The secrets of Call the Midwife
As a new behind-thescenes tour opens in Kent Yours deputy news editor Katharine Wootton went along to discover some of the remarkable tricks behind the show which is being filmed this summer
Did you know? It takes more than 120 days to film a complete series, with birthing scenes alone taking seven hours each to film
If you want to look round the dockland set of Call the Midwife or tread the cobbled streets the occupants of Nonnatus House cycle along each day, you might well head for Poplar, the London borough in which the stories are set. But as modern-day Poplar no longer resembles the slums that Jennifer Worth describes in her books which inspired the show, all the action is actually filmed 31 miles away in The Historic Dockyard Chatham in Kent, where the old buildings provide the perfect backdrop for the popular Sunday evening series.
Now, The Historic Dockyard is making the most of the movie set on its doorstep by running Call The Midwife tours, and an exhibition, that lets visitors in on what really happens behind the scenes. I was lucky enough to be given a sneak preview of the tour – along with some members of the cast who were taking a break from their summer filming schedule – and here are just a few of the amazing secrets we learned along the way.
All costumes are made in triplicate to cater for blood, dirt or rips that might occur in scenes that are filmed out of chronological order
It’s just a façade…
The tenement flats of Poplar that the nurses visit to tend their patients are in fact created out of plywood and attached to the side of the Rigging House, an old building previously used for making rope. Characters go up the stairs of these pretend tenement blocks, touch the plywood door handle and freeze as the production team cut and the scene is then continued in the studio which is located in an old military base in Surrey. Ropes for the washing lines that stretch across Poplar’s streets are made at the dockyard’s Ropery, while the Rigging House’s cellars often provide the setting for other scenes.
The Dockyard’s own destroyer, HMS Cavalier, has appeared in numerous scenes that require a suitable ship. Another part of The Dockyard is nicknamed Chummy’s Hill as this was the slope on which Miranda Hart’s character perilously learned how to ride a bike.
Props and prosthetics
Most of the meals eaten in Call the Midwife are supposedly prepared by the Nonnatus cook, Mrs B, who viewers have never seen. In reality, the dishes on screen are created by specialist home economists who have an extensive knowledge of the food we ate in the Fifties and Sixties.
For the medical scenes, hair and makeup designer Stella O’Farrell creates a range of umbilical cords in all different sizes and thickness to suit the dimensions of the new-born baby. The amniotic fluid used is made from a mix of organic grape seed oil and hypoallergenic fake blood.
There’s no business like snow business
In the first Christmas special the grassy area outside the Old Dockyard church was transformed into a graveyard covered in snow. When the crew tried to wash the snow away after filming, they found it had stuck like papier maché. Jet washers did the job but also took the grass and top soil with it, sending brown sludge flowing straight into the drains then into the sinks of the families who live near the site.
Neal Street Productions learned an expensive lesson and have since used polystyrene and chicken wire covered in sprayed-on snow to create realistic drifts.
■ To book a Call the Midwife tour call 01634 823812 or visit thedockyard.co.uk/whats-on/call-the-midwife-location-tours
Uniforms and a wedding gown
The midwives’ uniform is based on outfits from the Fifties, although the colour was changed from grey, which would have looked dull on screen, to soft blue. A brimless cherry hat replaced the grey felt boater young Jennifer Worth wore. In series five, the midwives switched to a softer hat to accommodate their beehive hairstyles. Nurse Barbara’s wedding dress, pictured above right, was inspired by Judi Dench’s gown when she married Michael Williams.