For a decade, Call The Midwife’s Christmas Day episode has warmed the hearts of families gathering around the television, stuffed with turkey dinner, for a joyous, dramatic and touching festive tale.
2022 is no different: we’re getting ready to return to Nonnatus House for the snowy season in 1960s Poplar, to be reunited with Call The Midwife’s characters for a heartwarming story of the joy of new life and the power of love.
In fact according to star Jenny Agutter this, believe it or not, is the most festive the drama has ever been.
“I don’t think we’ve ever done a Christmas show that has been so Christmas, from beginning to end,” she said.
“Every single story that’s in there, in some way, someone’s touched by it. With the birth of their son at a certain time with three kings being there, even trying to get into the shed to give birth…
“There are so many little references to Christmas from beginning to end.
“And it’s unusual, I think, because often we sense we’re there, and coming into the new year, but not celebrating it the way it has. It’s writer Heidi Thomas’s extraordinary gift to write the dramatic piece that actually makes you also focus on real things that are happening. And that did happen.”
Agutter’s co-star Helen George believes being a festive fixture is like flattery.
“It is lovely that we’ve become part of the Christmas Day menu. People always say they sit down on Christmas Day and watch it after the Queen – I guess it will be the King this year,” she said.
“It is so flattering and feels unreal that we’ve been doing these so long. It is funny to think back to the first series when we didn’t do a Christmas special and how far we’ve come, how established we are.”
This particular Christmas is one of the few times that Agutter’s Sister Julienne hasn’t been totally focused on how to keep Nonnatus House together due to the financial situation.
There’s even some lightheartedness with a nod to a classic quiz show, Opportunity Knocks. “It reminds me very much of my childhood, where Opportunity Knocks did actually exist and we were always riveted by it,” said Agutter.
“We see people coming back, very particularly in the Christmas episode.
“We see the effect (thalidomide) continued to have on people, the difficulties of having a child who doesn’t quite fit in.
“In this episode you really get the sense of Nonnatus House, the midwives and the nuns being at the centre of the community, which is a strong community.”
Enjoy the convenience of having The Sunday Post delivered as a digital ePaper straight to your smartphone, tablet or computer.
Subscribe for only £5.49 a month and enjoy all the benefits of the printed paper as a digital replica.
Subscribe