The Midwife habit forming

Anew series of Call the Midwife kicks off this week with the nuns and midwives of Poplar, East London, as busy as ever. The good news for them is that the new Mother Superior, Sister Mildred (Miriam Margolyes), has sent two nuns to join their ranks – Sisters Frances and Hilda, who appeared in the Christmas special.

But while Nurse Crane (Linda Bassett) looks forward to the arrival of the experienced Hilda (Fenella Woolgar), she complains to Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter) that novice nun Frances (Ella Bruccoleri) is ‘‘as green as grass’’ and ‘‘a dead leg, not an extra pair of hands’’.

There is excitement in the air, too, because the Queen is about to give birth and Violet (Annabelle Apsion) is holding a Teddy Bears’ Picnic and raising funds through a sweepstake on whether the Queen will have a boy or a girl.

Such has been the success of the show around the world that a new series after this one has already been commissioned, which will take us into 2020. And Jenny Agutter, 66, who has been in the show since the beginning, is delighted to keep coming back for more.

‘‘The story progresses year by year and gives us the opportunity to mark major events of the time, so it always seems fresh,’’ she says. ‘‘So in episode one it’s 1964 and the Queen is pregnant with Prince Edward and there are social things happening, pop-art and changes in the law.

‘‘I think it’s a very honest show. I don’t think it’s sentimental. We look at the past and we touch on things that are evocative.’’

The series has brought back memories of Agutter’s own past, growing up in London during the Swinging Sixties.

‘‘My enjoyment of the 60s was without any of the baggage of having come from the Second World War, unlike that of Julienne,’’ she says. ‘‘She also has to conform to the rules and behaviour of being a nun, but my world was that of the Beatles and Bob Dylan, pop-art and those wonderful little mini-skirts. I used to get most of my clothes in C&A. Walking down the King’s Road in London was terribly exciting. The 60s left a big impression on me.

‘‘I must admit I get quite envious during filming Call the Midwife when I see Helen George, as Trixie, wearing these gorgeous 60s dresses and I’m stuck in a nun’s habit.’’

Newcomers Fenella Woolgar and Ella Bruccoleri were delighted to be joining such an established and much-loved show.

‘‘I was over the moon but my sister-in-law was even more excited,’’ says Woolgar. ‘‘She’s addicted to Call the Midwife and after she heard that I had joined she asked me lots of questions about what was happening in the new series but I took the vow of silence and didn’t tell her anything.

‘‘Interestingly, I am Catholic and I had a great aunt who was a nun who was called Sister Mary Hilda and now I am playing Sister Hilda.’’

Like Woolgar, Ella Bruccoleri, a newcomer to acting, was also struck by a coincidental personal connection to the name of her character.

‘‘I was raised as a Catholic and my confirmation name was St Frances,’’ she says.

Woolgar, 49, believes that the show has struck such a chord with viewers around the world, because of the central element of babies.

‘‘New life is such an amazing thing, isn’t it? I mean I cry whenever I see it. It’s so hopeful and giving birth is an experience that a lot of us go through. And it’s a very warm programme.’’

Call the Midwife, TVNZ 1, returns March 8