Baby, It's Cold Outside...

The stars of Call the Midwife tell us what to expect from this year’s Christmas special

- Caren Clark

Christmas with the midwives and nuns of Nonnatus House always delivers festive warmth and good cheer.

But – brrr! – brace yourselves, because there’s a chill in the air in this year’s seasonal special of Call the Midwife as the team leaves an already bracing Poplar to venture to the much colder climes of the Outer Hebrides.

Some of our favorite characters have had flu and forthright Mother Mildred (Miriam Margolyes) wants to help them convalesce by taking them to set up a new branch house and clinic on the Scottish islands to assist a community who have a shortage of doctors and nurses.

Here, stars Jenny Agutter, who plays Sister Julienne and turns 67 on 20 December, Helen George (Trixie), 35, Jennifer Kirby (Valerie), 31, and Linda Bassett (Nurse Crane), 69, chat to TV Times about the drama to come…

What can you tell us about this year’s Christmas special?

Helen: It’s a fabulous episode! They’re helping a community that doesn’t have medical provisions and whose last midwife left to get married. We’re expecting to have nice digs but it’s an old church with no heating – and we filmed in an old church with no heating!

Jenny: This community has nothing, so it’s important we go there. We’ve been living in an urban community in Poplar but it’s different seeing a remote community struggling to survive. It’s an interesting storyline with magical, spiritual qualities. The Outer Hebrides is like Cornwall, where I live part of the time, and you feel you’re somewhere untouched.