Baby, it's cold outside

As some of the team head to the Far East on a mercy mission, those left behind at Nonnatus House have their own Christmas emergencies to deal with

- WORDS: JO BERRY

The festive season in Poplar is looking a little different this Christmas, as some of our Call The Midwife favourites head to Hong Kong, where the mission house has collapsed, killing new mums, babies and children, as well as some caregivers working over there. Dr Turner, wife Shelagh, Sister Julienne and Sister Veronica head to the British Territory (as it was back in 1971) with Fred and Violet Buckle, who hope that Violet's son Derek, who's a policeman in Hong Kong, will be able to help them rebuild the mission house. For the cast members who filmed overseas, the far-flung location was not quite as glamorous as expected. "It was summer," says Stephen McGann, who plays Dr Turner. "We got there and some of the guys from the Hong Kong crew said, 'What are you filming now for? It's mad! We wouldn't go out in that weather.'" During filming, the cast didn't just battle extreme heat a typhoon also hit the islands while they were there. "We were locked in our hotel," says Stephen, 62. "We weren't allowed by law to go outside of our hotel, which just happened to have a fantastic dim sum restaurant.