'Call The Midwife's 2024 Holiday Special Trailer Says Farewell to the 1960s

There are very few things one can count on in the television landscape, especially when it comes to British TV. There will always eventually be a new season of Doctor Who, for example (even if it takes a decade or two). The BBC will ask if you have a television license and never check if you have one, is another. However, since 2012, we can always depend on Call The Midwife debuting a Christmas special every season, followed by the new season starting just after the new year.

The series, initially set in 1957 when it launched over a decade ago, probably hoped to run at least a few years when it debuted. No one, least of all the cast, would have expected it to continue on for over a decade, leading the series to cross not only into the 1960s but then right back out again as the 1970s loom large at the beginning of Season 15. The Christmas special, the series' first two-hour supersized edition, will arrive on the holiday, debuting with both episodes on the BBC and PBS on Wednesday, December 25, 2024, and celebrate the show's covering an entire decade. 

Season 15 will follow on the BBC starting Sunday, January 5, 2025, and arrive sometime in mid-to-late March on PBS. (It may come earlier than that for PBS Passport members, but that's not confirmed yet.) However, until then, let's get into the spirit of the season as the old year dies and babies are born.

Here's PBS's synopsis for the two-part Christmas episode:

It’s Christmas 1969, and the Funfair and Carol concert add color to Frosty Poplar. Yet, the festive spirit at Nonnatus House is dampened by the spread of influenza alongside growing fears of an escaped prisoner after a spate of break-ins. 

As always, Call the Midwife will star Judy Parfitt as Sister Monica Joan, Jenny Agutter as Sister Julienne, Laura Main as Shelagh Turner, Helen George as Trixie Aylward, Cliff Parisi as Fred Buckle, Stephen McGann as Dr. Turner, Linda Bassett as Nurse Crane, Megan Cusack as Nancy Corrigan, Annabelle Apsion as Violet Buckle, Georgie Glen as Miss Higgins, Zephryn Taitte as Cyril Robinson, Rebecca Gethings as Sister Veronica, Daniel Laurie as Reggie Jackson, Renee Bailey as Joyce Highland, Natalie Quarry as Rosalind Clifford, Alice Brown as Angela Turner, Francesca Fullilove as Colette Corrigan, April Rae Hoang as May Tang and Edward Shaw as Teddy Turner.

Call the Midwife 2024's two-part holiday special will debut on PBS, the PBS app, the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel, and PBS Passport on Christmas Day, December 25, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET as a two-hour block, running until 10 p.m. ET. Season 15 will follow in early 2025. 

Seasons 10-14, including their Christmas Specials, are available to stream for members on PBS Passport. (Seasons 1-9 are available on Netflix in the U.S.)