Call the Midwife’s first 2025 Christmas episode has already given us a hint at what’s in store for Matthew’s storyline next year – but when is the second part of the festive special going to be available on the BBC? Don’t worry, we have all the information you need…
It’s a busy time for the Call the Midwife team. In addition to the international, two-part, festive special, the franchise is also expanding into a movie and a prequel series, as well as getting confirmation of its fifteenth season.
The film is set to see some “iconic characters” go abroad, while the spin-off show takes things back to Poplar during World War Two. Those worried over continuity with the show have nothing to fear – the spinoffs are being created, written and produced by the series’ showrunner Heidi Thomas and executive producers Pippa Harris and Ann Tricklebank, also a producer.
But before any of those come to pass, you’ll need to catch up on everything that happens to the members of Nonnatus House over the two-part Christmas special.
What time is episode 2 of Call the Midwife’s Christmas special on BBC One and iPlayer?
Episode two follows episode one by a whole day – a full 24 hours of titillating suspense.
It airs on BBC One and iPlayer on Boxing Day, 26 December, at 8.30 pm.
BBC
For those die-hard fans who can’t get enough, you can stream all episodes of Call the Midwife in between episodes one and two of the Christmas special on iPlayer.
Part one saw the senior members of Nonnatus House travel to Hong Kong to tackle a crisis at the Order’s branch house. When Fred (played by Cliff Parisi) and Violet (Annabelle Apsion) arrive in the city, they soon find that the Branch House in Kowloon has collapsed with “many fatalities”.
As such, as “rescue mission is hastily organised and a team from Nonnatus make emergency plans to head out to Hong Kong”. Meanwhile, Dr Turner (played by Stephen McGann) and Shelagh (Laura Main) find Esther (Yennis Cheung) and her son, who is unwell.
PHOTOGRAPHER:Charmaine Man//BBC
In part two, the rescue work of the team in Hong Kong comes under threat. Back in Poplar, the young midwives throw a wild party at Nonnatus House. Don’t fret, though. Molly Vevers, who plays Sister Catherine, said the “heart-rending” storylines are “woven in with all the Christmas magic of the rest of the episode” (via BBC).
As for what fans have to look forward to, it’s going to be unlike what you’ve seen so far, according to Dr Patrick Turner actor Stephen McGann. “There is just so much change coming,” he said. “What you’ve seen in Call the Midwife in the last year or two is people coming, whispers of change, it’s kind of like, without saying any spoilers, it does get real. There’s some stuff that is coming over the hill that is really real.”
Photographer://BBC
McGann further promised more “classic Call the Midwife” moments in the new scripts, and that the cast were left “reeling” by the latest one.
For those thinking it may be more international focus, McGann added: “As you know, we’ve done travelling. Things are going to be not the same as they were, but they’re going to continue in a different vein, so who knows? We’re the last to find out.”
Season 15 takes place in 1971 and, as the show is famous for doing with aplomb, tackles themes around current issues of the time such as the Women’s Liberation Movement and slavery, according to the official synopsis, as well as medical themes such as premature birth, placenta previa, kidney cancer, and tuberculosis.
But that’s all far off in the future, for now you can hunker down with the festive, heart-warming (and tear-jerking) two-part Call the Midwife special.
Call the Midwife Christmas special episode two is on BBC One and streaming on BBC iPlayer on Boxing Day, 26 December, at 8.30 pm.
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