PREVIEW: Call the Midwife: Sisters in Arms

Sister Alice (Julie Hesmondhalgh), Sister Julienne (Helena Wilson) (Image: Neal Street/BBC)

By Jon Donnis

The BBC has unveiled the first pictures from Call the Midwife: Sisters in Arms, as filming wraps on the three-part Christmas special from Neal Street.

The newly released images offer a first look at Julie Hesmondhalgh, Helena Wilson, Ellie McKay, Liv Andrusier and Lizzie Back on set, with the new special set to arrive on BBC iPlayer and BBC One this Christmas.

Set in September 1939, the story takes viewers back to the early days of Nonnatus House. Sister Monica Joan is in her prime, while Sister Julienne and Sister Evangelina are young and zealous. Alongside Sister Alice, local GP Dr Kit and three young secular midwives, Sybil, Olive and Marianne, they dedicate themselves to the mothers, babies and vulnerable people of Poplar.

However, this is a community facing extraordinary hardship. There is no gas and air, no penicillin, no cure for TB and no welfare state. Then Britain declares war, bringing the blackout and the Blitz to Poplar.

Olive Dobbs (Ellie Mckay), Marianne Siegler (Liv Andrusier), Sybil Maxted (Lizzie Back) (Image: Neal Street/BBC)

As bombs fall, women give birth underground, families are separated, children run wild and entire streets are destroyed. Against this backdrop, the Nonnatus House team must rely on courage, compassion and resilience as the community comes together to survive.

Writer and showrunner Heidi Thomas OBE has revealed that the production brought some particularly emotional moments, especially the story of Poplar's children being evacuated and the fear that they might not make it home for Christmas.

With filming now complete, Call the Midwife: Sisters in Arms looks set to deliver another emotionally charged Christmas chapter, combining the show's familiar compassion with the immense challenges faced by its characters during the outbreak of the Second World War.

Call the Midwife: Sisters in Arms is made by All3Media's Neal Street for the BBC. Heidi Thomas created, wrote and executive produced the special, with Pippa Harris and Ann Tricklebank executive producing for Neal Street. Tricklebank directed episodes one and two, while John Maidens directed episode three.

Previous series of Call the Midwife are currently available on BBC iPlayer.