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Call the Midwife Holiday Special – 2017 | Christmas Night at 9 p.m.
< < Back to call-midwife-holiday-special-2017-christmas-night-9-p-mPBS Announces CALL THE MIDWIFE HOLIDAY SPECIAL
To Air on Christmas Night
– Premieres Monday, December 25, 2017, 9:00 p.m. ET –
PBS is spreading the holiday cheer for their viewers this season with the CALL THE MIDWIFE HOLIDAY SPECIAL, airing on Christmas night, Monday, December 25, 2017, at 9:00 p.m. The special sets the stage for the seventh season of the British hit drama, which will return to PBS in spring 2018.
Written by Heidi Thomas, the holiday special opens with Poplar under a thick blanket of snow, as the midwives face the challenge of the coldest winter in the United Kingdom in 300 years. That winter — commonly referred to as the Big Freeze of 1963 — saw temperatures plunge to record lows; the whole country was brought to a standstill due to the severe weather. Battling snow, ice, power shortages and frozen pipes, the midwives strive to provide the best possible care for their patients.
The adverse weather causes major disruption across Poplar as roads become blocked, pipes start to freeze and the milk float struggles to make its deliveries. Trixie’s holiday with Christopher is cancelled due to the snow, and Valerie helps Linda and Selwyn, an unmarried couple living in a caravan, prepare for their baby. As the labor progresses, unforeseen complications knock Valerie’s confidence in her ability as a midwife. Elsewhere, the freezing weather takes the life of Dr. Turner’s patient, Percy Tillerson. Sister Julienne must inform the family of his death and uncovers an uncomfortable truth about the chirpy late Percy. Anita Dobson (“EastEnders,” “Doctors”) guest stars as Mabel Tillerson, Percy’s wife.
Season 6 of CALL THE MIDWIFE drew an average audience of 3.4 million viewers, with 2.3 million viewers tuning into the 2016 holiday special. Each of the past four seasons was among the yearly top 10 viewed programs on PBS, with Season 6 ratings being the highest since Season 3 in spring 2014. Last season logged an additional 2.1 million streams on PBS digital platforms, including PBS.org and PBS apps.
Made by Neal Street Productions for BBC One and PBS, CALL THE MIDWIFE has also been one of Britain’s most popular drama series since it launched in 2012, and it continues to be one of the most-watched dramas in the UK. CALL THE MIDWIFE has earned more than 20 TV awards and nominations, including several from BAFTA, the Royal Television Society and the National TV awards. The series won a Gracie Award for Ensemble Cast in 2017 and has recently been voted the Best Drama of the 21st Century in the BFI & Radio Times Festival Audience Poll. CALL THE MIDWIFE has been recommissioned by the BBC for a further three series and three holiday specials, taking the nuns and midwives right into the mid 1960s.
CALL THE MIDWIFE stars Jenny Agutter (“The Railway Children,” “Spooks”) as Sister Julienne, Linda Bassett (“East Is East,” “Lark Rise to Candleford”) as Nurse Phyllis Crane, Judy Parfitt (“Little Dorrit,” Girl With a Pearl Earring), who was nominated for a 2013 Satellite Award for her work as Sister Monica Joan, Helen George (“Hollyoaks,” “Doctors”) as Trixie Franklin, Laura Main (“Monarch of the Glen”) as Shelagh Turner, Charlotte Ritchie (“Life of Riley,” “Fresh Meat”) as Nurse Barbara Gilbert, Victoria Yeates (“Holby City”) as Sister Winifred, Jennifer Kirby (“Holby City”) as Nurse Valerie Dyer, Stephen McGann (“Emmerdale”) as Dr. Patrick Turner, Jack Ashton (“Endeavour,” “Of Mary”) as Tom Hereward, Cliff Parisi (“EastEnders”) as Fred, Annabelle Apsion (“Shameless”) as Violet Buckle, Jack Hawkins (“Holby City”) as Christopher Dockerill and Leonie Elliott (Wondrous Oblivion, Danny and the Human Zoo) as Nurse Lucille Anderson.
CALL THE MIDWIFE is created and written by Heidi Thomas; executive producers are Pippa Harris and Heidi Thomas. Executive producer for the BBC is Christopher Aird, with Ann Tricklebank (“Upstairs Downstairs,” “Larkrise to Candleford”) as producer. The Christmas special and episode one will be directed by Syd Macartney (“Last Tango in Halifax,” “The Syndicate,” A Love Divided). The series is a Neal Street production for BBC/PBS and is distributed by BBC Worldwide North America.
Full episodes of CALL THE MIDWIFE Season 7 will be available to stream the morning after broadcast on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and PBS apps for iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Chromecast.
CALL THE MIDWIFE contains mature content that may not be suitable for all audiences. Viewer discretion is advised. Rated TV-14.
CALL THE MIDWIFE Seasons 1-6 are now available on DVD and Blu-ray on shopPBS.org. Additional items, including Jennifer Worth’s memoirs, published by Penguin Books, and The Life and Times of Call the Midwife, published by Harper Collins, are also available.