Edgier deliveries in store for Call The Midwife fans
FANS of cosy drama Call The Midwife should brace themselves for the show’s most controversial series yet.
Storylines for the eighth season of the BBC drama involves a hermaphrodite, back-street abortion, cleft palate, and “the first prostate examination on popular television”.
The hermaphrodite story sees a woman confront Sister Julienne, (Jenny Agutter), at Nonnatus House, saying: “You should have told me… there are boy’s bits inside.”
The first episode is no less provocative. In one scene, a mother has to deal with a back-street abortion which goes wrong but is given refuge in the convent.
Show boss Heidi Thomas acknowledged the drama “didn’t always give the audience an easy ride” but added: “These stories have a medical root but ultimately
they’re human. They also reflect the way society was changing at the time.”
She said feminism was “in the DNA of everything we do”.
But she added: “We have men standing alongside us too. We have characters like Dr Turner. And we do have the first prostate examination on popular television.”
BBC content chief Charlotte Moore said: “I’m incredibly proud of the show. It’s one of Britain’s most popular
returning drama series ever. “It has done miscarriage, female genital mutilation, Down’s syndrome, stillbirth and mental health problems. It’s public service broadcasting at its best.”
But for those who fear the producers have gone too far this time, it has been revealed that there “will be a donkey” in the Christmas Day special.
Call The Midwife, Christmas Day on BBC One. Series eight begins in January.