‘Call the Midwife’ pauses filming on Season 13

The Call the Midwife team are taking a break from shooting 2024’s episodes.

Season 13 has been filming since May, when work began on this Christmas’s festive special and eight new episodes for next year.

Set during the 1950s-1960s, the BBC’s hit period drama about a group of nurse midwives in the East End of London aired its twelfth run last winter.

Call the Midwife‘s official page on Facebook announced this weekend that production has been paused for the cast and crew’s “summer recess.”

The break is a planned part of the shooting schedule and is not related to the ongoing actors/writers strikes in the US.

“This week has been the last week of filming before we take our regular summer break on the production of Series 13 – and there has been a definite end-of-term feel to proceedings…” they shared.

“Down in the clinic, our brilliant Meghan Cusack (Nancy) felt inspired to swap roles with trusty sound man Tom so she could try her hand at operating the boom microphone,” the post revealed.

“Meanwhile, over at the Turner house, Patrick and Shelagh (Stephen McGann and Laura Main) sent us a summery kitchen selfie before they head off on their holidays.”

You can see that fun photo at the top of this article!

Explaining why the production break is happening, the team wrote: “Filming days are long, and the hours are variable – sometimes the crew will need to shoot from early daytime into the very late evening to catch essential night scenes.

“Weeks of this, away from family, can take its toll – and so a good break in high summer allows the crew enough time to see their folks and get away for a holiday. The benefits to morale – and to the subsequent work – are enormous.”

Filming will resume in England later this summer.

“When we return, we have the second half of Series 13 to shoot, which will take us all the way through to November,” they revealed. “And then we begin the countdown to Christmas!”

“The spirit on set is wonderful, and the stories we are filming are powerful and moving. We look forward to showing you….”

We can’t wait to see what they’ve been filming, as Call the Midwife reaches the end of the Sixties.

Set in 1969, the next season will introduce two brand new midwives to Poplar.

Upcoming story lines in Season 13 will explore issues surrounding Cerebral Palsy, Congenital Hip Dysplasia, Tetanus, Porphyria and TB, as poor housing continues to blight areas of Poplar presenting complex social and health challenges to the Nonnatus team.

Call the Midwife will return on BBC One and PBS in early 2024, following 2023’s Christmas special this December.

Season 12 of Call the Midwife is available on DVD on Amazon.