Call the Midwife Prequel Reveals Cast and First Photos Ahead of Christmas Premiere

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Last Updated on August 7, 2026 by Stefanie Hutson

Filming has wrapped on Call the Midwife: Sisters in Arms, the new World War II prequel that will take viewers back to an earlier era of Nonnatus House this Christmas. The three-part special comes from Call the Midwife creator Heidi Thomas and will feature younger versions of several characters viewers already know from the long-running series.

What Is Call the Midwife: Sisters in Arms About?

The story begins in September 1939, as Britain enters World War II. Nonnatus House is already serving the women and families of Poplar, but the medical world is very different from the one seen when Call the Midwife begins its original story in the late 1950s. There is no gas and air for women in labour, penicillin is not yet available for general use, tuberculosis remains a major threat, and Britain’s National Health Service and modern welfare state are still years away.

Sister Monica Joan is still an active midwife and described as being “in her prime,” while Sister Julienne and Sister Evangelina are younger women establishing themselves within the religious order. They work alongside Sister Alice, played by Julie Hesmondhalgh (Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Coronation Street), and local doctor Kit Malhotra, played by Bally Gill (Slow Horses, Sherwood).

The team also includes three secular midwives: Marianne Siegler, played by Liv Andrusier; Sybil Maxted, played by Lizzie Back; and Olive Dobbs, played by Ellie McKay.

Everyone's work becomes considerably more dangerous as the blackout and Blitz begin, with women giving birth in shelters and underground while bombing destroys homes and separates families across the East End.

Which Familiar Call the Midwife Characters Are Returning?

Several of the younger characters in Sisters in Arms will be immediately familiar to longtime viewers, although they are being played by different actors.

Helena Wilson plays the younger Sister Julienne, the character played by Jenny Agutter in Call the Midwife. By the time the original series begins in 1958, Julienne is the Sister-in-Charge at Nonnatus House and one of its most dependable leaders, a role she continues to hold for much of the series. Agutter will also provide the narration for Sisters in Arms as the older Sister Julienne.

Sister Monica Joan is played in the prequel by Helen Schlesinger. Viewers of Call the Midwife know her as the eccentric elderly nun played by Judy Parfitt. When the original series begins, Monica Joan is already quite old and retired from regular midwifery duties after spending her adult life caring for women in London’s East End. Sisters in Arms will show her decades earlier as an active midwife.

Amy Booth-Steel plays a younger Sister Evangelina, originally played by Pam Ferris (Rosemary & Thyme). In the main series, Evangelina is already an experienced, formidable and no-nonsense midwife when viewers first meet her. She is one of the original Nonnatus House characters and remains part of the series through Series 5.

The prequel will also introduce a younger Fred Buckle, played by Ciaran Bowling. By 1958, Cliff Parisi’s Fred is the familiar handyman and boiler-stoker at Nonnatus House and a longtime friend to its nurses and nuns. He remains a major part of life in Poplar as the years pass, eventually marrying Violet and becoming a shopkeeper.

Ami Metcalf plays Betty Buckle, Fred’s first wife during the wartime period, giving the prequel an opportunity to fill in part of Fred’s life that took place long before viewers first met him.

Ben Rose will meanwhile play a young Patrick Turner. In the original series, Stephen McGann’s Dr Turner is Poplar’s local GP and works closely with Nonnatus House throughout the changing medical landscape of the 1950s, 1960s and beyond.

Who’s Making Call the Midwife: Sisters in Arms?

The prequel was created and written by Call the Midwife creator Heidi Thomas, who also serves as an executive producer.

Ann Tricklebank is producing the three-part special and directing the first two episodes, with John Maidens directing the third. Pippa Harris executive produces for Neal Street. The series is produced by All3Media’s Neal Street, the company behind Call the Midwife.

Thomas said filming the wartime story brought some unexpected emotions, particularly while depicting the evacuation of Poplar’s children and families facing the possibility that they might not be reunited by Christmas.

When Will Call the Midwife: Sisters in Arms Premiere?

Call the Midwife: Sisters in Arms will consist of three episodes airing over the 2026 Christmas period on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK.

A US broadcaster and premiere date have not yet been announced for the prequel. American viewers normally see Call the Midwife on PBS, but there's been no official announcement confirming when or where Sisters in Arms will be available in the United States, so anything we could say at this point is just guessing.

The three-part Christmas story may not be the end of the prequel, either. Neal Street has previously said that further details about a full-length Call the Midwife: Sisters in Arms series will be announced in due course.