Call the Midwife creator reveals why there won’t be the "traditional" Christmas special in 2026

While it has already been confirmed that Call the Midwife will be returning for season 16 following the prequel series and the show's first movie, it will not be Christmas as usual in 2026, as revealed by its creator.

Heidi Thomas, who has been bringing stories about the midwives and nuns of London's East End to screens since 2012, announced the change to RadioTimes.com and other press following a screening of the upcoming 15th season, which will arrive in the New Year.

"No, there won't be a Christmas special next Christmas, not in the traditional mould," she said – with executive producer Pippa Harris later confirming that the prequel, which will be set during the Second World War, would make its debut at Christmas instead.

That will be followed by the movie, which is "in preparation for pre-production" and will be "set overseas in 1972", featuring "iconic characters from the existing TV show".

Season 16 will arrive after that.

"This is really just a very temporary pause in the usual pattern," said Thomas on the absence of a traditional Call the Midwife special in 2026, before going on to marvel at the show's 15-year run.

"I don't think any other show has produced a series every year for that period of time," she beamed. "You hear about other shows maybe celebrating a 10th anniversary, but they might have done four or five series in that time, and not necessarily as many episodes as we do.

"So I think this is just a lovely opportunity for us to press pause and refresh a little bit and come back with even more exciting things."

Read more:

• Call the Midwife's Turner family take in another child following tragic development
• Call the Midwife movie gets major update – including "likely" overseas location to TV far away from Poplar

But Laura Main, who plays Shelagh Turner, did say that she was going to miss filming the festive special, which is always at the centre of the BBC's Christmas line-up.

"It does make Christmas extra special," she said. "There's no denying it. And it's this thing that we've been working on for half the year that you get to share with your family, so it is special, having that.

"And because I'm a massive Christmas fan, not having it in April as well [will be a miss]. You don't have to wait 12 months and then just have a traditional Christmas."

This year's festive special saw a party from Nonnatus House head to Hong Kong after the Branch House in Kowloon collapsed, leaving death and destruction in its wake.

But while the scale of the challenge — and the conditions they were working in — were hugely demanding, the biggest obstacle came from the intimidation and threats they faced from Chinese gangsters, which they weren’t expecting.

Still, they held their own and made it back to Poplar in one piece — where the Turners are now caring for Christopher, the son of May's biological mother, Esther.

His father is The Cormorant, a Triad member who initially refused to let the doctor take his son, who has Wilms' tumour – a rare childhood kidney cancer.

But he eventually came around, and Christopher is now in London to undergo chemotherapy, which will continue in season 15.

"The new series kicks off in 1971 with several of the ladies embracing Women's Lib and burning their bras outside Nonnatus House," reads the official synopsis.

"As the year unfolds, we see the team handle cases including premature birth, placenta previa, kidney cancer, tuberculosis and slavery."

It's been confirmed that regular cast returning for season 15 include Judy Parfitt, Jenny Agutter, Laura Main, Helen George, Cliff Parisi, Stephen McGann, Linda Bassett, Annabelle Apsion, Georgie Glen, Zephryn Taitte, Rebecca Gethings, Daniel Laurie, Renee Bailey, Natalie Quarry, Molly Vevers, Max Macmillan, Alice Brown, April Rae Hoang and Edward Shaw.

Call the Midwife season 15 arrives on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in early 2026.

Add Call the Midwife to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.

Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.