Call the Midwife Christmas special 2023 celebrates Yuletide in 1968 - and newlyweds Trixie and Matthew are in for a big surprise!
In the episode, airing on Christmas Day on BBC One and PBS, the couple, played by Helen George and Olly Rix, are looking forward to spending the festive season together and they are stunned when Trixie’s fun-loving osteopath brother Geoffrey (Coronation Street’s Christopher Harper), turns up unannounced. But Geoffrey soon makes himself useful by helping the residents of Nonnatus House lay on a special treat to cheer up Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt).
Here, Helen George tells What To Watch all about what’s in store in the Call the Midwife Christmas special…
Call the Midwife is back for Christmas. Where do we find Trixie and Matthew?
“It's their first married Christmas so it’s a special time as they are together with Jonty [Matthew’s toddler son from his first marriage, played by Archie O’Callaghan] as a family, they are really coming together as a unit. But it's one of those awkward years when they're probably trying to work out what they're going to do. Matthew is a Chelsea boy and does he want to spend Christmas in Poplar?!”
Trixie’s brother Geoffrey was at her wedding and he now turns up unexpectedly for Christmas, how do Trixie and Matthew feel?
“Trixie doesn't have much family and she and Geoffrey settle back into that sibling relationship where they love each other dearly, but wind each other up! It's lots of fun with Geoffrey back, he’s great to have around. But Geoffrey and Matthew are very different and they clash, with Matthew raising an eyebrow at Geoffrey’s flourishes! It's a lovely juxtaposition of characters.”
And Geoffrey helps to arrange something special to perk up Sister Monica Joan…
“Yes, despite the frustration that he may interfere with Matthew and Trixie’s plans, the community embraces him and his energy and exuberance! Christmas and Geoffrey just go together really well!”
Was it lovely working with Christopher again?
“I know Chris from years ago, so it was really nice, and I think Geoffrey and Trixie complement each other well. There were lovely scenes in the wedding episode where they referred back to their childhood unhappiness and how they both learnt to use comedy and glamour to distort the truth.”
Does it still feel exciting that the festive episode is now a Christmas Day tradition?
“It's lovely that Call the Midwife has become part of the Christmas TV menu. It means so much to us. People expect it now, which is wonderful, but there’s also a pressure to perform and to keep it as good as ever. It's always lovely when everybody sits down on Christmas Day and watches us and then chats about it. It's a special thing.”
What would you give Trixie for Christmas?
“I’d give Trixie a really nice sports car, possibly like a Bond one. She’d love it!”
Do you have any festive traditions?
“I make my own Christmas cake – I start soaking the fruit on the 5th of November. And I watch my favourite Christmas film, [1985’s] Santa Claus: The Movie with Dudley Moore. I love it, I don’t save it for Christmas, if I'm having a bad day any time of year, I'll watch it!”
Call the Midwife airs on Christmas Day on BBC One at 8.15pm and in the US on PBS at 8pm ET.
