Call the Midwife 2025 Christmas specials air dates and times confirmed by BBC

This year is another very special one for Call the Midwife fans as we're obviously being treated to our usual dose of festive cheer in the form of a festive episode – but this year, we're once again getting two brand new specials.

Now, we know just when they'll be landing on our screens. Thankfully, there's not a lengthy gap between them and they'll be airing on consecutive days. It's now been confirmed that Call the Midwife's two specials will air at 8:15pm on Christmas Day and 8:30pm on Boxing Day respectively.

Each episode will be an hour long and will see "Violet and Fred travel to Hong Kong to visit her son, where they learn that the Branch House in Kowloon has collapsed and there are multiple fatalities".

The synopsis continues: "A rescue mission is hastily organised, and a team from Nonnatus make emergency plans to head out."

Meanwhile, "Cyril receives an unexpected request" from a visitor. At the same time, "Rosalind and Joyce host a Christmas gathering" and Sister Catherine "gets involved in a case with two mums-to-be who are Irish travellers and living in a camp".

The two Christmas specials are set to be quite different for the series, according to the show's cast and creative team.

Previously speaking to RadioTimes.com exclusively after the series won the Returning Drama award at the National Television Awards 2025, Stephen McGann teased that "there will be heat" before series creator Heidi Thomas added that "there will be snow and sweat in equal measure".

"Also, one Christmas special that really makes me laugh," McGann said. "There are bits of the Christmas special – there's real drama, as always – but there's also a wonderful thing that happens, which I'm not going to tell you, but actually they are brilliant."

Laura Main said that the specials go to "completely new territory", adding that she means "geographically, and even what happens in Poplar", adding: "It's absolutely new ground."

We do know that the Hong Kong-centred storyline will put a stop to festivities as disaster strikes for the characters. The episode will see the mother house collapse and leave several casualties, with Jenny Agutter revealing about the episode: "We discover the ground underneath the mission has made it collapse. It's just sunk away. Some people have died, the whole place is destroyed, and the orphans and mothers have nowhere to go."

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She added: "So, they get a small party together to go out to Hong Kong to see what they can do to help, try and find new premises and take care of things."

Rebecca Gethings returns as Sister Veronica in the new episodes, also teasing: "She and Nurse Crane find a newborn baby who's been left in a cardboard box, literally hours after being born. It's all looking quite bleak, but then the mother comes to collect the baby, so that's a really lovely moment, but tough for Sister Veronica.

"She has bonded with this baby. She's got these mixed feelings of delight that this baby's going to be okay and reunited with his mother, but also this illogical wanting of the baby herself."

Trixie star Helen George also recently spoke with Radio Times to preview the Christmas specials and discuss what's going on with her character and Matthew, explaining that "things feel more stable than they possibly ever have" between the pair.

So, it looks like it'll be Call the Midwife's usual dose of heartfelt and emotional and the episodes couldn't come soon enough!

Call the Midwife airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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