Call the Midwife isn’t going anywhere. Reports that the long-running series, which airs on PBS in the U.S., would end with its upcoming 15th season are false, according to the BBC.
‘Call the Midwife’ is not canceled, BBC reassures fans
Rumors that Call the Midwife had been canceled surfaced in the U.K. tabloid Daily Star on June 25. The outlet claimed that the show, which follows a group of nurse-midwives and nuns who serve a low-income London community, would “end for good” after 15 years.
“Bosses have decided they want the period drama to go out on a high. The show’s 15th run in 2026 will be its last series on telly,” read the report, which credited an unnamed “insider” as a source for the shocking news.
There was just one problem. The BBC had already confirmed that a 16th season was on the horizon.
“In case you’ve heard any reports to the contrary this morning… The BBC would like to reassure fans that Call The Midwife will remain at the heart of the BBC for years to come,” the broadcaster wrote in a post on X. “As previously announced, there are two Christmas specials, a new series, a film and prequel series, before a sixteenth series in due course. Call the Midwife isn’t going anywhere!”
‘Call the Midwife’ Season 15 is in production
Production on Call the Midwife Season 15 began in late May, the BBC recently shared. That includes work on the 2025 installment of the show’s beloved Christmas special.
The special will see senior members of the Nonnatus House staff head to Hong Kong on a mercy mission. The younger midwives remain in Poplar to cope with whatever challenges may arise. The holiday special will be followed by eight,-hour long episodes in early 2026. The season kicks off in 1971, with some characters embracing the Women’s Liberation movement. Meanwhile, the team will continue to handle challenging cases involving premature birth, placenta previa, kidney cancer, tuberculosis, and slavery.
As Call the Midwife continues to race toward the present day, the show’s creators are looking backward. A prequel series set in Poplar during World War II is in the works. It’s expected to air on the BBC in 2026. Plus, producers are developing a Call the Midwife movie. It will be set overseas in 1972 and feature fan-favorite characters from the original show. The same team will also helm the show’s 16th season.
‘Call the Midwife’ says she’ll ‘never run out of stories’
While the world of Call the Midwife is changing, there are still plenty of stories to tell, creator Heidi Thomas said.
“I have never run out of stories for our midwives, and I never will,” she shared in a statement. “But having wept, laughed, and raged my way from 1957 to 1971, I found myself yearning to delve into the deeper past. The Blitz years in the East End were extraordinary – filled with loss, togetherness, courage, and joy. The bombs fell, the babies kept on coming, and the Sisters kept on going.
Thomas promised that fans would find much to love in the prequel. The new show will also feature “the appearance of some familiar (if much younger!) faces,” she teased.
Thomas also said that the upcoming movie would give the Call the Midwife characters a chance to get back to their roots amid changes in the U.K. healthcare system in the 1970s.
“The rise in hospital births, and changes in the NHS, have clipped their wings,” Thomas said. “This is their chance to take flight and work out what really matters. Whilst the location of the film remains top-secret, I can say it is going to look absolutely fantastic on the big screen!”
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