‘Call the Midwife’ season 4 Christmas Special spoilers: Creator on the episode’s tone

If you watch “Call the Midwife” on a regular basis, then there is one thing that you are probably very familiar with already: This is not always a show that deals with the most pleasant of situations. It is a rather sad series, and it focuses on women who are struggling, and are in desperate need of something to make their lives a little bit better.

For the upcoming Christmas Special that is airing on the BBC come Thursday, don’t expect everyone to be particularly rosy, warm, or pleasant. As show creator Heidi Thomas tells the Radio Times, much of this episode could revolve around longing, or the sense of sadness that can come while watching everyone else have a Merry Christmas:

“I always write my Christmas Call the Midwife for the people who may not be having a brilliant Christmas … I can remember one Christmas years ago… my stepfather was dying of cancer; we knew he had weeks to live. My grandmother’s dementia had accelerated very rapidly. So we had rather an early Christmas lunch and then my mum and I took my grandmother’s dog for a walk. I always remember we were walking down a nice suburban street near where we lived and through every lighted window we could see families having what looked like the perfect Christmas. Ours was really tough – and I can just remember this lump in my throat, thinking, ‘I wish I was I was having one of those Christmases.'”

“And yet the reality is, a lot of people don’t have those Christmases. And I think it’s very important that each Christmas special we’ve done does deal with the sadder, frailer, more vulnerable side of the human experience.”

What we know for now is that there are going to be multiple stories that are explored at length throughout this episode involving women in dire straits, but for those of you looking for something a little more pleasant, rest assured: You are going to see Vanessa Redgrave for the first time as an older Jennifer Worth.

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