The cast and crew of Call the Midwife were reduced to tears while filming the final episode of series 15, show-runner Heidi Thomas has revealed. Speaking to Radio Times, Thomas said she shed more tears during the making of that episode than any other in the show's history. 'I thought, "Am I crying because of the story or am I crying because it's our last episode for a while?" In the end, I think it's a mixture of everything,' she admitted.
The emotional scene involved virtually all of the actors, and tears quickly spread across the set. 'I was crying, Helen George was crying, and then all of a sudden everybody was really sobbing. More than one pair of false eyelashes came adrift,' Thomas recalled. The show is taking a break from BBC One for the first time since 2012 to produce a three-part prequel set during the war and a movie set in 1972, likely filmed in Australia.
Helen George, who plays Trixie, described walking onto the set for the final scene as overwhelming. 'I just sobbed, I sobbed like a baby. It was really emotional. So if I was a mess – and I'm heart of steel – then the audience will be a mess as well,' she said. Laura Main, who portrays Shelagh Turner, noted the rarity of such an upset, saying, 'We've had rare and lovely stability for 15 years. We've never had to be upset at the end before.'
The series finale, airing this Sunday, will feature storylines including Rosalind and Cyril's shotgun wedding, Sister Veronica's decision about returning to the sisterhood, Trixie's departure for a private clinic, and Sister Monica Joan's final journey from Nonnatus House. Thomas has confirmed that a 16th series, set in 1973 or 1974, will follow, though it may not air until 2029. By then, Nonnatus House will be replaced by a community hospital, a model Thomas says was common in the 1970s and is being revived today.
