‘Call the Midwife’ returns on Sunday evening for its sixth series, and viewers should prepare for some pretty grueling storylines, according to star Jack Ashton who plays vicar Tom Hereward in the hit series.
The 2016 Christmas special, set in South Africa, finally saw Tom get his love life sorted, as he proposed to Nurse Barbara and was accepted, much to the satisfaction of his former love Nurse Trixie, played by Jack’s off-screen love Helen George. (Confused?)
However, the pair’s happiness in the sixth series will serve as a contrast to some of the darker narratives - including the ongoing disaster of thalidomide, as well as domestic violence, and female genital mutilation.
Jack Ashton revealed on this morning’s ‘Lorraine’ that the show’s writers “don’t shy away from it, that’s what’s lovely about it”.
In fact, the thalidomide storyline will explore how Dr Patrick Turner and his wife Shelagh (Stephen McGann and Laura Main) start to realise the controversial medication is doing terrible harm to some of the unborn children in their care.
The show’s creator Heidi Thomas previously revealed that Series 6 will be fully immersed in the other issues of the 1960s, including women discovering the freedom of the Pill, and changing attitudes towards homosexuality.
‘Call the Midwife’ Series 6 debuts on Sunday 22 January.