Series eight is the highest rating returning drama across all channels in 2019
Two more series of multiple award-winning Call the Midwife have been commissioned for BBC One. With series nine about to start filming, the show will now be on air until 2022. Series 10 and 11, commissioned by Charlotte Moore, Director, BBC Content and Piers Wenger, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning, will consist of two 8×60’ series and two Christmas specials.
Made by Neal Street Productions for BBC One, Call the Midwife has been one of Britain’s most popular drama series since it launched in 2012 and it continues to be the most watched drama series in the UK. Series eight has currently averaged nine million viewers per episode, making it BBC One’s biggest show of 2019 so far and the highest rating returning drama across all channels this year.
The critical and audience response to series eight has also been outstanding as the show explored many areas of medical and social history, including the impact of disability, teenage pregnancy, Intersex representation, Sickle cell disease, mixed-race marriages, adoption, cot death and abortion.
Pippa Harris, Executive Producer for Neal Street Productions, says: “We are delighted and humbled by the continued warmth of the audience response to Call the Midwife. It’s a testament to the extraordinary creativity of Heidi Thomas who pours her heart and soul into every episode. We are thrilled that the BBC have put such faith in the show by commissioning two more series and can’t wait to watch our wonderful cast and crew tackling all the social and medical changes which the swinging sixties will bring.”
Heidi Thomas, Creator, Writer and Executive Producer, says: “Even after all these years, it still feels as though Call the Midwife has more truth to tell, more tears to cry, more life to celebrate, and more love to give. We are blessed with the best cast, crew, and audience a show could wish for, and I could not be more excited about our future.”
Charlotte Moore, Director of BBC Content, says: “Everyone at the BBC is delighted we’re welcoming the nurses of Nonnatus House back for another two series and we’re all looking forward to following our cast through the tumultuous years of the late sixties. I’d like to thank the wonderful cast and crew, and particularly Heidi, Pippa and Ann for their continued creative ambition and dedication to such a very special show.”
Audiences will return to Poplar in December this year for a Christmas Special and in 2020 for series nine. Heidi Thomas continues to lead the writing team with Pippa Harris as Executive Producer for Neal Street Productions. Executive Producer for the BBC is Mona Qureshi with Ann Tricklebank as Producer. (BBC)
Pat says
I absolutely love this show. I hope it keeps going for many seasons more. It is one of the best shows on TV.
rubyt23 says
great show can’t wait!