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Call the Midwife Season 10 Will Debut This Sunday

Lauren Hubbard
·4-min read

After an especially dramatic ninth season of the feel-good British hit Call the Midwife, fans are already starting to wonder what the future has in store for Poplar's busiest midwives. Here's everything we know so far about what's next for the beloved series.

When will the next season premiere?

The tenth season will hit our screens starting October 3, 2021 on Masterpiece on PBS. The episodes will air on Sundays at 8 p.m. EST.

In addition to the season itself, a special compilation episode titled "Special Delivery" will air on November 21, 2021 in celebration of the show's 10th season.

Will this be the last season?

The good news for Midwife fans is that there will be no anxious wait to see whether there will be more seasons about the adventures of Nonnatus House. The BBC has confirmed that they've extended their order for the show to run all the way through season 13.

Though filming for the tenth season was unavoidably delayed by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been confirmed that, as with previous installments, all of the new seasons will consist of 8 hour-long episodes and a Christmas special.

"It's an incredible privilege to be able to look back on a decade of Call the Midwife, and yet know that our journey is still very far from over.," said the show's creator Heidi Thomas. "We are thrilled to be going on for a few more years!"

Thomas had previously suggested that the show might have to conclude when the storylines reach the mid-1970s. "I do know that the original nuns on whom the original books were based left Poplar in 1976, because the social and the medical climate had changed," she told Radio Times in 2019. "They relocated to Birmingham and focused more on spiritual work. So I don't know how far into the 1970s we could go." As the most recent seasons have placed the show in the 1960s, it's not yet clear whether that would make season 14 the last, or if there could be yet more Call the Midwife after that.

The Cast

Most of the core cast will be returning for season 10, including Jenny Agutter (Sister Julienne), Helen George (Trixie), Leonie Elliott (Lucille), and Judy Parfitt as Sister Monica Joan.

Jennifer Kirby, who played Nurse Valerie Dyer in seasons 6 through 9, left the show before the season 9 Christmas special, but there will be a new face filling the empty position at Nonnatus House. Megan Cusack (who happens to be the niece of actors Sinéad Cusack and Jeremy Irons) will reportedly be joining the cast as student midwife Nancy Corrigan.

"I think Nancy is a fab character. I love her. She definitely doesn't have a filter. She is erratic and not great with her studies," Cusack told Hello! about her character. "There's a lot more to her than she gives off when you first meet her, which is really exciting." She added, "My grandma was actually a midwife, and she's a big fan of the show. So when I got a part in it, she was the first person I told. She's delighted. She's over the moon that she's going to watch me as a midwife!"

What's in store for season 10?

While details remain closely guarded, a release for the new season has teased a few details about the beginning of the season, which takes place in 1966.

"Episode one this year is all about trying to create a possible future, modernizing, and doing things differently so that the order can move into the modern age," said Jenny Agutter, who plays Sister Julienne. "[Julienne] looks at the possibility of raising money through working outside of the order, to be able to bring money back into the community."

Helen George, who stars as Trixie, further explained that the nurses will be working with a private birthing clinic in Chelsea during the season. "Delivery at the Lady Emily Clinic is a more doctor-led process. The thought is that Nonnatus House will rent out midwives and nuns to the Lady Emily to help out with the deliveries and to staff the practice. In return, they'll get paid, and Nonnatus House will be saved. But we'll have to wait for episode two to find out if it goes well or not!"

Other tantalizing details from the upcoming season? Actress Leonie Elliott says we'll be seeing more of everyone's favorite young couple, Lucille and Cyril (still no word on when or if they'll be tying the knot), and that Lucille will take on a more senior role among the nurses. Meanwhile Sister Hilda (Fenella Woolgar) will be working to modernize the nuns of Nonnatus in another way—campaigning for new habits, including knee-length skirts.

Catch up on the first nine seasons of Call the Midwife on Netflix.

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