‘Best series yet’ as Call The Midwife gets football fever
CLIFF PARISI is promising “the best ever series” of Callthe Midwife, which begins its 10th run on BBC One tonight, resuming in 1966.
The former Eastenders actor, 60, will be hoping for better fortunes for the show than his own personal 1966.
“My memory of 1966 is going to school in shorts in the winter,” said Parisi. “I had leaves up to my waist, covered in frost.
“I had to come home for a bowl of soup every lunchtime, and I got fed up with that.
“So one day I pretended I was ill. My mum believed me and phoned an ambulance. I was taken off to hospital, and I had my appendix out. But there was nothing wrong with me. So that’s my memory of 1966.”
But he had plenty to cheer about when it came to his beloved football team.
He said: “I’m a West Ham fan, andwest Ham won theworld
Cup for England!we had something like nine players in the squad that year and it’s great to have that in the show.” A former stand-up comic, Cliff uses his timing to good effect in the drama as Fred Buckles, the handyman at Nonnatus House: “Fred has gone from being a bit of a pathetic Herbert, always trying to make a quick buck, to being married tovi and a respected member of society. He’s like Denisthatcher now to her Margaret. He’s got decent clothes and decent shoes, but he still likes to have a little dabble in some things that might be slightly dodgy.”
Cliff said he is grateful to be in the series, which has been sold to more than 100 countries: “It’s probably the best show on telly, and I’m working with a lovely, lovely cast.
“We are like a family.we all love each other deeply.
“I’ve seen a few people come and go and I always say to them, ‘Don’t go!where are you going? You’re going to be doing other things that are probably not very good when you could be in this, which is fabulous!’ ”
● Call The Midwife, BBC One, tonight, 8pm
‘I work with a
lovely cast’