Call the Midwife

Main cast

• Jessica Raine as Nursing Sister Jennifer "Jenny" Lee (series 1–3) and Vanessa Redgrave as Mature Jennifer Worth (narration series 1–present; guest series 4)
• Jenny Agutter as Sister Julienne (series 1 – present)
• Pam Ferris as Sister Evangelina (series 1–5; guest series 15)
• Miranda Hart as Matron Camilla "Chummy" Fortescue-Cholmondeley-Browne (later Noakes; series 1–4)
• Judy Parfitt as Sister Monica Joan (series 1–15)
• Helen George as Nurse Beatrix "Trixie" Franklin (later Lady Aylward; series 1 – present)
• Bryony Hannah as Nurse Cynthia Miller (later Sister Mary Cynthia; series 1–6)
• Laura Main as Nurse Shelagh Turner (formerly Sister Bernadette; series 1 – present)
• Stephen McGann as Dr. Patrick Turner (series 1 – present)
• Cliff Parisi as Fred Buckle (series 1 – present)
• Ben Caplan as Police Constable (later Sergeant) Peter Noakes (series 1–6)
• Emerald Fennell as Nurse Patience "Patsy" Mount (series 3–6; guest series 2)
• Victoria Yeates as Sister Winifred (series 3–8)
• Jack Ashton as Reverend Tom Hereward (series 4–7; recurring series 3)
• Linda Bassett as Nurse Phyllis Crane (series 4 – present)
• Charlotte Ritchie as Nurse Barbara Gilbert (later Hereward; series 4–7)
• Jennifer Kirby as Nurse Valerie Dyer (series 6–9)
• Annabelle Apsion as Violet Gee (later Mayor Buckle; series 7 – present; recurring series 4–6)
• Leonie Elliott as Nurse Lucille Anderson (later Robinson; series 7–12)
• Ella Bruccoleri as Sister Frances (series 8–12)
• Fenella Woolgar as Sister Hilda (series 8–11; guest series 14–15)
• Daniel Laurie as Reginald "Reggie" Jackson (series 10 – present; recurring series 6–9)
• Georgie Glen as Millicent Higgins (series 10 – present; recurring series 8–9)
• Zephryn Taitte as Cyril Robinson (series 10 – present; recurring series 8–9)
• Megan Cusack as Nurse Ann "Nancy" Corrigan (series 10–14)
• Olly Rix as Matthew Aylward (series 10–13)
• Rebecca Gethings as Sister Veronica (series 12 – present)
• Renee Bailey as Nurse Joyce Highland (series 13 – present)
• Natalie Quarry as Nurse Rosalind Clifford (later Robinson; series 13 – present)
• Molly Vevers as Sister Catherine (series 14 – present)

Locations

A number of historic sites in the south of England have been used as filming locations for scenes in Call the Midwife. The ship in the opening titles is the Shaw, Savill & Albion Line liner QSMV Dominion Monarch in dry dock at the King George V Dock and the road is Saville Road, Silvertown, east London.^[6][7]

Many of the exterior scenes are shot at The Historic Dockyard Chatham standing in for East London streets and buildings.^[8] In the first two series, Nonnatus House was filmed at St. Joseph's Missionary College in Mill Hill, North London until the building was converted to luxury flats at which point a new Nonnatus House set was created at Longcross Studios in Surrey where sets were built for the new Nonnatus and interior sets.^[9] HMS Cavalier is used for scenes on ships during the series and the order's mother house is filmed in West Wittering.^[9] A reconstructed prefab house at the Chiltern Open Air Museum in Buckinghamshire has also been used as a filming location.^[10]

Commissioning

The material from Worth's memoirs was substantially adapted in the first two series of Call the Midwife. On 11 February 2013, Ben Stephenson, BBC Controller for Drama, announced that he had commissioned a 2013 Christmas special, and a third series of eight episodes to be broadcast in 2014.^[11] Heidi Thomas described how she'd received a specific blessing from Jennifer Worth to continue the series,^[12] and had enjoyed a fruitful collaboration on future plans before the author's death.^[13] After the departure of Jessica Raine as Jenny Lee at the end of the third series, Jennifer Worth's family stated that Call The Midwife no longer resembled Worth's stories, although her husband acknowledged its continuation would embody the "spirit" of her works.^[14] The fourth series aired in the US in 2015, finishing its eight-episode run on 17 May.^[15] A Christmas special also aired in 2015.

A fifth series was commissioned for 2016, shortly after series four filming was completed.^[16] A sixth series was commissioned, which included a 2016 Christmas episode set in South Africa.^[17] On 23 November 2016, the BBC announced a three-year deal with Neal Street Productions, commissioning a seventh, eighth, and ninth series, each with a Christmas special.^[18] On 4 March 2019, the BBC announced it had commissioned two further series and Christmas specials, through to an eleventh series in 2022, moving the plot into the late-sixties.^[19][20]

On 13 April 2021—five days before series 10 was due to start broadcasting on BBC One and with the 11th series about to begin filming—the BBC announced that two more series had been commissioned, keeping the show on air until 2024. Series 12 and 13 each comprised eight one-hour episodes as well as a Christmas special.^[21] In February 2023, the BBC announced it had commissioned two more series of nine episodes (including Christmas Specials) moving the story into 1971, keeping the show on air until 2026.^[22]

Soundtrack

For the first three series of the programme, the score and the title theme used were composed by Peter Salem; since series four, the music has been composed by Maurizio Malagnini. The orchestral score, mainly comprising strings and piano, accompanies the emotional moments of the series, with Malagnini calling it a diary of the emotions of the series, while more upbeat moments are often accompanied by music appropriate to the setting year. The score was performed by the London Chamber Orchestra.^[23][24]

There have been two albums released with music from the series: a 2012 released Call the Midwife: The Album consisting of period appropriate songs and score tracks from the first series by Salem and a second Call the Midwife: Original Soundtrack Album released in 2018 featuring highlights from Malagnini's score from series 4–7.^[23][25]

Broadcast

In May 2012, BBC Worldwide and the American Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) announced that the first series of Call the Midwife would premiere in the United States on 30 September 2012.^[26] BBC Worldwide also sold the programme to SVT (Sweden); NRK (Norway); RÚV (Iceland); Yle (Finland); AXN White (Spain; Portugal); ERT (Greece);^[27][28] ABC in Australia and TVNZ 1 in New Zealand, where its debut recorded a 35% share of the audience—20% above average. In July 2012, BBC Worldwide announced it sold the global Video on Demand rights of the programme to Netflix, while all episodes are also on BBC iPlayer in the UK.

The second series of Call the Midwife was sold to PBS for transmission from 31 March 2013^[29] and to SVT (Sweden) for transmission from 19 May 2013.^[30] In February 2013, BBC Worldwide reported that Call the Midwife had been sold in over one hundred global territories,^[31] with global sales contributing to the UK's position as the second largest TV exporter behind the United States.^[32] In February 2017, it was reported that the BBC had exported Call the Midwife to 237 global territories.^[33]

A second series of eight episodes aired in the UK in early 2013.^[34][35] The series achieved a consolidated series average of 10.47 million viewers.^[36] A third eight-part series aired in the UK from January 2014,^[37] with a consolidated average of 10.53 million.^[36]

On 28 February 2014, BBC confirmed that Call the Midwife had been commissioned for a 2014 Christmas special^[38] and fourth series, to air in 2015.^[39] On 3 November 2014, BBC announced that an eight-episode fifth series had been commissioned; it began airing on 17 January 2016; the fifth series takes the story into 1961.^[40] The sixth series began airing in the UK on 22 January 2017, taking the drama into 1962.^[41] Series seven, again consisting of eight episodes, began airing on Sunday, 21 January 2018, with episode one viewed by 9.87 million viewers.^[42] It was the No.1 rated programme on UK TV for all weeks of its transmission, ending 11 March 2018.^[42] The eighth series premiered on 13 January 2019.^[43]

Home media

The first series was released in a Region 2, two-disc DVD set on 12 March 2012.^[44] Series two was released on 1 April 2013 in the UK (region 2)^[45] with a collector's edition, Call the Midwife Collection, containing series one, two, and the 2012 Christmas Special, released on the same date.^[46]

In the United States, the first series was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 6 November 2012. Series two was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 18 June 2013.^[47] Series three was released on Blu-ray on 20 May 2014.^[48] Series four was released on Blu-ray on 19 May 2015.^[49]

Critical response

A second series was immediately commissioned after the opening episode attracted an audience of nearly 10 million viewers. The second episode increased its audience to 10.47 million, while the third continued the climb to 10.66. Episode four's rating reached 10.89 million.

In the United States, the series one transmission on PBS drew an average household audience rating of 2.1, translating into three million viewers—50 per cent above PBS's primetime average for the 2011–12 series.^[53] The autumn 2012 PBS broadcast of the first series received widespread critical acclaim, earning a Metacritic score of 8.0. The Wall Street Journal declared that "this immensely absorbing drama is worth any trouble it takes to catch up with its singular pleasures",^[54] while The Washington Post stated that "the cast is marvelous, the gritty, post-war set pieces are meticulously recreated".^[55] TV Guide called the series "a delight to watch",^[56] while the San Francisco Chronicle described it as "sentimental, poignant and often heartbreaking".^[57] Maane Khatchatourian of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Just what the doctor ordered."^[58]

The second series opened with a record overnight audience of 9.3 million UK viewers,^[59] going on to achieve a consolidated series average of 10.47 million viewers.^[36] This was almost 2 million above the slot average, and by some distance the most popular UK drama in every week of transmission.^[60] When viewing figures from BBC's iPlayer video streaming service and a narrative repeat were included as part of the BBC Live Plus 7 metric,^[61] the total number of viewers per week was found to be almost 12 million.^[62]

Caitlin Moran in The Times called this "an iron hand in a velvet glove",^[63] while Allison Pearson in The Daily Telegraph lauded its ability to "tickle the middle of the brow while touching the most anguished parts of the human condition".^[64] In particular, commentators have noted the attention given to female social issues in the drama's post-war, pre-pill setting. Alison Graham in the Radio Times dubbed Call the Midwife "a magnificently subversive drama" and "the torchbearer of feminism on television,"^[65] while Caitlin Moran claimed the series encapsulated "how unbelievably terrifying, dreary and vile it was to be a working-class woman 60 years ago."^[63]

In October 2023, a group of academics suggested that the show should come with a health warning due to the depiction of 'inaccurate' birthing practices.^[66] The production responded that the series was a period drama, not a documentary, and "highly accurate to the time it depicts".^[67]

Accolades