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Arts & Culture

Call The Midwife Holiday Special 2013

Jessica Raine as Jenny Lee, Bryony Hannah as Cynthia Miller and Helen George as Trixie.
Courtesy of © Neal Street 2013
Jessica Raine as Jenny Lee, Bryony Hannah as Cynthia Miller and Helen George as Trixie.

Airs Sunday, December 29, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. on KPBS TV

PBS will unwrap a special treat for viewers this holiday season with the "Call The Midwife Holiday Special." Premiering Sunday, December 29, 2013, the special will pave the way for a third season of the hit drama CALL THE MIDWIFE, which returns to PBS in spring 2014.

Jessica Raine as Jenny Lee.
Courtesy of © Neal Street 2013
Jessica Raine as Jenny Lee.
Ben Caplan as PC Noakes and Miranda Hart as Chummy in church with baby Freddie.
Courtesy of © Neal Street 2013
Ben Caplan as PC Noakes and Miranda Hart as Chummy in church with baby Freddie.
Ben Caplan as PC Peter Noakes, Raymond Coulthard as Captain Goodacre and Cliff Parisi as Fred at bombsite.
Courtesy of © Neal Street 2013
Ben Caplan as PC Peter Noakes, Raymond Coulthard as Captain Goodacre and Cliff Parisi as Fred at bombsite.
Cubs singing at the evacuation centre.
Courtesy of © Neal Street 2013
Cubs singing at the evacuation centre.

Based on the memoirs of Jennifer Worth and created for TV by Heidi Thomas, CALL THE MIDWIFE follows nurse Jenny Lee and the midwives and nuns from Nonnatus House convent, who visit the expectant mothers of Poplar, providing the poorest women with the best possible care.

Chummy, PC Noakes and baby Freddy are back in the East End, Sister Bernadette, now known as Shelagh since leaving the convent, is preparing for her wedding to Dr. Turner and Jenny is facing huge challenges personally and professionally.

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At Christmas, when an unexploded World War II bomb is found under a warehouse close to Nonnatus House, the nuns and dozens of local families become homeless. Dr. Turner is in a race against time to immunize children against polio, but when the illness strikes closer to home, he finds there’s nothing he can do but hope.

Chummy persuades a royal visitor to the East End to open the new Community Centre. It’s a race against time as Chummy tries to get everything in place for the big day.

“CALL THE MIDWIFE has established itself as a favorite among PBS viewers, and we are thrilled to offer fans a new episode before the premiere of the third season this spring,” said Beth Hoppe, Chief Programming Executive and General Manager, General Audience Programming, PBS. “We are pleased to continue our partnership with Neal Street, and are excited to see what the holidays have in store for our friends at Nonnatus House.”

CALL THE MIDWIFE stars Jessica Raine as Jenny Lee, along with Jenny Agutter (“The Railway Children,” “Spooks”) as Sister Julienne, Pam Ferris (“Little Dorrit,” “Darling Buds of May”) as Sister Evangelina, Miranda Hart (“Miranda”) as Chummy, Judy Parfitt (“Little Dorrit,” "Girl With a Pearl Earring") as Sister Monica Joan, Helen George (“Hollyoaks,” “Doctors”) as Trixie Franklin, Bryony Hannah ("Cemetery Junction") as Cynthia Miller, Laura Main (“Monarch of the Glen”) as Shelagh and Cliff Parisi (“EastEnders”) as Fred. Vanessa Redgrave provides the voice of the mature Jenny.

"Call The Midwife Holiday Special" will be available for online viewing on the PBS Video Portal for 30 days after national broadcast. CALL THE MIDWIFE is on Facebook.

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