Call the Midwife creator "constantly" receives offers from streamers – but reveals no desire to leave the BBC

Call the Midwife has proven itself to be the jewel in the BBC's crown, with its 13th Christmas special on the way, followed by season 15 in the New Year – plus a prequel series, a movie and a 16th season beyond that.

So, it's no wonder that its creator Heidi Thomas is highly sought after by the streamers, who naturally want a piece of the pie.

When asked if she'd had offers to write for Netflix and others during a press Q&A, Thomas said that the offer of "wonderful opportunities" are a "constant" feature of her life, but that she has no desire to walk away from the BBC – which she described as "the best opportunity I have ever had".

"Why would I give it up for something that's a shot in the dark?" she said of the long-running series – which charts the personal and professional lives of the midwives and nuns of Nonnatus House, in London's East End, from the late 1950s through to the 1970s.

"I've always had things to say and I've always had brilliant people to say it for me, quite literally. This is my job of a lifetime – I've probably spent half my lifetime doing it – and that's not going to change.

"To work with other women, to be able to tell stories about women and the working classes and the disabled and about newcomers to this country, I feel incredibly privileged to have had this material to work with. And... the streamers don't necessarily give anybody that because it's all a puff of smoke in the dark. Anything on a streamer comes like a firework and vanishes like a firework.

"And this [Call the Midwife] is solid, isn't it? It's solid. It's a building, we built it from the ground up and there will be more stories."

When it was then raised that creators often say yes to the likes of Netflix for the financial incentive, Thomas said that for her, "it's not about the money, it's about values".

"I love the fact that we are a BBC show, because the BBC gives us a not unreasonable budget to work with, but we put every penny onto the screen," she said. "And I think that is as it ought to be. There's never enough time and there's never enough money, but what you make out of not having enough time and not having enough money is a jewel because you put thought into every gesture that you make, both on the screen and behind it. And I don't think you can put a price on thoughtfulness."

Jenny Agutter, who plays Sister Julienne, and has appeared in almost every episode of the series, went on to talk about the letters that herself and other cast members have received over the years, which illustrate just how much that "thoughtfulness" touches its loyal fanbase.

"All of us will have had letters from people which are not about what we do, but what the story does for them," she said. "And that is so touching, and has always made me feel that I'm– because sometimes, you think acting is a frivolous job. What the hell am I doing?

"But when you when you hear from somebody that the show got them through circumstances, or it was something that touched their lives, you think that actually it is a gift to other people, and that's a very special position to be in, and it's been wonderful to have that with us."

Read more:

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Christopher Harper, who joined the period drama as Trixie's brother Geoffrey in 2023, echoed those comments, describing being a part of Call the Midwife as a "massive privilege".

"As an actor, you can kind of play any character at any time, and you'll do whatever you're given. But actually, when you're playing a part like this, you're suddenly the face to somebody who it's really resonated with, and you can be that interface with them. And you realise how important this show is to people and what it does to people's hearts.

"So it's fabulous as an actor to be part of that."

Call the Midwife will return to BBC One and BBC iPlayer this Christmas.

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