For more than thirteen years, Call the Midwife has been a Sunday-night sanctuary for millions, a place where tears flow as freely as laughter, where the harsh realities of post-war Britain are softened by the unshakeable kindness of the Nonnatus House community. Now, just when fans thought they couldn’t love the show any more, the BBC and creator Heidi Thomas have unveiled an avalanche of exciting announcements that promise to take the Call the Midwife universe further than it has ever gone before.

Buckle up, Poplar faithful. The future is brighter (and busier) than a string of Christmas lights on the Isle of Dogs.

A Christmas Special Unlike Any Other: Hong Kong, 1969

This year’s Christmas special, due to air on BBC One on 25 December 2025, is set to be the most ambitious festive episode in the show’s history. For the first time ever, the midwives are leaving the familiar cobbled streets of Poplar behind and boarding a plane to the Far East.

Filmed partly on location in Hong Kong (a logistical triumph that saw cast and crew decamp to the fragrant harbour for several weeks), the 90-minute special transports viewers to Christmas 1969. The story finds several key characters, including Trixie Franklin (Helen George, returning triumphantly after her recent personal struggles), Dr Patrick Turner (Stephen McGann), and Shelagh (Laura Main), invited to Hong Kong by the British Forces medical services to help with an unexpected surge in births among military families stationed there.

What unfolds is classic Call the Midwife magic, only with a dazzling new backdrop: neon lights reflecting on Victoria Harbour, bustling night markets, dragon dances, and the unmistakable clash of Eastern and Western cultures at the twilight of British colonial rule. Expect breathtaking aerial shots of the iconic skyline, midwives cycling through narrow alleyways in Kowloon, and a poignant birth sequence inside a traditional dai pai dong lit by paper lanterns.

Heidi Thomas has teased that the special will explore themes of displacement, homecoming, and what it means to deliver hope thousands of miles away from everything familiar. “We wanted to honour the real midwives and doctors who served overseas with the armed forces,” Thomas said in a recent interview. “These women took Nonnatus House’s ethos across the world, and we felt it was time to tell that story.”

Early previews suggest the episode is packed with emotional wallops: a young British wife facing childbirth alone while her husband is on active duty, a local amaah who becomes an unexpected ally to the midwives, and a heartbreaking case involving a family caught between two cultures. And yes, there will be carols, mince pies, and at least one scene guaranteed to have the entire nation reaching for the tissues before the Queen’s Speech (sorry, King’s Speech) has even begun.

Series 15: Back to Poplar, Deeper Than Ever – Coming 2026

After the globetrotting Christmas special, Series 15 will bring the action home to East London in early 1970, picking up mere weeks after the events of Series 14. Filming is already well underway at the show’s Longcross Studios home, with the familiar sights of Nonnatus House, the maternity clinic, and the Iris Knight Institute being lovingly recreated once more.

The new season, which will air in early 2026, promises to tackle some of the most seismic social changes of the decade. The Sexual Offences Act has only recently decriminalised homosexuality, the pill is becoming more widely available, and the fallout from the 1960s sexual revolution is being felt in every terraced house in Poplar. Expect stories that confront prejudice head-on, that celebrate love in all its forms, and that continue the show’s proud tradition of shining a light on marginalised voices.

Among the confirmed plot threads:

Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter) grappling with the Order’s evolving role in a rapidly secularising society.
Violet Buckle (Annabelle Apsion) facing a shocking health diagnosis that will test the community’s resilience.
The arrival of a groundbreaking new contraceptive clinic, causing both excitement and fierce opposition.
A multi-episode arc exploring the aftermath of a tragic factory accident, drawing parallels to real-life industrial disasters of the era.

Returning favourites like Nurse Lucille Anderson (Leonie Elliott), Nurse Phyllis Crane (Linda Bassett), and the irrepressible Fred Buckle (Cliff Parisi) will all feature prominently, while new faces, including a young Jamaican trainee midwife and a mysterious Irish doctor with a secretive past, promise fresh dynamics.

Heidi Thomas has promised that Series 15 will be “one of our most emotionally layered yet,” adding, “We’re delving into the complexity of joy, the kind that exists alongside grief, change, and uncertainty. That, to me, is the heartbeat of the 1970s.”

Beyond Poplar: Two History-Making Spin-Off Projects

If the Christmas special and Series 15 weren’t enough to sate your appetite, hold onto your wimples, because Call the Midwife is officially becoming a franchise.

1. A World War II Prequel Series: The Birth of Nonnatus House

The first spin-off, currently in active development with Neal Street Productions and the BBC, will travel back to the darkest days of the Blitz to tell the origin story of Nonnatus House itself.

Set between 1940 and 1946, the yet-untitled prequel will chart how a small group of Anglican nuns from the Order of St Raymond Nonnatus, led by a young Sister Julienne (to be played by a new actress in flashback), joined forces with secular nurses and midwives to serve London’s bombed-out East End. Viewers will witness the very first deliveries in the convent’s makeshift clinic, the forging of the sacred bond between medicine and faith, and the harrowing realities of wartime childbirth amid air raids and rationing.

Heidi Thomas, who will serve as executive producer and write several episodes, has described the project as “the missing first chapter of our story.” Casting is underway, with the production team keen to find fresh talent to portray younger versions of characters we know and love, as well as introducing an entirely new ensemble of wartime heroines.

A 2027 or 2028 airdate is being eyed, with a potential Christmas 2026 launch if production moves swiftly.

2. A Feature Film: The Midwives Go Global – South Pacific, 1972

Perhaps the most jaw-dropping announcement is the confirmation that a Call the Midwife cinematic feature is finally happening, and it will see our beloved characters venture far beyond British shores once again.

Written by Heidi Thomas and to be directed by an as-yet-unannounced major British filmmaker (rumours swirl around names like Stephen Frears or Sarah Gavron), the film will be set in 1972 and follow a team of Nonnatus midwives, led by Trixie and Sister Frances (now a fully qualified midwife, played by Ella Bruccoleri or her successor), as they accept an invitation from the World Health Organization to spend three months bringing modern midwifery training to remote islands in the South Pacific.

Shooting is scheduled to begin in late 2026 in Fiji and Vanuatu, with the film slated for a late 2027 or early 2028 theatrical release, to be followed by a BBC broadcast.

Early concept art shows midwives in breezy 1970s prints wading ashore to palm-fringed villages, delivering breech babies by hurricane lamp, and confronting the lingering effects of colonial healthcare systems. Expect sweeping ocean vistas, a lush orchestral score building on Maurizio Malagnini’s beloved themes, and at least one birth scene set against a crimson sunset that will go down in television-to-cinema history.

A Legacy That Keeps Growing

From a modest adaptation of Jennifer Worth’s memoirs in 2012 to a global phenomenon now entering its fifteenth series, complete with international specials, spin-offs, and a cinema outing, Call the Midwife has quietly become one of British television’s greatest success stories.

What started as a period drama about bicycles, gas-and-air, and knitted sanitary pads has evolved into a fearless chronicler of social history, tackling abortion, racism, homosexuality, disability, domestic violence, and mental health with a grace and compassion that few other shows dare attempt.

Yet through every medical advancement and societal shift, the heart of the series has remained unchanged: a profound belief in the dignity of every human life, from the tiniest premature baby to the oldest resident of Poplar’s tower blocks.

As Heidi Thomas recently reflected, “We never imagined when we began that we would still be telling these stories in 2025, let alone taking them to Hong Kong, the South Pacific, or the Blitz. But the world keeps giving us new reasons to talk about kindness, courage, and community, and as long as it does, the midwives of Nonnatus House will be there to answer the call.”

So light the Christmas pudding, dig out your finest 1970s knitwear, and prepare to have your heart warmed all over again. The Call the Midwife journey is far from over, and it has never looked more extraordinary.

Welcome to the next chapter, dear friends. The bicycle bell is ringing louder than ever.