—PBS is transporting viewers back to East London with a seventh season of the critically acclaimed British drama CALL THE MIDWIFE.—
CALL THE MIDWIFE contains mature content that may not be suitable for all audiences. Viewer discretion is advised. Rated TV-14.
Nonnatus House welcomes a new midwife, Lucille Anderson played by Leonie Elliott ("Wondrous Oblivion," "Danny and the Human Zoo," BLACK MIRROR), the first West Indian midwife to be featured as a series regular.
Elegant, compassionate and clever, Nurse Lucille is swift to settle in and brings a fresh new energy to life at Nonnatus House.
Her story reflects the experiences of Caribbean nurses who traveled to the U.K. in the 1960s to support the expanding National Health Service.
Season 7 of CALL THE MIDWIFE opens as the “Big Freeze” of 1963 continues and the midwives persevere through the intense winter.
The nuns and nurses of Nonnatus House are being tested as they have never been before, both personally and professionally.
All around them they see the old East End vanishing, as slum clearances make way for bold new tower blocks to accommodate expanding communities.
They find themselves facing a wide range of medical challenges, from breech birth to cancer, Huntington’s chorea and cataracts.
Trixie and Christopher continue to develop their romance, while Tom and Barbara enjoy life as a married couple.
Nurse Crane’s authority is questioned from an unexpected source, and Sister Monica Joan is forced to accept her failing faculties.
Additionally, life for the Turners is turned upside down when Shelagh decides to employ an au pair.
FILMMAKER QUOTES:
Dame Pippa Harris, executive producer for Neal Street Productions said, “We are thrilled to be bringing another series of CALL THE MIDWIFE to our loyal audience in America, together with our partners at PBS. The series goes from strength to strength thanks to Heidi Thomas’s creativity and skill as a screenwriter, and the brilliance of our cast and crew.”
Creator and Executive Producer Heidi Thomas said, “CALL THE MIDWIFE is a love letter to community, family, babies, and the strength of women. We’re thrilled to be able to share Season 7 with our loyal and much-loved PBS fans.”
EPISODE GUIDE:
Episode 1: airs Sunday, March 25 at 8 p.m. - Lucille, two days late due to the snow and ill, is called from her sick bed to assist with a breech birth. A single mother plans to give up her baby for adoption, but Trixie is concerned that her blood type might cause problems for baby.
Episode 2: airs Sunday, March 25 at 9 p.m. - Lucille faces racism and prejudice when a new mother becomes ill. Sister Winifred is keen to have fathers be more involved in the care of their babies.
Episode 3: airs Sunday, April 1 at 8 p.m. - A mother abandons her children at the clinic, leaving the family devastated. When Violet and Fred organize a beauty contest for charity, Valerie and Magda both sign up and quickly become close friends—leading to the sharing of a terrible secret.
Episode 4: airs Sunday, April 8 at 8 p.m. - Sister Julienne navigates a complex situation with a Pakistani family facing an unexpected pregnancy. Sister Monica Joan’s pride and independence are in jeopardy as her sight deteriorates. Trixie struggles to cope after a break up.
Episode 5: airs Sunday, April 15 at 8 p.m. - Lucille tries to win the trust of a mother who suffers from tokophobia, a morbid fear of giving birth. Nurse Crane and Dr. Turner try to find a sailor at large in Poplar and rumored to have smallpox. Violet and Fred plan a picnic for the parish.
Episode 6: airs Sunday, April 22 at 8 p.m. - Barbara helps a widowed, pregnant mother when she and her children lose their home. Lucille teaches a health class and encounters a furious mother who objects to her daughter’s attendance there. Sister Monica Joan prepares for cataract surgery.
Episode 7: airs Sunday, April 29 at 8 p.m. - Barbara's condition doesn't improve and she's kept in isolation at the hospital, leaving her friends bereft. Dr. Turner and Shelagh assist a man held in a remand home, while Lucille makes some new friends.
Episode 8: airs Sunday, May 6 at 8 p.m. - The team rallies to prepare for Sister Monica Joan's birthday. Meanwhile, the closing of a nearby maternity home brings an influx of expectant mothers to the Nonnatus midwives. Lucille meets Olive, whose father has a secret he can no longer keep.
WATCH ON YOUR SCHEDULE:
Full episodes of CALL THE MIDWIFE Season 7 will be available to stream the morning after broadcast on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and PBS apps for iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Chromecast.
CALL THE MIDWIFE seasons 1-6 are now available on DVD and Blu-ray on shopPBS.org.
Additional items, including Jennifer Worth’s memoirs, published by Penguin Books, "The Life and Times of Call the Midwife," published by Harper Collins, and "Doctor Turner’s Casebook," published by Simon & Schuster UK, are also available.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION:
CALL THE MIDWIFE is on Facebook, and you can follow @CallTheMidwife1 on Twitter. #MidwifePBS #callthemidwife
CAST AND CHARACTERS:
- Jenny Agutter (“The Railway Children,” SPOOKS) as Sister Julienne
- Linda Bassett (“East Is East,” LARK RISE TO CANDLEFORD) as Nurse Phyllis Crane
- Judy Parfitt (LITTLE DORRIT, "Girl With a Pearl Earring"), who was nominated for a 2013 Satellite Award for her work as Sister Monica Joan
- Helen George (HOLLYOAKS, DOCTORS) as Trixie Franklin
- Laura Main (MONARCH OF THE GLEN) as Shelagh Turner
- Charlotte Ritchie (LIFE OF RILEY, FRESH MEAT) as Nurse Barbara Hereward,
- Victoria Yeates (HOLBY CITY) as Sister Winifred
- Jennifer Kirby (HOLBY CITY) as Nurse Valerie Dyer
- Stephen McGann (EMMERDALE) as Dr. Patrick Turner
- Jack Ashton (ENDEAVOUR, “Of Mary”) as Tom Hereward
- Cliff Parisi (EASTENDERS) as Fred
- Annabelle Apsion (SHAMELESS) as Violet Buckle
- Daniel Laurie as Reggie
- Jack Hawkins (HOLBY CITY) as Christopher Dockerill
- Leonie Elliott ("Wondrous Oblivion," "Danny and the Human Zoo," BLACK MIRROR) as Nurse Lucille Anderson
- Vanessa Redgrave voices the mature Jennifer Worth
CREDITS:
Created and written by Heidi Thomas, also the executive producer of LITTLE WOMEN on MASTERPIECEcoming to PBS May 13, 2018.
Executive Producers are Pippa Harris, Heidi Thomas and Ann Tricklebank. Executive Producer’s for the BBC are Elizabeth Kilgarriffand Christopher Aird. Episode one is directed by Syd Macartney (LAST TANGO IN HALIFAX, THE SYNDICATE, "A Love Divided"). The series is a Neal Street production for BBC/PBS and is distributed by BBC Worldwide North America.
