Helen George plus more
Call The Midwife treats
There’s a welcome knock at the door at Nonnatus House in the Christmas Special of CallThe Midwife. No, it’s not Santa, but bubbly nurse Trixie Franklin. And everyone is delighted to see her.
“She is very refreshed from her rehab in Portofino, as one would be!” laughs Helen George, who plays her.
“She had a fling with a count, as you do, she’s got her drinking back under control and she’s on the up.
“And what’s nice about the new series (which starts in the New Year) is that she has put her relationships to one side – including Christopher – and she is really just focusing on her career.
“We see her delving into the medical profession a bit deeper and so you get that juxtaposition of the fun, bubbly blonde from the first series and how far she’s come academically.”
But Trixie is still as fashion conscious as ever.
“Her very lovely godmother, who she has been staying with in Portofino, takes her shopping on the way back to England via Paris and she gets some lovely couture Givenchy dresses,” says Helen.
“So she turns up at Nonnatus House wearing one of them. However, when a woman starts giving birth in the street, she has to assist in an emergency delivery and the dress gets ruined!”
In real life Helen (34) took time off from the show last year – not in sunny Portofino, but to have her first baby with boyfriend, Jack Ashton, who played vicar Tom Hereward in the show. In tear-jerking scenes at the end of the last series, Tom’s wife Barbara (Charlotte Ritchie) died from meningitis and septicaemia, leaving him heartbroken.
Jack is not in the Christmas Special or the new series and, at present, there are no plans for him to return. But he’s had his hands rather full at home.
“Jack has been spending a lot of time at home with the baby, as well as working, which has been lovely.”
Their daughter, Wren Ivy, was successfully delivered in September 2017. Being a mum has changed the way Helen responds to the young babies that feature in Call TheMidwife.
“Before, whenever I was handling a baby in birth scenes, I was very pragmatic. I would do the scene with the baby and then hand the baby back. But now there’s more of an emotional response to it. I’m more aware of the mother’s worry in such scenes.”
Meanwhile, two new recruits join the ranks at Nonnatus House – Sister Hilda (Fenella Woolgar, who played Alison Scotlock in HomeFires) and postulant Sister Frances (newcomer Ella Bruccoleri). While Hilda has been a nurse and has experience of
“Trixie turns up in Givenchy and a woman starts giving birth”
working in the East End of London as part of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force during WW2, Sister Frances is naïve and terrified about being out of her depth in Poplar. And there’s another arrival from the Mother House – an unexpected one – in the shape of forthright, energetic Sister Mildred, a guest star role for the wonderful Miriam Margolyes. She has brought with her four Chinese orphans found abandoned in Hong Kong who are being adopted in the UK as part of the World Refugee Project. “It’s incredible that we are up to the eighth series in the New Year and the show seems to be more popular than ever,” says Helen. “I guess the storylines are strong and people seem to like the formula. It’s a good Sunday night drama which makes you both laugh and cry. All of the cast feel very lucky to be a part of it.”