Don't panic, they're here!
BBC One’s most successful drama since records began is set to return with a widely anticipated new series later this month. The quaint programme – about the lives of midwives in the 1950s, living with an order of nuns in the East End – is television drama at its best: a gritty, thought-provoking period piece leavened by a hearty dose of escapism.
How many shows can move seamlessly from teenage pregnancies and workhouse wails to the disaster of Nativity costumes being ruined by a burst pipe? Writer Heidi Thomas, who penned Cranford and Madame Bovary for the BBC, is the creative force behind adapting the memoirs of the late Jennifer Worth.
‘I think the audience response to the first series of Call The Midwife was the warmest I’ve ever known,’ she says.
While the special episode screened on Christmas Day was universally acknowledged as exceptional TV, the appeal of the drama proved to be unexpectedly far-reaching. Thomas recalls being approached by a man in his 70s in her local supermarket. ‘With tears in his eyes, he told me how he was banished from the room when his children were born and Call The Midwife has at last allowed him to share in the miracle of birth.
’
‘The prospect of a return to Nonnatus House was irresistible,’ continues Thomas. Whereas the first series was about establishing the eccentric world of Poplar’s order of nuns, the second provides scope to develop the diverse array of characters with unflinching – occasionally uncomfortable – stories.
‘We feature domestic violence, infant death and the birth of a disabled child,’ she continues. ‘These are not easy stories to tell, but they are real, and important, and often shine a light on the way we live today.’
It seems the show is as enjoyable to make as to watch, with all the cast returning for the second series. Miranda Hart was delighted to reprise her role as Chummy, the ungainly yet good-humoured viceroy’s daughter who has renounced her privileged background for the worthy world of nursing. ‘I think often the success of a show is because there is love, friendship and warmth between the cast. And that translates,’ says a typically jovial Hart.
‘There are no big egos flying around; everyone has a great sense of humour – we laugh a lot – and we all love the show and work hard to make it as good as we can. It’s a great vibe on set.’ Hart reveals that she and Judy Parfitt (who plays Sister Monica Joan) have an especially good camaraderie. ‘She has such a dry sense of humour and I just look at her and laugh. We are the naughty ones!’
Any fan of Miranda Hart will know that naughty, yet innocuous, humour is her hallmark. She is rapidly becoming a national treasure with her eponymous BBC sitcom, regular appearances on panel shows and her recent bestselling book, Is It Just Me? There are rumours that Her Majesty is a fan (especially after Hart co-hosted last year’s Diamond Jubilee Concert). It may seem like a rapid rise to success, but, for Miranda Hart, it has been the culmination of years of the most literal kind of funny business. She always knew that she wanted to do comedy and, following a solo show at Edinburgh festival in 2002, she had bit parts in a number of television shows including The Vicar Of Dibley, Lead Balloon and French And Saunders. She went on to pitch a comedy show to the BBC, recording the pilot episode in 2008. Her show, Miranda, is now in its third series and the Christmas Day episode notched up a staggering 9.5 million viewers.
Hart’s role in Call The Midwife is a high-profile venture into more serious acting, albeit with an occasionally humorous, slapstick edge – and resulted from an appeal from Jennifer Worth, herself. ‘Jennifer sent me a copy of the book and said, “I’ve been watching your sitcom and this is my novel, which is based on true stories and I watch you and think of my friend Chummy. It looks like it’s being made into a TV show, so I really hope you get to play Chummy as I can’t think of anyone who’s more suited”. It was such an honour.’
Hart shares many similarities with Camilla ‘Chummy’ Cholomondely- Browne: an aristocratic background with which she does not feel entirely akin, a total lack of vanity and a monumental sense of kindness. She has relished the chance to develop the character. ‘I think all of the characters just feel more real. That’s the joy of getting a second series to have the chance to do that. Chummy fits in now. She is still in a completely different world to her family, but realises she has found her place in the world. She is part of a community and people love her.’
One of these people is PC Noakes, Chummy’s love interest from the last series who is now her on-screen husband, and Hart is especially thrilled by the development: ‘It’s very lovely to be finally married in a show. I’m never married! She and Peter are perfect for each other.’ Like writer Heidi Thomas, Hart also finds that the show is illuminating on a social level. ‘It’s interesting playing the couple in the 1950s because there is still a kind of slight formality and shyness between them. A respectful quality, I suppose, and a sense that some things they keep to themselves. Today the divide between men and women is less and less – we all know everything, for better or worse.’
From laughter to love, it’s clear that Hart is just as enraptured with Call The Midwife as its audience of millions. In fact, she reveals the only thing she could do without is the seamed tights. ‘Every morning I get in a muddle putting them on, getting the line right at the back, laddering them within seconds. Me and the tights are not friends.’ Happily, it’s this clumsiness that makes Miranda Hart – and, in turn, Chummy – utterly charming.
Call The Midwife series two returns to BBC One on Sunday at 8pm.
The Life And Times Of Call The Midwife: The Official Companion To Series One And Two by Heidi Thomas, is published by Collins, priced £20.
FRED (CLIFF PARISI)
The resident handyman of Nonnatus House, Fred is a true East Ender with a warm personality. An original entrepreneur, he never overlooks an opportunity to make his fortune and has masterminded some eccentric ventures in the past, including an unsuccessful bacon business, which had to be abandoned after his only pig accidentally fell pregnant.
MOTTO ‘Hard work never killed anyone. But it has put a few backs out’
JIMMY (GEORGE RAINSFORD)
An old friend of Nurse Jenny Lee (Jessica Raine) and a potential romantic interest (who is also easy on the eye). Although Jenny has turned down his advances in the past, because of her failed relationship with a married man, she is extremely fond of the charming Jimmy.
MOTTO ‘Hold fast to that which is good’
PC PETER NOAKES (BEN CAPLAN)
The husband of Chummy – or Camilla, as he calls her – PC Noakes is genuine and chivalrous and cares deeply for his new wife. After years of bad luck in love, Chummy met PC Noakes when she knocked him off his bike during her first cycling lesson.
MOTTO ‘God loves a trier’
DR TURNER (STEPHEN MCGANN)
The handsome and respectable doctor works closely with the midwives of Nonnatus House and is completely dedicated to his patients. He is always on hand to assist the midwives if complications arise. As a widower, the doctor is the lone parent of his son, Timothy.
MOTTO ‘Treat often, cure sometimes, comfort always’
Compiled by Alesha Bonser
How many shows can move seamlessly from teenage pregnancies and workhouse wails to the disaster of Nativity costumes being ruined by a burst pipe? Writer Heidi Thomas, who penned Cranford and Madame Bovary for the BBC, is the creative force behind adapting the memoirs of the late Jennifer Worth.
‘I think the audience response to the first series of Call The Midwife was the warmest I’ve ever known,’ she says.
While the special episode screened on Christmas Day was universally acknowledged as exceptional TV, the appeal of the drama proved to be unexpectedly far-reaching. Thomas recalls being approached by a man in his 70s in her local supermarket. ‘With tears in his eyes, he told me how he was banished from the room when his children were born and Call The Midwife has at last allowed him to share in the miracle of birth.
’
‘The prospect of a return to Nonnatus House was irresistible,’ continues Thomas. Whereas the first series was about establishing the eccentric world of Poplar’s order of nuns, the second provides scope to develop the diverse array of characters with unflinching – occasionally uncomfortable – stories.
‘We feature domestic violence, infant death and the birth of a disabled child,’ she continues. ‘These are not easy stories to tell, but they are real, and important, and often shine a light on the way we live today.’
It seems the show is as enjoyable to make as to watch, with all the cast returning for the second series. Miranda Hart was delighted to reprise her role as Chummy, the ungainly yet good-humoured viceroy’s daughter who has renounced her privileged background for the worthy world of nursing. ‘I think often the success of a show is because there is love, friendship and warmth between the cast. And that translates,’ says a typically jovial Hart.
‘There are no big egos flying around; everyone has a great sense of humour – we laugh a lot – and we all love the show and work hard to make it as good as we can. It’s a great vibe on set.’ Hart reveals that she and Judy Parfitt (who plays Sister Monica Joan) have an especially good camaraderie. ‘She has such a dry sense of humour and I just look at her and laugh. We are the naughty ones!’
Any fan of Miranda Hart will know that naughty, yet innocuous, humour is her hallmark. She is rapidly becoming a national treasure with her eponymous BBC sitcom, regular appearances on panel shows and her recent bestselling book, Is It Just Me? There are rumours that Her Majesty is a fan (especially after Hart co-hosted last year’s Diamond Jubilee Concert). It may seem like a rapid rise to success, but, for Miranda Hart, it has been the culmination of years of the most literal kind of funny business. She always knew that she wanted to do comedy and, following a solo show at Edinburgh festival in 2002, she had bit parts in a number of television shows including The Vicar Of Dibley, Lead Balloon and French And Saunders. She went on to pitch a comedy show to the BBC, recording the pilot episode in 2008. Her show, Miranda, is now in its third series and the Christmas Day episode notched up a staggering 9.5 million viewers.
Hart’s role in Call The Midwife is a high-profile venture into more serious acting, albeit with an occasionally humorous, slapstick edge – and resulted from an appeal from Jennifer Worth, herself. ‘Jennifer sent me a copy of the book and said, “I’ve been watching your sitcom and this is my novel, which is based on true stories and I watch you and think of my friend Chummy. It looks like it’s being made into a TV show, so I really hope you get to play Chummy as I can’t think of anyone who’s more suited”. It was such an honour.’
Hart shares many similarities with Camilla ‘Chummy’ Cholomondely- Browne: an aristocratic background with which she does not feel entirely akin, a total lack of vanity and a monumental sense of kindness. She has relished the chance to develop the character. ‘I think all of the characters just feel more real. That’s the joy of getting a second series to have the chance to do that. Chummy fits in now. She is still in a completely different world to her family, but realises she has found her place in the world. She is part of a community and people love her.’
One of these people is PC Noakes, Chummy’s love interest from the last series who is now her on-screen husband, and Hart is especially thrilled by the development: ‘It’s very lovely to be finally married in a show. I’m never married! She and Peter are perfect for each other.’ Like writer Heidi Thomas, Hart also finds that the show is illuminating on a social level. ‘It’s interesting playing the couple in the 1950s because there is still a kind of slight formality and shyness between them. A respectful quality, I suppose, and a sense that some things they keep to themselves. Today the divide between men and women is less and less – we all know everything, for better or worse.’
From laughter to love, it’s clear that Hart is just as enraptured with Call The Midwife as its audience of millions. In fact, she reveals the only thing she could do without is the seamed tights. ‘Every morning I get in a muddle putting them on, getting the line right at the back, laddering them within seconds. Me and the tights are not friends.’ Happily, it’s this clumsiness that makes Miranda Hart – and, in turn, Chummy – utterly charming.
Call The Midwife series two returns to BBC One on Sunday at 8pm.
The Life And Times Of Call The Midwife: The Official Companion To Series One And Two by Heidi Thomas, is published by Collins, priced £20.
The chaps of Call The Midwife
We take a look at the men amongst the midwives…FRED (CLIFF PARISI)
The resident handyman of Nonnatus House, Fred is a true East Ender with a warm personality. An original entrepreneur, he never overlooks an opportunity to make his fortune and has masterminded some eccentric ventures in the past, including an unsuccessful bacon business, which had to be abandoned after his only pig accidentally fell pregnant.
MOTTO ‘Hard work never killed anyone. But it has put a few backs out’
JIMMY (GEORGE RAINSFORD)
An old friend of Nurse Jenny Lee (Jessica Raine) and a potential romantic interest (who is also easy on the eye). Although Jenny has turned down his advances in the past, because of her failed relationship with a married man, she is extremely fond of the charming Jimmy.
MOTTO ‘Hold fast to that which is good’
PC PETER NOAKES (BEN CAPLAN)
The husband of Chummy – or Camilla, as he calls her – PC Noakes is genuine and chivalrous and cares deeply for his new wife. After years of bad luck in love, Chummy met PC Noakes when she knocked him off his bike during her first cycling lesson.
MOTTO ‘God loves a trier’
DR TURNER (STEPHEN MCGANN)
The handsome and respectable doctor works closely with the midwives of Nonnatus House and is completely dedicated to his patients. He is always on hand to assist the midwives if complications arise. As a widower, the doctor is the lone parent of his son, Timothy.
MOTTO ‘Treat often, cure sometimes, comfort always’
Compiled by Alesha Bonser