Call the Midwife season 11 is back on BBC1 and PBS!
Call the Midwife season 10 was a huge hit last year, with the Call the Midwife Christmas special 2021 also bringing fans a welcome dose of the period drama over the festive break.
But, now season 11 is here, following the announcement last year that the BBC drama has also been commissioned for a further two seasons, meaning we can now expect the show to run until at least 2024.
Season 11 also marks a special point in the show, with Nonnatus House celebrating its centenary. Laura Main, who plays Shelagh reveals: "Sister Julienne is unwell, and so she is unable to organize the celebration. Shelagh is actually asked by Sister Julienne to do it, and I think that does put Sister Hilda’s nose out of joint a little bit. But I think they have a closeness, don’t they, Sister Julienne and Shelagh. Sister Julienne chooses Shelagh because she understands that she’s been there as a nun, but she also has the outside eye as well now. We’ve been celebrating 10 years on Call the Midwife, but they’ve been celebrating 100 years at Nonnatus House. Yes, it’s quite a special moment for everybody."
What is the 'Call the Midwife' Season 11 release date?
Call the Midwife season 11 will air in the US on PBS from Sunday, March 20.
Season 11 of Call the Midwife is made up of eight parts and started on BBC1 in the UK on Sunday, Jan. 2. The period drama aired on Sunday evenings at 8pm with the final episode airing on Sunday, Feb. 20. All episodes can now be watched on BBC iPlayer.
Who will be part of the 'Call the Midwife' Season 11 cast?
All our favorite characters are back for the new season, including a very special comeback for Miriam Margolyes as she reprises her role as Sister Mildred.
Helen George (Trixie Franklin), Jenny Agutter (Sister Julienne), Leonie Elliott (Lucille Anderson), Linda Bassett (Phyllis Crane) are also all back.
Stephen McGann who plays Doctor Patrick Turner has also returned for the new season, as well as Laura Main, who plays Shelagh Turner, and Cliff Parisi who plays Fred Buckle - to name but a few!
What happened in the 'Call the Midwife' Christmas special 2021?
We knew there would be wedding bells in Call the Midwife's festive offering after season 10 of the drama saw Nurse Lucille Anderson get engaged to Cyril Robinson and they announced their wedding would happen at Christmas.
But, sadly it wasn't a smooth run-up to their wedding because a few too many rum punches on her hen night soon threw a spanner in the works for the bride-to-be. Poor Lucille woke the next morning to find her eye badly swollen... something that only leeches would solve! Thankfully Dr Turner worked his magic and soon Lucille and Cyril's Boxing Day nuptials were back on, leaving everyone in Nonnatus House in the mood for a big celebration.
But there wasn't too much time for partying, because Christmas 1966 appeared to be the date that all the babies in Poplar decided to make an appearance. The staff at Nonnatus House were inundated with expectant mums, and while many of the births were fairly routine, there was an experienced mum with high blood pressure and another with a hemorrhage, which gave cause for concern. Sister Frances (Ella Brucolleri) was also given a new challenge when she tackled her first breech birth as her anxious patient gave birth at home.
But the episode’s most poignant birth story came from an eye-opening look at the horrors of drug addiction. Nervy young gangster’s wife Anita Page was clearly trying to keep a lid on her problems, however, she was eventually taken into the maternity home where she gave birth to a baby girl who was sadly born with a drug addiction.
Thankfully, Mother Mildred (Miriam Margolyes), who was paying a visit from the Mother House, had seen children with drug dependency when she worked in the Far East and knew the treatment to recommend.
Drama aside, the episode was hugely festive, compete with the nativity, a brilliant reading of A Christmas Carol by Mother Mildred and, of course, no Christmas in Poplar would be complete without Fred (Cliff Parisi) doing his usual turn as Santa.
You can read our full Call the Midwife Christmas special 2021 review here.
What happens in 'Call the Midwife' season 11?
Over the years Call the Midwife has proved that it's not just a light and fluffy Sunday evening drama about babies, but that the show also isn't afraid to tackle hard-hitting and emotive subjects.
Jenny Agutter, who plays Sister Julienne, teased some of what we can expect about the new season... "It’s 1967, and we are well into the 60s now. People expect a great deal more and I think that’s something that Sister Julienne deals with. Because she’s lived through the First and Second World Wars, she’s both grateful for all the things that are there, but sees very much that those things can also cause problems in themselves. The fact that people have so much choice creates a lot of questions.
"We also deal with some very different things through the series. There are some wonderful things, like Timothy Turner growing up, becoming a doctor himself, and going out for the first time on a call with his father. We also meet gangsters because we’re very much into that period."
Helen George, who plays Trixie, also hinted that her character's bond with Matthew will grow this season... "It’s really interesting to see how things develop with Matthew because obviously, it was a very traumatic moment in which they first met each other, as Trixie was involved in his wife’s delivery of their child and also in her death. So it’s a very sad storyline and it’s been very carefully dealt with.
"You see Trixie and Matthew getting closer, and the bond that they initially felt from sharing such a huge thing comes through. There’s a trust and a friendship and support that emerges which is wonderful to see."
What happened in episode one of 'Call the Midwife' season 11?
Episode one of Call the Midwife season 11 opens at Easter time, and while their Christmas nuptials were a few months ago now, Cyril and Lucille are very much still in the honeymoon period. But while Lucille is relishing the role of being a wife, there is huge drama at Nonnatus House as dry rot threatened the building, ruining Nancy's new uniform for her first day as a fully-qualified midwife.
Derek and Audrey Flemming are also back, the parents who sadly had a baby boy called Christopher in season 10 who was born without any legs and tragically passed away only 30 minutes after being born due to radiation poisoning. The couple are expecting again, and are understandably nervous about history repeating itself. Thankfully, this pregnancy seemed to be running smoothly, and soon Audrey gave birth to a perfectly healthy daughter, leaving the pair over the moon.
Elsewhere in Poplar, the skeleton of a newborn baby is discovered in a house that Matthew's company is renovating, unearthing a dark secret that is more than 30 years old. Soon the police get involved and the mother of the baby, Marigold Nyall, is found... but she then drops the horrific news that there are the remains of more than one baby hidden at her old address. Soon the police have a huge historical crime on their hands.
Elsewhere, Nonnatus House enjoys watching the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest as Sandie Shaw sings Puppet on a String, and Nancy finally admits to Colette that she isn't her sister after all, and is actually her mother.
What happened in episode two of 'Call the Midwife' season 11?
The second episode of season 11 saw not only saw poor Miss Higgins have her house burgled, but it also dealt with an outbreak of scabies and the topic of cervical cancer.
Miss Higgins found herself out of sorts after having her home broken into while she slept upstairs, and after refusing to be alone in her home again, she moved into Nonnatus House. However, the novelty of being surrounded by so many people after so many years of living alone soon wore thin, and Miss Higgins realized that she needed her own space again... much to the relief of the midwife team who had grown tired of her ongoing demands and long baths in the shared bathroom!
Nonnatus House also faced a scabies outbreak that was taking over in London, and soon they were working hard to raise awareness and setting up cleansing centers where those infected could get treatment. However, it soon became apparent that it wasn't just the poorer classes who were susceptible to the infection, with Trixie's friend Matthew Aylward also finding himself rather itchy!
The episode also saw the midwife and nurse team undertaking a routine cervical screening center, with one patient, Janis Cowper discovering that she had cervical cancer and would sadly need a mastectomy. The news understandably came as a huge shock, especially as she'd hoped to have a family with her husband. Thankfully she agreed to have the life-saving operation and said she would one day look into adopting with her husband.
Another patient in this episode was Vivien Thomson, who was having her fourth child. Lucielle was assigned as her midwife and soon found herself locking horns with a social worker who was trying to convince Mrs Thomson that she should be considering contraception, despite her baby only being a few days old. Thankfully Lucielle won her battle and the family was left alone, with Vivien's son taking on the role of man of the house after his dad left them high and dry.
Is there a trailer?
No, sadly there isn't a trailer for the new series, however, you can watch any of the new episodes from season 11 on BBC iPlayer once they have aired.
You can also catch up on all past 10 seasons of Call the Midwife on BBC iPlayer now.
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