Season 5 of the BBC period drama series “Call the Midwife” is already through airing its eight episodes in the UK and Australia as of March 6, 2016, but the producers are already preparing for its Christmas Special to be aired naturally, on December 25th.
Since the BBC period drama debuted in 2012, it has become a tradition of the show to air a Christmas Special after every season and Season 5 would not be an exemption.
In the US, “Call the Midwife” has just debuted on PBS on April 3 with its Season 5 premiere. The series will run for another eight weeks.
BBC has already confirmed the 2016 Christmas Special of “Call the Midwife” as early as December last year when BBC director general Tony Hall announced that the series will have one in addition to its eight episodes for Season 5.
Taking the series to South Africa
The 2016 Christmas Special would be very different from the previous seasons as the TV series would leave the freezing rain-sodden streets of the East End and will have Cape Town in South Africa as its film location.
Reports have it that filming for the 2016 Christmas Special has already started and it will be a festive episode for the BAFTA-winning BBC drama, notes the Express of UK.
Accordingly, the plot of the special shall see the midwives receiving a distress call from the struggling Hope Clinic on the Eastern Cape because the facility is not only understaffed and underfunded, it is also plagued by poor water supply. The facility also faces closure to top all its woes.
So the midwives from the Nonnatus House will reach out and try and make a difference to the impoverished locals whose lives will be hanging in the balance.
Based on the initial leaks about the plotline for the 2016 Christmas Special of “Call the Midwife,” the midwives will be shaken and exhilarated by the new challenges that they will be facing over in South Africa.
And that by the time their mission is over, the lives of some of the midwives and the medics are expected to be changed forever.
A testament to good writing
“Call the Midwife” was originally set in 1957 but the eight episodes of Season 5 moved to the early 60s when the Kray Twins cast a shadow over the East End.
Pippa Harris, executive producer of “Call the Midwife,” attributes the excellent storyline of the BBC series to the superb writing of Heidi Thomas. She said that the series continues to evolve with its mix of social history, babies, laughter, and tears.
Meanwhile, the US premiere of “Call the Midwife” Season 5 was warmly received by American viewers as the show opened with 1961 as its setting.
American viewers were treated to the return of the TV series that also brought back its regular cast members including Jenny Agutter, Linda Bassett, Pam Ferris, Judy Parfitt, Helen George, Bryony Hannah, Laura Main, Emerald Fennell, Charlotte Ritchie, Victoria Yeates, Ben Caplan, Stephen McGann, Cliff Parisi, Annabelle Apsion, and Kate Lamb.
Vanessa Redgrave voices the matured version of Jennifer Worth. Season 5 shall highlight the thalidomide-triggered birth defect crisis, cites TV Series Finale.
Based on the season synopsis released by PBS prior to the Season 5 premiere of “Call the Midwife” on April 3, Poplar shall begin to feel the winds of social change with the improvements in housing, sanitation, and healthcare.
But for the midwives and nuns of Nonnatus House, it shall be business as usual as they continue to care for the sick and bring new life into the world.
The personal and professional lives of the nurses remain entwined, as events in their work impact on their personal choices.