{"id":41396,"date":"2023-12-08T14:33:16","date_gmt":"2023-12-08T13:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1941448"},"modified":"2023-12-08T17:43:28","modified_gmt":"2023-12-08T16:43:28","slug":"call-the-midwife-star-on-sister-monica-joans-fears-in-christmas-special","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/call-the-midwife-star-on-sister-monica-joans-fears-in-christmas-special\/","title":{"rendered":"Call the Midwife star on Sister Monica Joan\u2019s fears in Christmas special"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jenny Agutter reveals that Judy Parfitt’s character is worried about making it through the harsh winter. <\/p>

By Patrick Cremona\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 08 December 2023 at 13:33 PM<\/p>

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The Call the Midwife Christmas<\/a> special has become a staple of the seasonal TV schedule \u2013 and it looks like this year\u2019s episode is going to be another exciting but emotional one for fans of the beloved BBC One drama.<\/p>\n

Stephen McGann has already teased<\/a> that \u201cdangerous snow\u201d will lead to \u201chigh drama\u201d in the special, and now Sister Julienne star Jenny Agutter has revealed that the episode will also explore some fears held by Judy Parfitt\u2019s popular character Sister Monica Joan.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne should recognise there are a lot of people in the population who are older and just feel that they\u2019re never going to make it through [the winter],\u201d she explained of the episode.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd this to an extreme extent [means she] feels she\u2019s not going to make it through, so it\u2019s a matter of everybody pulling together and getting around that.\u201d<\/p>

McGann added that these fears lead to a \u201crather lovely community spirit\u201d developing \u2013 something which he believes is especially important to portray during the festive period.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is hard in winter,\u201d he said. \u201cMy mum is elderly now \u2013 88, 89 \u2013 and we were talking about Christmas. And she\u2019s up in Liverpool and she can\u2019t get around so much anymore.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd at that age, you can be up and down. You can look at your life. And it\u2019s one of those times of the year when, although she has a wonderful community there and one of my brothers lives up there, it\u2019s still one of those times where she reflects and it\u2019s hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIt\u2019s a difficult time of year. And so when we have a character like brilliant Judy Parfitt, you have the unique opportunity to express Christmas also through elders and through reflections of [how] life has been for people.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd all these ordinary families who will be watching at Christmas look at a community that in some way resembles their own hopes and fears.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Call the Midwife shares emotional first look at Christmas special<\/a><\/li>\n
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Call the Midwife star teases \u201cdangerous, high-drama\u201d snow in Christmas special<\/a><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Fans were given an emotional first look<\/a> at the special when the BBC released a preview clip at the end of November, which showed Sister Julienne comforting a tearful Shelagh Turner (Laura Main).<\/p>\n
In the clip, Shelagh reveals she has received a package from Hong Kong from her adopted daughter Mae\u2019s biological mother and hasn\u2019t even told her husband, Dr Patrick Turner (Stephen McGann), about it \u2013 with the ever reliable Julienne then providing her with some wise advice.<\/p>\n
The official synopsis for the episode reads: \u201cCall the Midwife\u2019s Christmas Special begins two weeks before Christmas, with Apollo 8 poised to circle the moon.<\/p>\n
\u201cSister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt) is convinced this could be her last yuletide, and decides she\u2019ll not live to see man walk on the moon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nonnatus Family, including Trixie (Helen George)\u2019s brother Geoffrey (Christopher Harper), decide something must be done to try and lighten her state of mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cNancy (Megan Cusack) has recommitted to staying at Nonnatus House and Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter) has offered her and Colette (Francesca Fullilove) a room for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrixie and Matthew<\/span><\/span> (Olly Rix), fresh from their honeymoon, are preparing for their first Christmas together as husband and wife when Geoffrey pays them an unexpected visit days before Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n
It continues: \u201cCyril (Zephryn Taitte) gently intervenes when he discovers a lost soul living alone in a dilapidated basement flat. For this man, Christmas is a reminder of all he\u2019s lost and all he\u2019s never had.<\/p>\n
\u201cNurse Crane (Linda Bassett), away on her refresher course, makes it home in time for Christmas festivities despite a treacherously heavy snowfall.\u201d<\/p>