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Call the Midwife Stars Explain the Series’ Success

2016-08-02

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Call the Midwife - Season 4

Beginning Wednesday, September 7, VisionTV will take you back to 1960s East London for our season four network premiere of “Call the Midwife.” As we head toward more colourful moments of midwifery, a number of cast members recently spoke with TV Guide regarding what has made the series such a successful one.

“I tell the young people on set to make the most of the success because it doesn’t happen to most people in this business. To get a show that is so humongously successful and adored is rare,” explained Judy Parfitt, who plays Sister Monica Joan on the series.

Call the Midwife - Season 4

Judy Parfitt

“The success of the show is down to the scripts, but the casting has also been fantastic. The period detail is wonderful as well,” she continued. “It was only 50 years ago, but you look at it and think it’s 500 years ago. I can’t believe that outside lavatories for blocks of tenements are in the recent past. Also, there’s no swearing and no sex although, of course, we do see the results of it. And no matter how many times you see a baby being born, it’s always a miracle.”

Apart from the excellent writing and casting that Parfitt noted, perhaps another strong element that has drawn people to “Call the Midwife” is the way in which it portrays women in a strong and positive light.

“I think it’s a show about women who work and who are completely competent. So often on television, women are secondary or tertiary characters – they are someone’s wife or someone’s girlfriend,” offered Emerald Fennell, who plays Patsy. “This is proof that there is a huge appetite for shows starring strong, powerful, independent ladies. Lots of men love the show, too, and rightly so because it’s about the human experience, not just women.”

Call the Midwife - Season 4

Emerald Fennell (middle)

She added: “There are a lot of women on this show and we are quite an intimidating bunch – a bit like a girls’ boarding school where we just talk a thousand miles a minute and there’s a lot of giggling. I think when the regular male cast come in, they are a bit terrified – and they should be.”

Click here for a look ahead at Season 4, as well as a comprehensive photo gallery featuring Miranda Hart and her fellow “Call the Midwife” cast mates.

Season four of “Call the Midwife” premieres Wednesday, September 7 at 9pm ET/6pm PT on VisionTV starting with the 90 minute Season 4 Christmas Special!

-Adam Grant

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