BBC responds to Call The Midwife axe claims and issues denial in bombshell statement

Call the Midwife WILL return for a 16th series the BBC insisted yesterday - while admitting there was no time-frame yet for when this might happen.

Series 15 will air from January next year, followed by a cinema-release movie version and a prequel series set during WWII featuring some of the much-loved characters as younger versions of themselves.

Now bosses have said that the show, featuring the nuns and nurses of Nonnatus House, will be back on the TV with the original cast “in due course”.

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Amid rumours that the show could be ending for good, insiders said that it may not take the form of a full series and could, perhaps, follow in the footsteps of ITV’s Downton Abbey which made three films once it had ended its run on television.

One source said: “The intention is certainly for Call the Midwife to come back to the TV in one way or another. It could be that it returns as specials, rather than a full series, but we just don’t know yet. But it will be back! Fans haven’t seen the last of their favourite characters yet.”

This morning the BBC said in a statement: ”The BBC would like to reassure fans that Call The Midwife will remain at the heart of the BBC for years to come.

"As previously announced, there are two Christmas specials, a new series, a film and prequel series, before a sixteenth series in due course. Call the Midwife isn’t going anywhere.”

It comes after Scott Mills had a stream of messages on his Radio 2 breakfast show from listeners saying how heartbroken they were that the drama was ending after 13 years.

Based on the memoir of Jennifer Worth, it launched on BBC1 in 2012 and has become a firm favourite ever since, also proving a huge hit with viewers on Christmas Day.

The cast are currently signed up on contracts which run until November this year which are likely to be renewed for next year as they set about shooting the movie, which has already been announced. The insider said: “In terms of getting the cast back, production will work it all out before the end of filming next year.”

Rumours of the show’s demise came as the cast admitted they were feeling emotional as filming began on next year’s series - because they didn’t know when the another one might follow.

But in May it was announced that the main show would simply “take a break” from BBC1 while production switched to the prequel series, set during the war, plus a standalone movie, for cinema release.

Reports claimed that show bosses wanted the series to “end on a high”. One source told The Daily Star: “After years of drama and countless births, Call The Midwife is coming to an end. The team have decided it’s time to draw the show to a close and bow out. This is the last we’ll see of these much-loved characters. Storylines will tie up a lot of loose ends.”

But this morning sources said that the emotion being felt by the cast was down to it being a temporary pause to the normal schedule for the show, rather than a permanent one.

The prequel, set during the Blitz years of World War II. will feature younger versions of many favourite current characters, likely to include Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter), Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt), Dr Turner (Stephen McGann) and Fred Buckle (Cliff Parisi). It could also feature Sister Evangelina, the character played by Pam Ferris until the nun’s death during the fifth series.

In contrast, the feature film will star the current cast and is likely to include some returning favourites, possibly including Miranda Hart as Chummy and Miriam Margolyes as Mother Mildred, and may also feature big-name guest stars.

One insider said at the time: “Joanna Lumley as a nun? Now that’s something I’d like to see.”

The movie will be set abroad, in 1972, as the rise in hospital births gives the nuns and nurses a chance to take their skills further afield. Possible locations include Hong Kong, which is where this year’s two-part Christmas special will be set, or South Africa, last visited in 2016.

Insiders speaking last month stressed that the new projects did not herald the end for the main series, which would resume “in due course” after the other projects were made.

Writer Heidi Thomas explained: “I have never run out of stories for our midwives, and I never will. But having wept, laughed, and raged my way from 1957 to 1971, I found myself yearning to delve into the deeper past.

“The Blitz years in the East End were extraordinary - filled with loss, togetherness, courage and joy. The bombs fell, the babies kept on coming, and the Sisters kept on going. There will be so much in the prequel for our wonderful, loyal fans, including the appearance of some familiar (if much younger!) faces.”

And executive producer Dame Pippa Harris said: “It now feels like the right time to expand our world and take our nuns and midwives onto the big screen with our movie, and back in time with the prequel.”

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