Call The Midwife Season 10 - What We Know So Far

The charming, poignant, and bingeable period drama Call the Midwife has returned to BBC for its tenth season, in which it continues to explore post-war London through the eyes of the dedicated midwives of Nonnatus House. Like many other TV series, Call the Midwife dealt with a series of setbacks to its regular filming schedule due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, but now that it's back on track in its home country, it should be returning to American shores in due course.

The BBC program, which found a broader audience in the United States and beyond thanks to deals with PBS and Netflix, has enjoyed consistent popularity since its 2020 debut. Call the Midwife was initially based on the popular memoirs of Jennifer Worth. However, the show diverged from her stories after the departure of the character based on Worth, Jenny Lee (Jessica Raine), per Entertainment Weekly. After parting ways with the source material, Call the Midwife earned praise for its excellent ensemble cast and depiction of the impact of actual historical events and crises on families in London's East End.

With the tenth season beginning its run in the U.K. in April 2021, we now know quite a bit about what to expect from the next chapter of Call the Midwife.

First we got the tweet from the show's official Twitter account on February 19 announcing that filming had finished, meaning that episodes should arrive sooner rather than later.

Call the Midwife, which Deadline reports was initially set to begin filming in the spring of 2020, was forced to cancel its initial schedule due to pandemic disruptions. The show's tenth season was left in limbo as Neal Street Productions developed new safety protocols and condensed the season from eight episodes to seven. Filming was able to resume in August of 2020, with the cast and crew focused on delivering the traditional feature-length holiday special the show has aired on Christmas every year since its second season. That effort was successful, and the special arrived on time for a December 25, 2020 airing.

The Christmas special typically serves as a lead-in for the beginning of a new season of Call the Midwives every January. While a winter 2021 start has come and gone, the new episodes only slipped a few months to April. According to Southern Living, American audiences can expect to get their turn with the new episodes on PBS this fall.

Call the Midwife has demonstrated in the past that it has no qualms shaking up its cast, both by introducing exciting new characters and saying goodbye to fan-favorites. The show's willingness to switch up its ensemble has proven one of its great strengths, and allowed Call the Midwife to explore diverse social and cultural issues as the show moved from the '50s to the '60s. However, it does make predicting which actresses and actors will be returning, appearing for the first time, or saying goodbye a bit challenging, since it changes so much from season to season.

Thankfully, the Christmas special has proven a reliable indicator of who fans can expect to see on the show in the following season. As confirmed by the BBC premiere of season 10, international fans can expect Laura Main to return as Shelagh Turner, Jenny Agutter appearing once again as Sister Julienne, and Leonie Elliot will return as the show's first main BIPOC character, Lucille Anderson. All of these actresses, and many more, have appeared on the official Call the Midwife Twitter account confirming their appearances in season 10.

While many familiar faces are returning to Call the Midwife in season 10, there are a few actresses who won't be reprising their roles in 2021. Radio Times reports that Jennifer Kirby, who played Nurse Val Dyer, departed from her position while the show was delayed during the pandemic. Likewise, Miriam Margolyes, who has appeared as Sister Mildred since 2018, could not return for filming due to pandemic travel restrictions and health concerns, per MyLondon.

Since the episodes have already started airing on BBC One, we don't spoil anything, but here's the setup for season 10.

Season 10 of Call the Midwife takes place in 1966, and series creator Heidi Thomas has hinted that one particularly jubilant event might show up — England's FIFA World Cup victory, which occurred that very same year. While discussing the show plans for season 9, Thomas said, "I know that England will win the World Cup in 1966, therefore this year we mustn't do any sporting stories" (via Radio Times). As such, fans can expect the World Cup to appear prominently at some point in the season.

Call the Midwife will also almost certainly deal with whether Nonnatus House once again faces demolition. At the outset of season 9, a letter arrived informing the staff that their property was scheduled for removal. Fans may remember that the original Nonnatus House was demolished in season 3, and the issue of potentially needing to find another new home will likely be a significant plot point in season 10.

For those viewers who really do want a spoilery heads-up, we'll just say that the first two episodes of season 10 have served up an extra special helping of tragedy for Trixie — as if she needed it. Catch up on BBC One (if you're in the U.K.), otherwise, start counting down the days to that PBS premiere this fall.