A feel-good soap that brings to mind past “Masterpiece” classic “Cranford,” the new “Home Fires” (8 p.m. Sunday, WQED-TV) offers period, British drama in its gentlest form. (It’s more easily digestible than the dark drama of “Indian Summers,” which debuted this past Sunday.)

Set in the isolated village of Great Paxford, “Home Fires” begins in 1939 as the drumbeat of World War II grows ever closer. Two women vie for leadership of the local branch of the Women’s Institute, a nationwide service organization.

Snooty Joyce Cameron (Francesca Annis, “Reckless”) has led the chapter for six years and brooks no dissent.

“The reason this country hasn’t gone to the dogs like Germany is because we’ve always valued social stability,” she says.

“Which is another way of saying that everyone should know their station and stay there,” protests another woman.

Cameron suggests shutting the group down during wartime. Her rival, the less class conscious Frances Barden (Samantha Bond, “Downton Abbey”), thinks it should remain open and calls for a vote of no confidence in Cameron’s leadership, leading Cameron to resign.

Barden must restart the group from scratch with an emphasis on welcoming all women regardless of their social class. An upbeat montage of blackberry picking and jam making follows.

The series, based on a history of the Women’s Institute (“Jambusters” by Julie Summers), expands beyond the organization to introduce other characters in town, including a doctor with a medical condition; a woman living in an abusive relationship with her husband, a writer; and a pair of potential young lovers.

“Home Fires” offers British drama that’s as satisfying as a warm cup of tea.

TV writer Rob Owen: rowen@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2582. Read the Tuned In Journal blog at post-gazette.com/tv. Follow RobOwenTV on Twitter or Facebook.

First Published: October 1, 2015, 4:00 a.m.