BBC & Neal Street Begin Production on More Call the Midwife

The BBC and Neal Street have begun production on season 15 of Call the Midwife and have begun development on a prequel series and film.

Season 15 of the series will feature a two-part Christmas special followed by eight hour-long episodes. The Christmas special will take place in Hong Kong and Poplar, as senior members of the Nonnatus House staff head to Hong Kong on a mercy mission, leaving the younger midwives behind to cope alone.

The new season is slated to air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer beginning January 2026. It will also air on PBS.

The prequel TV series will take place in Poplar during World War II. It is set to debut in 2026.

Neal Street and BBC Film are also developing a new movie that will be set overseas in 1972.

The new projects will be written, created and produced by the all-female team behind the series—showrunner Heidi Thomas and executive producers Pippa Harris and Ann Tricklebank.

“The opening of new doors at Nonnatus House feels profoundly emotional, and yet just right,” said showrunner Thomas, who is also creator and writer. “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. As the classic Call the Midwife series moves further into the 1970s, it also seems the perfect time for our much-loved regulars to take a short break from Poplar and test themselves in an unfamiliar landscape. The rise in hospital births and changes in the NHS have clipped their wings, and this is their chance to take flight and work out what really matters. Whilst the location of the film remains top-secret, I can say it is going to look absolutely fantastic on the big screen!”

Harris commented, “We have all been delighted by the way audiences have continued to embrace Heidi’s imaginative and moving stories from Nonnatus House. In an increasingly competitive viewing environment, not only have our loyal fans stayed with us for 14 years, but they’ve been joined by a new, younger generation who have also fallen in love with our characters and the challenges they face. Emboldened by this warmth and enthusiasm, 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!”

“Call the Midwife has been a jewel in the BBC’s crown for well over a decade, and this feels like the perfect time to further expand on the glorious, perfectly realized world that Heidi, Pippa, Annie and the team have created for the show’s millions of passionate and dedicated viewers,” said Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama. “Whether you’ve been watching from the very start or joined us for one of the more recent series, this is an incredibly exciting time to be a Call the Midwife fan.”

Eva Yates, director of BBC Film, commented, “Call the Midwife has always brilliantly explored the issues and experiences of women across history, and it is with great excitement that we are joining Pippa and Heidi in expanding the Midwife universe to bring these wonderful characters onto the big screen.”

“Call the Midwife is a PBS treasure, and it has consistently been one of our highest-rated programs since debuting to American audiences in September 2012,” added Maria Bruno Ruiz, VP of program content strategy and scheduling at PBS. “The beginning of filming for the 15th season is something to surely be celebrated! Our audience has fallen in love with the nuns and midwives of Nonnatus House, celebrating their wins and sharing in their losses and having a ‘deep cry’ along with them, and we look forward for what is to come.”