By Lacy Baugher for Drama on January 4th, 2016

‘Call the Midwife’ Renewed for a Sixth Season

Patsy, Barbara and Trixie are all heading into 1962. (Photo: BBC/Neal Street Productions)
Patsy, Barbara and Trixie are all heading into 1962. (Photo: BBC/Neal Street Productions)
Patsy, Barbara and Trixie are all heading into 1962. (Photo: BBC/Neal Street Productions)

It’s official: The BBC has renewed its popular period drama Call the Midwife for a sixth season, before a single episode of the drama’s fifth run has even aired. (They actually renewed it before the drama’s even aired its latest Christmas installment, if you want to be super technical about it.)

Season 6 will be comprised of a holiday special in 2016, and an additional 8 episodes in 2017.  This season will take the nuns and midwives into 1962. 

Call The Midwife has been one of Britain’s most popular drama series since it launched in 2012 and was 2015's most-watched drama series in the UK. All four series to date have averaged over 10 million viewers per episode there.

Since the fifth season hasn’t aired yet, there’s been scant information released about what a sixth installment might look like, beyond the time period in which it will be set.

“I am delighted that the BBC has decided to commission series six of Call The Midwife even before we have gone on air with series five!” said executive producer Pippa Harris

Here’s the news straight from the BBC’s Twitter account: 

We’re delighted to announce that Call the Midwife will be returning to BBC One for a sixth series. pic.twitter.com/GUCAW3ywRo

— BBC One (@BBCOne) December 10, 2015

Season 5, which is set to premiere in the UK this January, and will screen in the US on PBS stations this Spring, will be set in 1961 and deal with the heart-rending story of thalidomide. The drug, which was predominantly prescribed for morning sickness, was later discovered to harm the development of unborn babies and cause serious birth defects, especially if taken early in a pregnancy. The drug was eventually withdrawn from the market in 1961, before the UK government issued a warning in May, 1962,

Are you excited at the prospect of even more Call the Midwife in the future? What sorts of storylines would you most like to see? 

By Lacy Baugher for Drama on January 4th, 2016
Lacy Baugher

Lacy's love of British TV is embarrassingly extensive, but primarily centers around evangelizing all things Doctor Who, and watching as many period dramas as possible.

Digital media type by day, she also has a fairly useless degree in British medieval literature, and dearly loves to talk about dream poetry, liminality, and the medieval religious vision. (Sadly, that opportunity presents itself very infrequently.) York apologist, Ninth Doctor enthusiast, and unabashed Ravenclaw. Say hi on Threads or Blue Sky at @LacyMB. 

Explore More

More to Love from Telly Visions