The BBC’s drama Call The Midwife, which airs on PBS in the U.S., has always been a program about women and mostly for women. Its avid scenes concerning pregnancy, childbirth, and the camaraderie of women make for compelling tales that speak to problems women had in the fifties and issues that women must still face and deal with into the present. In the show’s upcoming Season 3, fittingly, different women will tell all of these tales.
On Monday, it was announced that all eight episodes of Season 3 will be filmed by different females. Returning to direct some of the new episodes will be China Moo-Young and Minkie Spiro, who have been involved with the production in the past. Additionally, British TV directors Thea Sharrock and Juliet May have also signed on to work as part of the Season 3 team. THR first broke the news, noting that while it seems like solidarity amongst women to have an all-female directorial lineup, the truth is that the directorial staff is all female by chance. Still, I don’t think that mars the fittingness of the all-female staff on a show like Call the Midwife.
Call the Midwife is written and created by Heidi Thomas, who based her series on a famous set of memoirs written by Jennifer Worth, which detail events occurring in and around the East End in 1950s England. The series stars Jessica Raine as Jenny Lee, a young woman who takes on a tough role as a midwife in the low income area known as the Poplar district. There, she meets friends Chummy (the always hilarious Miranda Hart), Trixie (Helen George), and Cynthia (Bryony Hannah), who also work in the tough and rewarding environment that is midwifery.
Following successful ratings in Season 1 and 2, a third season of the series was commissioned back in January. As usual, a Christmas special is also set to be created. The new season is expected to air in the U.S. in 2014, and early reports indicate the series will break new ground in Season 3. While fans have been privy to life in the 1950s since the series’ inception, supposedly Thomas and co. will be ushering the drama into the 1960s for its next round at bat. With new inventions, practices, and culture on the forefront, we could be in for a really wild season.
In the U.K., Call the Midwife is actually notable for overtaking Downton Abbey in the ratings. The show is not nearly as popular on PBS, but it’s definitely worth looking into, and you can order the series over at Amazon or check out a little more about the show, below.
