Call the Midwife Christmas special: Here are the first look images

Call the Midwife will be returning later this year with its Christmas special to tug on our heartstrings as we await for the arrival of season 11 in the New Year.

The beloved BBC One period drama will officially be back for the Christmas episode on Christmas day, with the BBC releasing the first look at what fans can expect for the festive special.

It looks as though Laura Main's Nurse Shelagh Turner, Helen George's Nurse Trixie and Leonie Elliott's Nurse Lucille Anderson will be putting on a nativity play with a real baby in a manger as baby Jesus.

Miriam Margolyes will be back to reprise her role as Mother Mildred after being absent from series 10.

Nonnatus House caretaker, Fred Buckle (Cliff Parisi) can also be seen in the images, looking to be in good spirits, and Cyril Robinson (Zephryn Taitte), Nurse Lucille Anderson (Leonie Elliott), and Reggie Jackson (Daniel Laurie) also feature in the new pictures, with Reggie building the couple a snowman. The BBC adds that for the dedicated nurses and midwives of Nonnatus House, it will be 'their busiest Christmas Day ever'.

Fans can also look forward to season 11 returning in January, with creator Heidi Thomas confirming her return to the show's set for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic, with filming officially underway and on target.

Here's what we know so far...

Call the Midwife Christmas Special

The Christmas special will arrive on BBC One on Christmas Day, which is of course December 25th. This timing has yet to be officially confirmed, so we will keep you updated.

Call the Midwife Season 11: When will it air?

If the show follows the schedule of previous series, we can expect its return in January 2022. Creator Heidi Thomas told fans filming for the series was underway back in March this year, and it doesn't appear to have been hit by any delays.

Thomas shared a photo of herself with her feet up in the living room of Nonnatus House after a fifteen month absence while drawings up plans for the filming of series 11.

"Guess where I am! Back at Nonnatus House for the first time since October 2019, and in a room with colleagues for the first time in fifteen months, that's where!" the writer commented.

The BBC One Call The Midwife official Facebook page also posted the image of Thomas, and added the message: "We received a great picture today! It's taken by our wonderful series writer Heidi Thomas, and shows her relaxing in the iconic Nonnatus House living room! That may not seem unusual for the drama's creator, but in fact it's a big deal for us.

"Heidi has not been able to visit the set for AGES, due to Covid restrictions. Her return marks a real homecoming... and an indication that plans are being drawn up for the filming of Series 11!!"

Call the Midwife cast

The cast has yet to be confirmed by the BBC, but fans will be hoping for the return of Helen George as Nurse Trixie, Jenny Agutter as Sister Julienne, Leonie Elliott as Lucille, and Stephen McGann back as Dr Turner.

Beloved cast members also include Linda Bassett as Nurse Crane, Judy Parfitt as Sister Monica Joan, Fenella Woolgar as Sister Hilda, Ella Bruccoleri as Sister Frances, Cliff Parisi as Fred, Zephryn Taitte as Cyril and Daniel Laurie as Reggie.

Call the Midwife Christmas special: What will it be about?

The BBC shared: "Series 11 begins with a Christmas special set in December 1966. Christmas promises to be a memorable one at Nonnatus House as Lucille (Leonie Elliott) and Cyril (Zephryn Taitte) prepare for their upcoming winter wedding.

"The Nonnatus team are faced with their busiest Christmas Day ever as the Maternity Home is filled with expectant mums-to-be, each with their own challenging case. Luckily Mother Mildred (Miriam Margolyes) is on hand to support the team."

Call the Midwife Christmas special: The cast

The returning cast will include Leonie Elliott (Lucille Anderson), Stephen McGann (Doctor Patrick Turner), Helen George (Trixie Franklin) and Jenny Agutter (Sister Julienne).

We also know that Miriam Margolyes will be back as Mother Mildred after she was absent from series 10.

Call the Midwife season 11: What's the plot?

Season 10 took place in 1966, so we can safely assume season 11 will take us to the late '60s - which saw women gradually gaining autonomy over their bodies with the introduction of the contraceptive pill.

Writer Heidi Thomas recently revealed that she's looking forward to creating female characters "enjoying their bodies" and "having fun" with their sexuality as the series hurtles towards the swinging sixties - rather than depicting women living in perpetual fear of falling pregnant, or focusing on the life-changing injuries their bodies incur during childbirth.

"The [Call the Midwife] world just seems to get richer as we go further along, and I do think we're seeing women attain agency over their bodies," Thomas said to Good Housekeeping and other press earlier this year. "What I like to think as we go forward in time, is that women will start enjoying their own bodies which is something we haven't see them do yet.

"I'm really looking forward to the bit of the 1960s where women actually start to have some fun. Then we are going to break out of the doll's house and our bodies won't have be an unruly object that has to be dominated and controlled but something that can be celebrated and enjoyed - and I do think that we see that in 1960s popular movements of feminism."

We can't wait.

Call the Midwife Christmas special will arrive in December, and Call the Midwife season 11 will return in 2022.

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