Former Coronation Street star Julie Hesmondhalgh is set to make a return to the small screen with her latest role, which will delight fans of Call the Midwife.
Julie Hesmondhalgh's Career Highlights
The actress, who hails from Accrington, is best known for having played Hayley Cropper in the ITV soap, Corrie's first transgender character, and the first permanent transgender character in the world of serialised drama.
Following her Weatherfield debut, Hayley would go on to spend 16 years on Coronation Street, always seeing the good in people and nurturing Fiz Brown (Jennie McAlpine) and Becky McDonald (Katherine Kelly) before, in her later years forming an unlikely, yet notably close, friendship with Carla Connor (Alison King).
But it was her relationship with Roy, with the two marrying by deed poll in 1999 and legally in 2010, that truly captured viewers' hearts and they were therefore devastated when Hayley took her own life, after living with terminal pancreatic cancer in what Julie described as a 'right to die' storyline.
New Role in Call the Midwife Prequel
It has now been announced that Julie will be joining the cast of the new Call the Midwife prequel series, which will chronicle the early days of Nonnatus House, as a guest star.
Call the Midwife: Sisters In Arms will explore the origins of the East London convent run by nurses, midwives, and Anglican nuns from the original hit series, set amid the backdrop of the Second World War and the Blitz.
The BBC has announced that filming has begun for the three-part Christmas special, which will feature a number of celebrity guest stars, including Helen Schlesinger and Martin McCann.
Setting and Characters
Set in 1939, the series will explore the impact of the Second World War on those running Nonnatus House and dedicating their lives to mothers, babies and the poor. Emmy-winning actress Jenny Agutter, who stars in Call the Midwife as Sister Julienne, will narrate the special episodes as the older version of her character while Helena Wilson will portray her younger counterpart.
A younger Sister Monica Joan, played in the original series by Judy Parfitt, will be portrayed by TV actress Schlesinger while Amy Booth-Steel, known for appearing in Down Cemetery Road, will feature as a young Sister Evangelina.
Ben Rose will portray a 'juvenile' Dr Patrick Turner, while a youthful Fred Buckle and his wife Betty will be played by Ciaran Bowling and Ami Metcalf, respectively. Broadchurch star Julie will appear as Sister Alice, who is among those running the nunnery, while Slow Horses actor Bally Gill will play local GP Dr Kit Malhotra.
Blue Lights star McCann will also make a guest appearance as Tommy Moffat and The Young Offenders actress Rachel O'Connell will play his wife Mary. Other guest stars include Liv Andrusier as Marianne Siegler, Lizzie Back who will play Sybil Maxted and Ellie McKay as Olive Dobbs.
Creative Team and Vision
The spin-off will be helmed by the Call the Midwife creative team including showrunner, creator and writer Heidi Thomas – who hailed the new show as 'a joy to write'.
Thomas continued: 'Having loved and lived with the sisters of Nonnatus House for so many years, I found myself longing to turn the clock back and tell the story of their finest hour – the Blitz. Who were Sister Monica Joan, Sister Julienne, and Sister Evangelina, when they were young? What did they do, how did they survive, and how did the conflict change them?'
'Above all else, Call the Midwife: Sisters In Arms is about what happens when women go to war. It is about love and birth, separation and courage, lipstick and nylons (or the lack thereof). But it is also a medical drama, set in a devastating landscape where even the nurses cannot know if they will live till morning.'
