Call the Midwife, The Christmas Specials Collection

Christmas is coming, and in Poplar the midwives of Nonnatus House are busier than ever. When an abandoned baby is discovered on the steps of the convent, the whole community rallies round to provide food and clothing, and to try and trace his mother. Nurse Jenny Lee (Jessica Raine) meanwhile, gets caught up in the heartbreaking mystery that surrounds an elderly, semi-vagrant local woman, Mrs Jenkins (Sheila Reid). For newly married Chummy (Miranda Hart), other challenges await, as she pulls out all the stops to mount a truly memorable children's nativity play.

1958 is drawing to a close as the residents of Poplar prepare for Christmas. Festivities are thrown into chaos when an unexploded bomb is discovered close to Nonnatus House. Electrical power in the immediate vicinity has been cut off as the nuns and nurses scramble out to join the crowds of evacuated residents scurrying down the pitch-black street. As the community struggles to stop Christmas being reduced to ashes, the Nonnatus House staff reaches out to those in need and keep spirits high, rekindling the spirit of the Blitz.

It’s 2005 and Jennifer Worth at home preparing for Christmas with her husband. As she reminisces about her youth at Nonnatus House, we cut back to 1960. Rehearsals are underway for the Christmas Concert, while Chummy tries to choreograph dancing snowflakes. Chummy is enlisted to help run a poorly managed mother and baby home, and with Patsy's help succeeds in bringing some festive joy to the residents. Cynthia is drawn into a case concerning two former residents of a Victorian mental hospital who have been left to fend for themselves, and are barely coping. This causes Cynthia to make a life changing decision. There is but one question in all of their hearts - what will 1960 bring?

Festive cheer is in plentiful supply as Poplar readies itself for Christmas. An unexpected surprise for a grieving mother helps bring the Christmas magic home, while Nonnatus is rocked to the core when one of its own goes missing.

Nonnatus House receives an SOS from a tiny mission hospital on the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Understaffed, underfunded, and with a poor water supply, struggling Hope Clinic is faced with closure. Can our much loved medics and midwives make a difference to the people whose lives depend upon its work? Far from home and everything familiar, the team are both shaken and exhilarated by the challenges they face - and by the time the mission trip is over, some lives are permanently changed.

Christmas 1963 sees Poplar under a thick blanket of snow, as the midwives face the challenge of the coldest winter for 300 years. Temperatures plunge to a record low and the whole country is brought to a standstill due to the severe weather. Battling snow, ice, power cuts and frozen pipes, the midwives strive to provide the best possible care for their patients. Valerie helps a young couple, newly arrived in London, who experience a traumatic birth, and Sister Julienne strives to reunite a family torn apart by a tormenting father.

Go behind the scenes of Call the Midwife Christmas Special 2017. Christmas 1963 saw Poplar under a thick blanket of snow, as midwives faced the coldest winter for 300 years.