Special DELIVERY

JENNY AGUTTER on what awaits the beloved nuns and midwives in the 1970s

- CAREN CLARK

The dawn of a new decade brings fresh challenges as Call the Midwife returns this week, with the residents of Nonnatus House steering the community of Poplar through the trials and triumphs of the 1970s.

‘They are difficult times,’ shares Jenny Agutter, who plays wonderfully wise head nun Sister Julienne in the hit drama, as she joins TV Times for a chat. ‘This series is dark, but humour and humanity lighten it.’

As the eight-episode 14th run opens in spring 1970, the devoted medics have a multitude of patients to treat, while protest is in the air when disgruntled locals on East London’s Isle of Dogs declare themselves an independent state.

Here, Jenny, 72, tells us more…

What do the 1970s herald for the midwives and nuns?

Problems. In the 1960s, there was excitement with science and medicine, and everybody felt rich after the 1950s. But the 1970s bring a breakdown of society.

Each year presents its own difficulties, joys, successes and failures, though. But there’s always the sense we’ll make the future better.