Call the Midwife is getting three more series, the BBC's director of content, Charlotte Moore, has announced.

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The much-loved period drama – written by Heidi Thomas and based on the memoirs of Jennifer Worth – will air on screens until at least 2020, with a new series kicking off in early 2017.

But first, a Christmas special – with stars Helen George and Charlotte Ritchie – takes the midwives on tour for the first time as they visit South Africa for an episode set in a mission clinic in the Eastern Cape.

Speaking at the launch of the festive episode, Moore said the order of three series "underlines our commitment to Britain's most popular drama series."

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"There is so much rich material – medical, social and emotional – to be explored," added Thomas in a statement. "We have now delivered well over 100 babies on screen and, like those babies, the stories keep on coming."

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