There WILL be a festive special for ‘Call the Midwife’ this Christmas!
We’ve got some very welcome news for Call the Midwife fans…
The BBC’s hit period drama series about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London returned earlier this year with its ninth season.
With Call the Midwife already renewed for another two years, Season 10 was due to start filming in Surrey, England this spring.
Sadly, production was suddenly suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, which also shut down shoots on other British shows like Peaky Blinders.
Executive producer Dame Pippa Harris explained at the time: “Our priority is the safety of our amazing cast and crew, and we don’t believe that shooting at the current time is feasible or responsible.”
Call the Midwife has aired on Christmas Day every year since 2012.
Writer and creator Heidi Thomas promised in April that “the Christmas special is our absolute priority, and we are determined to get it on screen on Christmas Day.”
Well, we can now reveal that the doors to Nonnatus House are indeed reopening!
Filming has officially begun this week on a feature-length 90-minute festive episode of Call the Midwife for Christmas 2020.
Executive producer Mona Qureshi commented: “We are so delighted that the Call the Midwife team are able to re-assemble to bring us Series 10 for the new year, and that they will also be gifting us a Christmas special for 2020.
“The warm embrace of the nuns and midwives of Poplar feels especially needed this year!”
Writer Heidi Thomas added: “Everyone is overjoyed to be whisking the dust sheets off Nonnatus House and getting back to filming after lockdown.
“It is a particular thrill to be able to deliver the Christmas Special on time, just as we promised at the start of the pandemic. We are very much a family at Call the Midwife, and like families everywhere, we have missed each other.”
A number of other UK drama series have also recommenced production, including the next season of Death in Paradise and the BBC’s new period drama series The Pursuit of Love.
A report earlier this summer revealed that nearly two thirds of scripted television series that were due to air in 2020 will end up being delayed.
If you’re bored at home, check out the brilliant official Call the Midwife board game!
This year’s Christmas special will air on BBC One in the UK and on PBS Masterpiece in the US in December.
Season 9 is available on DVD on Amazon.