‘Harry Potter’ star joins cast of ‘Call the Midwife’

Several new cast additions have been revealed for the new season of Call the Midwife.

A Christmas 2018 special and eight new episodes of the period drama are currently filming.

The show’s makers have announced that acclaimed actress and national treasure Miriam Margolyes will make her debut in this year’s festive special as Sister Mildred.

Best known for her role as Professor Pomona Sprout in Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets and Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, she’ll be playing “a forthright and indefatigable sister from the Order.”

Sister Mildred arrives unexpectedly at Nonnatus House, her hands full with four Chinese orphans. Having fled China, the child refugees were found abandoned in Hong Kong and are being adopted in the UK as part of the World Refugee Project. With Christmas preparations in full flow and the midwives busy caring for the expectant mothers of Poplar, these unexpected visitors cause joy and chaos in equal measure.

New regular cast members in Season 8 will include Fenella Woolgar (War & Peace) as Sister Hilda, Ella Bruccoleri (The Last Kingdom) as postulant Sister Frances, and Georgie Glen (Waterloo Road) as the surgery’s new receptionist, Miss Higgins.

Executive producer Dame Pippa Harris commented: “We are all thrilled to be filming once again with our beloved team of midwives and nuns from Nonnatus House. This year we have the additional treat of Miriam Margolyes as a guest star and cannot wait for audiences to see her as the formidable Sister Mildred.

“We hope that viewers will also warmly embrace our two new Sisters, played by Fenella and Ella, and the fabulous Georgie Glen who plays Doctor Turner’s indomitable new receptionist, Miss Higgins. It’s an honour to have such skilful, and charismatic actors joining the cast and bringing Heidi Thomas’s wonderful scripts to life.”

Season 7 is available to buy now on DVD.

The new season of Call the Midwife will air in early 2019.