Ep. 70 - CALL THE MIDWIFE - Behind-the-Scenes with Sister Julienne
Jenny Agutter as Sister Julienne in CALL THE MIDWIFE (Season 14) Photo: BBC
…the lovely thing about doing it [CALL THE MIDWIFE] over this long period of time is seeing the changes that happen, economically, socially, in medicine and everything for women, all of these things. And I think that's actually what people enjoy.
Jenny Agutter (Sister Julienne)
In episode 70, we go behind the scenes of CALL THE MIDWIFE with Jenny Agutter who portrays Sister Julienne in the series. Jenny Agutter has been with CALL THE MIDWIFE since the series premiere in 2012. CALL THE MIDWIFE is enjoying its 14th season on PBS.
Created and written by Heidi Thomas, CALL THE MIDWIFE is based on the trilogy of memoirs by Jennifer Worth about her experiences as a midwife nurse in London’s East End during the 1950s (Season 14 is set in 1970). The series presents moving and intimate stories that capture the history and work of British midwifery with the characters’s personal and the Poplar community’s struggles with chronic illness, addiction, domestic violence, xenophobia and racism, poverty, displacement, death and grief.
But it’s CALL THE MIDWIFE’s focus on humanity, empathy, community, in the lives of all the characters in the stories that brings the kind of solace that keeps audiences coming back for over a decade.
During the conversation with Jenny Agutter we talk about the reasons why the series has attracted millions of fans for over a decade in addition to…
The commitment to historical and medical accuracy in CALL THE MIDWIFE
How Sister Julienne has evolved over 14 seasons
How empathy and community show up in the stories
SPOILER ALERT: There is some descriptive conversation about Season 14
GUEST
JENNY AGUTTER
JENNY AGUTTER has an international career in film theatre and television which has spanned 40 years.
Trained at Elmhurst Ballet School. Jenny's first film role aged 11 years was as a young dancer in Walt Disney’s film BALLERINA. She came to the public’s attention in 1970 playing Roberta in the very successful British film of THE RAILWAY CHILDREN, the same year she starred in Nic Roeg’s classic WALKABOUT, and in 1972 the BBC TV THE SNOW GOOSE for which Jenny won an Emmy. Since then she has had a prolific career in film, television and theatre. Television includes THE BUCCANEERS, BRAMWELL, SPOOKS, THE ALAN CLARK DIARIES, NEW TRICKS, THE INVISIBLES, MONDAY MONDAY and TRUE LOVE, she has just finished filming series fourteen of the successful BBC series CALL THE MIDWIFE in which she plays Sister Julienne.
Jenny joined the National Theatre aged 21 to play Miranda in The Tempest. She spent a season with The Royal Shakespeare Company in 1982/83, in 1985 She returned to the company to play Polya in Stephen Poliakoff’s Breaking the Silence in the West End, and in 1995 went on tour to Japan with the RSC playing the Princess of France in, Loves Labours Lost. Jenny appeared on Broadway in Breaking the Code with Derek Jacobi and played Hester in Equus in the West End with Daniel Radcliffe. It was a return to the play having won a BAFTA for her role as the stable girl in Sidney Lumet’s film of EQUUS in 1977. Other films include: LOGAN’S RUN, THE EAGLE HAS LANDED, RIDDLE OF THE SANDS, KING OF THE WIND, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, SWEET WILLIAM, and Stephen Poliakoff’s GLORIOUS ‘39 with appearances in AVENGERS and CAPTAIN AMERICA THE WINTER SOLDIER.
Jenny Agutter was awarded an OBE by Queen Elizabeth I in 2013 for her work in the charitable sector.
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Purchase Jennifer Worth’s Call the Midwife memoir trilogy and other books from the MBGLtd affiliate page on bookshop.org. Your book purchases support production of the Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters podcast (with a small commission), and independent booksellers.
The Call the Midwife trilogy by Jennifer Worth
CALL THE MIDWIFE (Season 14)
Trailer for CALL THE MIDWIFE Season 14 (2025)
In season 14 of CALL THE MIDWIFE, it’s the beginning of a new decade in Poplar. Set in 1970, chaos erupts as Isle of Dogs activists bid for independence. Amid the turmoil, the midwives work tirelessly to keep Nonnatus House running while addressing complex social and health challenges.
Created and written by Heidi Thomas, and based on the memoirs of Jennifer Worth about her life as a midwife in London’s East End in as 1950s, CALL THE MIDWIFE features an ensemble cast including:
Helen George as Trixie Aylward
Megan Cusack as Nancy Corrigan
Linda Bassett as Phyllis Crane
Stephen McGann as Patrick Turner
Laura Main as Sheylah Turner
Judi Parfitt as Sister Monica Joan
Zephryn Taitte as Cyril Robinson
Georgie Glen as Miss Higgins
Cliff Parisi as Fred Buckle
Annabelle Apsion as Violet Buckle
Daniel Laurie as Reggie Jackson
Natalie Quarry as Rosalind Clifford
Renee Bailey as Joyce Highland
Rebecca Gethings as Sister Veronica
Molly Vevers as Sister Catherine
Season 14 of CALL THE MIDWIFE is available on PBS and for streaming on the PBS Passport. Seasons 1-13 are streaming on Netflix with a subscription.
History in CALL THE MIDWIFE
CALL THE MIDWIFE captures the history of British midwifery, childbirth, and nursing. Here is some history woven into the stories in the series for 14 seasons:
After World War II, the National Health Service (NHS) is established in 1948 to provide free healthcare services.
In 1949, a massive recruitment drive is launched for women from Caribbean Commonwealth countries to train and work as nurses in the U.K. to make up for the labor shortfall.
”The pill” is approved and available on the NHS in 1961 for married women whose health is put at risk by pregnancy. The introduction of the pill also opens debates about the impact of oral contraception on morality.
After Wolf War II there’s a push for more medical involvement and hospital births on the grounds of safety. Midwife nurses are still present. 80% of births are in hospitals by 1970.
In 1969 the Royal College of Nurses launches the “Raise the Roof” campaign after realizing nurses’s pay was less than other public sector employees. The campaign grows public and political support for a substantial increase in nurse pay.
Sources:
The Conversation, “A history of childbirth in the UK – from home, to hospital, to COVID-19” by Tania McIntosh, Principal Lecturer in Midwifery, University of Brighton (January 7, 2021)
Nursing Times blog, “Nursing Times features in new series of Call the Midwife,” (January 12, 2024)