble frequently. He feels he is old enough not to be treated like a child and rebels against the authority around him. The local people, Fat and even his parents don't take him very seriously which lead to his frustration. Fat shows no interest in the mine over the years and May does not bother to try and interest him. Fat's main interest is in the police and RCMP. Most of his interest is caused by movies and fictional stories until he meets a police officer, during the Christmas special. This interaction leads him to announce to the family that he intends to become a police officer. His family does not seriously listen to him but Fat appears to be set on this goal.

Max Sutton (played by James Carroll) - Max is a local school teacher in New Bedford who takes a liking to Honey. They are eventually married at the beginning of the second season. Max actually meets the boys first, when they have ran away from home. After they get hurt in an accident, he helps them. He encourages them to join the school's sports teams, which Hub eventually does. When Max marries Honey, Hub resents his addition to the family. Hub feels he is a weak replacement for their father and resists Max's attempts to control him or Fat. They eventually accept each other and Hub later sees Max as a support. May also has issues with Max, believing him to be a communist and too laid back to be a school teacher. Eventually, they come to an understanding. When Honey gives birth to Max's first and only child, Zach, he is delighted. Max is a freelance writer, who frequently writes crime stories or pieces for the local radio station. In the Christmas special, he and Honey work together to try and find away for him to complete his novel and allow Honey to go to college.

Robert "Bob" and Toppy Bailey (played by Dan Lett and Robin Craig) - Bob is May's oldest son. He runs the mine but is frequently frustrated by her attempts to control things. Toppy is Bob's wife and May's other daughter-in-law. Toppy is apparently a nickname but her real name is never revealed. The couple has a daughter named Doris. When the show begins, Bob, Toppy and Doris are snobbish and cold to Honey and her children. Doris picks a fight with Hub on his first day in New Bedford which lead to him punching her. This set Bob and Doris's opinion of Hub in stone. Bob tries to save the mine from bankruptcy but his long work hours put on strain on his marriage and make him irritable. Eventually Toppy leaves him, taking Doris with her. When Toppy offers a chance at reconciliation, Bob abandons the mine and flees town. The couple hope that getting away from the mine and May with allow them a second chance. Their attempts to save their marriage fail and they eventually divorce. Doris is sent to boarding school while the couple deal with the legal side of things. Toppy returns to New Bedford and attempts to start a life without Bob there. She is occasionally given the cold shoulder by locals because she is divorced, which was unacceptable in the '30's. Toppy recurs in the first three seasons and becomes a regular cast member in Season 4-5. Bob is only seem on a few occasions after he leaves town. May is furious with him leaving and frequently blames him for the problems with the mine.

Violet Bailey (played by Natasha LaForce in the later seasons) Honeys third child and only daughter. She is about eighteen months old when the series begins. Honey is forced to give Violet to distant relatives, after her husbands death. The relatives are infertile and desperate for a child. May secretly tells them that Honey will never be able to get Violet back and they should raise Violet as if she was their own. They do this until Honey tries to get Violet back. When they believe they might lose Violet, they attempt to flee to the United States. Hub and Fat kidnap Violet back and return her to Honey. After this event, Honey leaves May's home, with all three children, vowing never to come back. Violet grows slowly through the seasons after this. When she gets older, she seems to consider Max her father, although he is not and has no recollection of or interest in her real father. She frequently plays with Zach, as he is only two or three years younger than her.

Zach Sutton Honey and Max's only child together and her last child and third son. He was born in the mining office and delivered by May Bailey. May is not related to him biologically, although after he was born she referred to him as her new grandson. May and Honey's relationship seems to get on solid ground after Zach's birth and she frequently takes Violet and Zach to visit May, and she seems happy to see her grandchildren.