While it’s been hinted the show might go on hiatus, rumours of a Call The Midwife spin-off have also been flying.
Call The Midwife is over for another year with season 14 having come to an end and die-hard fans will now be on a count down to the Christmas Special, which is the next time we’ll see our Nonnatus House favourites.
Not only is Cyril not leaving, he’s also accepted his marriage is over and the season 14 ending saw him pursue a tentative romance with midwife Rosalind. However, bubbling away in the background of all this action, are rumours that Call The Midwife could go on hiatus, and a spin-off could be in the works. Intrigued?
Will there be a Call The Midwife spin-off?
The idea of a Call The Midwife spin-off has yet to be confirmed, although series creator Heidi Thomas has strongly hinted there’s more to explore within the Call The Midwife universe.
The potential spin-off news comes off the back of comments Thomas made to Radio Times over the series taking a break. Although renewed for season 15, Thomas said, “I don’t believe Call the Midwife will ever end. But I do think we might take a break at some point.”
The writer appears to allude to Call The Midwife continuing – just not in the capacity we currently know it as, hinting that different characters could be explored. She also suggested the creators would never be able to bring themselves to fully let go of the show, which is why a spin-off would be created.
“Those of us who are most invested with the show, cast and producers alike, who have been there since the beginning, it is our lives,” she revealed. But Thomas remains firmly tight-lipped about what the additional series could be about, explaining she wasn’t “in a position to talk about things, really”.
Expanding on this slightly, the writer added, “There is a sort of a rolling, ongoing conversation that we always have at this point every year, which is: is there an end point? What are we working towards?” suggesting ways to continue the series in a different timeline could be on the cards.
(Image credit: BBC / Neal Street Productions / Olly Courtney)
If there is to be a spin-off, it begs the question, what or whom will it be about? Trixie has been one of the names on the rumour mill, with speculation suggesting a series could take a look at her life in the run up to her making her way to Nonnatus House.
Of course, while Trixie is one of the only remaining OG cast members, it can’t be forgotten that Jennifer Worth wrote the show’s original source material in the form of her Call The Midwife series of memoirs detailing real stories from her life as a young nurse and midwife in 1950s East End London.
Although Jessica Raine’s Jenny departed the series after three seasons, she appears the most pertinent choice if the series is to travel back in time to delve deeper into a character’s backstory.
However, in our opinion, a Sister Monica Joan spin-off is absolutely the best way forward. Born Antonia Keville in 1873, Sister Monica Joan was born to a wealthy family and had a privileged upbringing. Her family did not approve of careers in nursing, nor did they want their daughter to join a religious order.
Antonia followed her heart and left the wealth and comfort of her family behind to pursue the life of a nun and care for expectant mothers in one of London’s most deprived areas – the Call The Midwife books also delve into this aspect of Sister Monica’s Joan’s incredibly interesting life.
(Image credit: BBC / Neal Street Productions / Olly Courtney)
A spin-off going back to the late 1800’s when a young Antonia is grappling with her calling and the complicated family dynamics it’s causing, would make for fantastic period television.
Not only that, but Sister Monica Joan was one of the original nuns from the orders who trained as midwives at a time there was scant antenatal care offered to pregnant women, who experienced high levels of mortality for both themselves and their babies.
From both a viewer interest point of view, and a time of historical significance when effective antenatal care was growing and seriously improving pregnancy outcomes, running with a Sister Monic Joan spin-off is such a good idea for both finding out more about a character we’ve only seen as an elderly woman with dementia, and offering some interesting history lessons.
Plus, if the series covers a time period from the late 1800’s up to the mid 50s when Call The Midwife as know it began, that’s a huge amount of series’ to be dedicated to it, meaning many, many more years of Call The Midwife loveliness – we’re off to pitch this idea to Heidi Thomas.
