CALL THE MIDWIFE RETURNS FOR TWO-PART CHRISTMAS SPECIAL ON BBC AHEAD OF NEW SERIES, FIRST LOOK

Call The Midwife returns to BBC One this December with its annual Christmas specials.

Part 1

The residents of Poplar are preparing for Christmas while Fred (Cliff Parisi) and Violet (Annabelle Apsion) get ready to fly to Hong Kong to visit her son. On arrival and carrying parcels for the sisters, they head to the Branch House in Kowloon but discover that it has collapsed and there are many fatalities. A rescue mission is hastily organised and a team from Nonnatus make emergency plans to head out to Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, Cyril (Zephryn Taitte) receives an unexpected request from a Mr Fischer (Henry Goodman) who wants to rent his flat for an unspecified amount of time and at any price.

Part 2

Trixie (Helen George) and Geoffrey (Christopher Harper) find Mr Fischer (Henry Goodman) fallen in the snow and learn he has a terminal blood disorder. Rosalind (Natalie Quarry) and Joyce (Renee Bailey) host a Christmas gathering while Sister Catherine (Molly Vevers) determines to find out what happened to Queenie’s (Aoife McMahon) baby.

Back in Hong Kong, Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter) and Sister Hilda (Fenella Woolgar) face down a gangster who demands the keys to the Order’s new property. Dr Turner (Stephen McGann) and Shelagh (Laura Main) arrive at the Walled City to finally find Esther (Yennis Cheung) and her son who is very unwell.

In an exciting new development, the world of Nonnatus House will also be expanding. A prequel TV series set in Poplar during World War Two will be made for the BBC in 2026. In addition, Neal Street, in development with BBC Film, are producing a Call the Midwife film. This will be set overseas in 1972 and feature iconic characters from the existing TV show.

When senior members of the Nonnatus House staff head to Hong Kong on a mercy mission, the younger midwives are left to cope alone. As the Christmas action shifts between the sun-drenched Far East and a snowy East End, Sister Julienne suddenly finds herself excited about the Order’s future. After years of battling change, she decides to embrace it, work with it, and see what love can do.

This change of energy reverberates throughout series 15. The new series kicks off in 1971 with several of the ladies embracing Women’s Lib and burning their bras outside Nonnatus House. As the year unfolds, we see the team handle cases including premature birth, placenta previa, kidney cancer, tuberculosis and slavery.

The new projects will be written, created and produced by the formidable, all-female team behind the hugely successful current hit TV show; showrunner Heidi Thomas and executive producers Pippa Harris and Ann Tricklebank, who also produces. They will helm series 16 together in due course.

This year’s series of Call the Midwife averaged 7.8million viewers, making it one of the UK’s biggest drama series across all channels and streamers. The 2024 Christmas special part one was the festive period’s most watched drama episode, with 8.9 million viewers.

Regular cast returning for the new series now filming are Judy Parfitt as Sister Monica Joan, Jenny Agutter as Sister Julienne, Laura Main as Shelagh Turner, Helen George as Trixie Aylward, Cliff Parisi as Fred Buckle, Stephen McGann as Dr Turner, Linda Bassett as Nurse Crane, Annabelle Apsion as Violet Buckle, Georgie Glen as Miss Higgins.

Plus Zephryn Taitte as Cyril Robinson, Rebecca Gethings as Sister Veronica, Daniel Laurie as Reggie Jackson, Renee Bailey as Joyce Highland, Natalie Quarry as Rosalind Clifford, Molly Vevers as Sister Catherine, Max Macmillan as Timothy Turner, Alice Brown as Angela Turner, April Rae Hoang as May Tang and Edward Shaw as Teddy Turner.

More details will be announced in due course.