'Call the Midwife' Season 14 Filming Kicks Off with Holiday Special Photo

For viewers who aren't PBS Passport members, there's still one more episode of Call the Midwife Season 13 left to go. However, that hasn't stopped Neal Street Productions from getting on with Season 14 across the pond, with filming for the next season officially kicking off on Monday, April 29, 2024. The series released a photo from the forthcoming annual Holiday Special to commemorate the start of production in the new season, which looks for all the world like the Christmas photo from the Turner family that will be included in all the cards sent out this coming year.

The BBC does what it calls "Festive Specials" for its most popular series, but Call the Midwife has the distinction of having had one since it first debuted, starting after its very first season with a special that kicked off Season 2 and then one every year thereafter. After more than a decade, the show's Christmas installments aren't just a yearly staple; they're practically a tradition.

Fans, of course, will note that focusing on the Turner family in the Christmas photo is deliberate, taking the heat off its major drama cliffhanger of Trixie and Matthew's crumbling marriage. While the state of the Aylward marriage will not be resolved by the end of Season 13, word has it that Helen George, who plays Trixie, is not leaving the show. However, we'll all be waiting impatiently to see precisely how the series plans to solve the current predicament once the holidays roll around.

Meanwhile, there's no official synopsis for Season 14, which is good, since it would be full of spoilers for those who haven't seen the finale. However, the caption for the photo reads:

We begin our filming season in Christmas 1969, before we move on to the new year, and our new series 14 episodes. This yuletide marks a poignant turning point - as it's the last time we'll be filming in the swinging sixties! Next stop: the supersonic seventies!!!

Furthermore, series creator Heidi Thomas put out a short statement saying, "After all these years, I still get butterflies every time I see the first clapperboard picture from the set. Series 14 is set in 1970, launching us into an exciting new decade. We can’t wait to bring you another season full of touching, exciting, emotional stories from Nonnatus House... And BOY do we have some stories for you! We cannot WAIT to show you what's coming...."

The post does not confirm the cast for the Christmas special or Season 14, but right now, the assumption is that the core group from Season 13 will return, excluding Olly Rix. That includes Judy Parfitt, Jenny Agutter, Laura Main, Stephen McGann, Cliff Parisi, Annabelle Apsion, Linda Bassett, Daniel Laurie, Georgie Glen, Zephryn Taitte, Megan Cusack, Rebecca Gethings, Renee Bailey, and Natalie Quarry. Helen George will hopefully turn up for Christmas and, if not, then for Season 14. New cast members will be announced in due course.

Call the Midwife's 2024 Festive Special will air on Christmas in December 2024, and Season 14 will follow in early 2025.