Call the Midwife
DRAMA BBC1 HD, 8pm
The show returns for a new series set in 1966 – the England football team’s World Cup-winning year – and Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter) is trying to save Nonnatus House.
NEW DRAMA
Call the Midwife
Sunday, BBC1 HD, 8pm
WHEN Call the Midwife first aired in 2012, it would have been hard to predict that its heart-warming but unflinching portrayal of the lives of nuns and midwives in London’s East End in the 1950s and 1960s would remain just as compelling almost a decade later.
This week, as the BBC1 series begins its seven-episode 10th run, the action moves to
1966 as the dedicated residents of Nonnatus House are still trying to care for their eclectic mix of patients in Poplar while continuing to fight to protect their home from demolition by the local council. The new series sees nurse Trixie (Helen George) go on secondment to a private clinic to see if it would be viable for a team-up with Nonnatus House. We spoke to Jenny Agutter, 68, who plays stalwart head nun Sister Julienne, to find out more...
NONNATUS HOUSE REMAINS UNDER THREAT. WHAT PLANS DOES SISTER JULIENNE HAVE TO TRY TO SAVE IT?
The real worry is that they will not be able to afford to stay because they’re not getting any support. But Sister Julienne sees the possibility of the midwives working privately and that would take care of a financial element.
THAT WILL CAUSE SOME CONTROVERSY, WON’T IT?
Yes, Dr Turner [Stephen Mcgann] feels we are the NHS, and we shouldn’t be dabbling with a private clinic. But Sister Julienne sees it as an opportunity to remain afloat. She still has to make sure everything is correct. That’s why she sends Trixie and we see at this private maternity home what families from a middle-class background expect. It’s a very different world.
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE BIRTHS IN THE OPENING EPISODE?
Yes, Sister Julienne deals with a wonderful, easy birth. But then the mother’s next-door neighbour is also giving birth and has problems. It’s a touching story. There is a real mystery as to why this has happened. As we know,
Call the Midwife shows stories that don’t always have happy endings – it just shows people coping.
WHAT OTHER MEDICAL CASES WILL WE SEE LATER IN THE SERIES?
Down’s syndrome comes up again and the way it’s done is terrific. And there
is a rare condition that arises and Sister Julienne gets involved with a family whose child doesn’t seem to be developing as it should. It’s something I knew nothing about.
EVEN AFTER 10 YEARS, DO YOU STILL LOVE FILMING THE BIRTHS?
Oh yes, and even with the social distancing we do now on set, the mothers are there with their babies and you spend a quiet day with them having the birth scenes. There’s something so delightful about having these little ones around.
WHEN YOU STARTED FILMING A DECADE AGO, COULD YOU HAVE BELIEVED THAT Call the Midwife WOULD STILL BE GOING STRONG 10 SERIES LATER?
No! I remember so vividly starting the series and reading these beautiful episodes and suddenly we had this huge audience, which was wonderful, but unexpected. And it just grew. I can’t believe that we’ve completed our 10th year. It’s been absolutely brilliant. Ten years as a nun is quite something!