My TV delivery’s so hard to watch says Midwife star

CALL The Midwife star Helen George admits she finds it difficult to watch herself on TV.

The BBC period drama returned for a Christmas special last night which Helen, who plays Nurse Trixie Franklin, said was a “cry-fest”.

While millions tuned in Helen, 34, who has been in the show since it began in 2012, says she tries to avoid watching herself on TV.

She said: “I’m not good at watching myself. I tend to try and do washing up and come back in for other people’s scenes.

“I like watching everybody else’s work, but my own stuff...it’s six months of our lives and it’s stressful seeing it on screen and thinking, ‘God I shouldn’t have done that’, or ‘Why is my fringe doing that?’.”

Helen, 34, took a break from filming in 2017 to give birth to daughter Wren Ivy.

She said she missed her cast-mates and when she returned to the set felt “a bit more motherly”. Wren Ivy is Helen’s daughter with Call The Midwife co-star Jack Ashton. She has already been on set, but Helen would prefer her to become a lawyer or doctor rather than pursue an acting career.

Helen said: “It’s hard being a working mum, but it’s good at the same time. I’m lucky to be able to do it.”

Jennifer Kirby, who plays Nurse Valerie Dyer in the show, set in London’s East End in the late-Fifties and Sixties, says she still gets emotional watching birth scenes. She said: “I always find no matter how many times I’ve seen it – I know all the stuff that goes into a birth scene – but every time a baby is born on screen, I cry. Every time. I don’t know what it is, it’s something about the lifting up...it is really moving.”

Call The Midwife will return for its eighth series in the new year when the nurses at Nonnatus House will be grappling with issues of the new decade. The new cast members include Harry Potter star Miriam Margolyes.