BBC's Call the Midwife expands universe with two huge spin-offs
It's been a TV staple for Sunday night viewers across the UK's cold winter months since 2012. But the BBC 's much-loved drama Call the Midwife will take a break from BBC1 after the next series while production switches to a prequel series, set during the war, plus a standalone movie, for cinema release.
The prequel, set during the Blitz years of World War II. will feature younger versions of many favourite current characters, likely to include Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter), Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt), Dr Turner (Stephen McGann) and Fred Buckle (Cliff Parisi). It could also feature Sister Evangelina, the character played by Pam Ferris until the nun's death during the fifth series.
The action will take place at least 15 years earlier than the debut series, based on the memoirs of real-life midwife Jennifer Worth, which was set in 1957.
In contrast, the feature film will star the current cast and is likely to include some returning favourites, such as Miranda Hart as Chummy and Miriam Margolyes as Mother Mildred, and may also feature big-name guest stars. One insider said: 'Joanna Lumley as a nun? Now that's something I'd like to see.'
The movie will be set abroad, in 1972, as the rise in hospital births gives the nuns and nurses a chance to take their skills further afield. Possible locations include Hong Kong, which is where this year's two-part Christmas special will be set, or South Africa, last visited in 2016.
The one constant across all the different versions of the franchise will be the East End borough of Poplar, and Nonnatus House.
Insiders stressed that the new projects did not herald the end for the main series, which will resume 'in due course' after the other projects are made.
Executive producer Dame Pippa Harris said: 'It now feels like the right time to expand our world and take our nuns and midwives onto the big screen with our movie, and back in time with the prequel.'
Writer Heidi Thomas explained: 'I have never run out of stories for our midwives, and I never will. But having wept, laughed, and raged my way from 1957 to 1971, I found myself yearning to delve into the deeper past.
'The Blitz years in the East End were extraordinary - filled with loss, togetherness, courage and joy. The bombs fell, the babies kept on coming, and the Sisters kept on going. There will be so much in the prequel for our wonderful, loyal fans, including the appearance of some familiar (if much younger!) faces.'
And speaking about the movie, she added: 'It seems the perfect time for our much-loved regulars to take a short break from Poplar and test themselves in an unfamiliar landscape. Changes in the NHS have clipped their wings, and this is their chance to take flight. Whilst the location remains top-secret, I can say it is going to look absolutely fantastic on the big screen.'
In January the 15th series, set in 1971, will kick off with some of the regulars burning their bras outside Nonnatus House as they embrace the women's lib movement. As the year unfolds, they handle cases including premature birth, placenta previa, kidney cancer, tuberculosis and slavery.
BBC drama boss Lindsay Salt said: 'Whether you've been watching from the very start or joined us for one of the more recent series, this is an incredibly exciting time to be a Call the Midwife fan.'
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