Series two of Bomb Girls began just after Christmas this year. Didn’t know there had been a Bomb Girls series one? You’re not alone, but now might be a good time to sit up and pay attention. I’m not much a telly person. In fact, I do my best to keep myself away from it as much as possible because it’s the sort of thing I get hooked on far too easily and suddenly there are six hours less in my week than there used to be.

Guess which one's the lesbian....

Oh Canada

When television does enter my field of vision, it’s usually in the shape of insidious series, and once one episode has been viewed sure there don’t you just have to finish it off? For neatness’ sake.  Black Books, Yes Minister, The West Wing,  Daria and, most recently, Game of Thrones have all sucked uncountable hours out of my previously efficient life.

For this reason, when friends first started recommending Bomb Girls to me I looked the other way and stuck my fingers in my ears. Lalalalalalalalalalala I have so little time in my life already lalalala I will not watch more TV, I will not watch more TV… Despite loudly looking the other way I learned, against my will, the following:

Bomb Girls is set in Canada 1941, when the men are disappearing off to a war in Europe that hasn’t quite hit home for most. More and more women are being hired in factories to fill in for the men off serving in the army. Bomb Girls (as the name might suggest) follows a group of women working in an ammunition factory, each who have their own intrigue-ridden background. The series duly spits up the currently mandatory homosexuality subplot, but with some sense of style and not too much voyeurism. Oh, and it was filmed in Toronto.

It’s the bomb

They got me at ‘Canadian’. Ok, and a little bit with the potential queer story-line. I gave in and had a look.

Come on.....it's obvious!

And it was good! If you’re a stickler for historic accuracy then this show might give you a headache, but if you can overlook the occasional polish the writers have given the mid-twentieth century, it’s a charming series. It is reminiscent of Made In Dagenham, no bad thing at all, with a similar focus on the quotidian experience of manufacturing women in the twentieth century. The characters are universally likable, the scripting is tight and the story-line doesn’t leak copious amounts of water. And yes, the mostly-closeted lesbian subplot is a bit of a heart-breaker.

If you don’t have the time to commit to a new series, or if semi-historical semi-dramas aren’t your thing, but you still have can’t suppress the urge to know what mainstream media is saying about queer ladies this time around, allow youTube to sort you out. More than a few users have seen fit to minify Bomb Girls, cutting out all that unnecessarily plot and acting in order to focus on just the Betty and Kate story-line. Despite what you might expect, it’s actually does a reasonable job of conveying a general sense of the series as a whole. Part one is below, you’re very welcome.

If you have time in your life (or want to believe you have) for the full series, the second series started just after Christmas, and TG4 are broadcasting the first series at the moment.

Have you been watching Bomb Girls since last year? What did you think of it?