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I think moving away from the books has been a challenge in some ways, but also

benefit, to make sure that the new story material felt very much in keeping with

what we'd had before, but that we were introducing new characters and new

situations and new storylines which would constantly engage the audience,

provide them with the same mix.

of the heartwarming and the upsetting, that mix of gritty realism

with joy that they loved in the first two series.

And I think what Heidi's been so fabulous in doing is blending in

the original characters into these new storylines and the new

characters have entered seamlessly to create a whole.

I think it's certainly true that...

Heidi has been freed up to really develop the characters who, through the

television series, have captured people's imaginations.

I'm thinking particularly of the storyline of Dr Turner and Sister

which is really a creation of the TV series, so their whole romance and the

that they get married, and it's something we could only really have

moving away from the original books.

One of the key strengths of the show has always been the absolute meticulous

research that goes behind the medical stories.

So our midwifery advisor, Terry Coates, is always absolutely rigorous in terms

of the detail of those storylines, of what would and wouldn't have been

at the time.

We're now in 1959, so there's obviously been some advances, but still there are

things which wouldn't have been possible, and so we have to be very

to... to show advances that couldn't have happened.

One of the things that we looked at in one of the early episodes is cystic

fibrosis. And in fact, that was the storyline which originally came to us

Jenny Agata, who herself has had experience in her family of cystic

worked for a charity that supports people who have the disease. The actual

cystic fibrosis had only recently been coined for this particular illness.

And that was a fascinating episode to work on. It's actually been a terrific

episode for Sister Monica Joan because she's the person who first suspects that

that's what's wrong with these children. She doesn't know the name cystic

fibrosis, but she recognises the symptoms.

What I really love about Call the Midwife is the camaraderie with the crew

the cast, especially in the last couple of months, because...

You sort of live in each other's pockets. It's like a work family. So

just lots of in -jokes and lots of fun to be had.

And you just get to know everyone really well. And you feel very comfortable.

You feel like, I know who Jenny Lee is now, and I know her inside out. So it's

a nice way to work.

So Jenny gets a promotion in Series 3, and she quite...

understandably, I think, because she's a human being, gets very proud of herself

and does get a little bit too big for her boots, which really rubs Trixie up

wrong way. Because as you can imagine, Trixie's been there longer than Jenny.

So she was kind of expecting that promotion to come to her.

But it goes to Jenny. And Jenny is... bustling around, kind of ordering her

colleagues around who were, you know, and are pretty much the same level as

but she just happened to have got this promotion, so she really annoys

But they're really lovely about it, and she goes through a really particularly

hard time with a storyline about a racial storyline where the

mother has to put her baby up for adoption, and she finds herself on her

because she's been such a bossy boot.

So that brings her back to the girls, and they sort of take the mickey out of

her, and it's all good again.

I've always been attracted to the show because of its... It has a kind of sweet

exterior, but a very hard and gritty interior that if you

saw it on the page, you wouldn't necessarily see at first, and I think

what gets people.

..in the stomach and makes them cry because we deal with things that not

show deals with. Just the nature of birth is emotional in itself, but every

story that comes along, I often find myself crying reading the script because

they just touch something innately human.

There's a real theme, I think, in this series of renewal, and it sounds really

cheesy, but kind of the cycle of life, if you will. There's some death.

in this series, which hit everyone pretty hard.

But it's dealt with in the most incredible way, because Jennifer Worth,

was very interested in death and what it does to you and how you can deal with

it. So it's not depressing, but it definitely deals with some really big

like that.

One of the first big changes in this series, probably the haircut, which

was...

Potentially quite a shock to people, I suppose, because I'm such a blonde,

-haired character.

I think my taste does overlap a bit. I mean, I love my clothes and my own life.

Some of my new looks in this season involve lots of trousers, which we have

before, but I'm teaming them with ballet pumps and...

It's a lot funkier, it's a lot cooler, a bit more edgy. There's some really

bright blues and bright greens and we've gone from the black silhouette and

really introduced reds and blues and yellows. So she's a lot more vibrant and

suppose it's that sort of French art house film type look that she's going

now and it's less of the Marilyn, more of the Jean Seberg.

There's a few costumes that I really want to take home. I've got this

bright blue suede coat, which is a gorgeous sort of 60s vibrant colour, and

really want to take it home.

We have it for a lovely scene with my new love interest.

So, yeah, I definitely want to steal that one.

I mean, there's quite a lot of furniture bits that I'd quite like to take home

with me because I've not long moved into my new home.

So there's a few bits that I think, like dining room tables and chairs and, you

know, bits in the kitchen I'd really like to take home with me. So I just

removal van, really.

I wish I was as fearless and as confident as she is in every situation.

But, yeah, I definitely think I'm quite gung -ho when I want to be, so I think

there's similarities, definitely.

In series three, we see Cynthia grow more and more in confidence.

She feels much more comfortable with her friends.

She can use her authority when she needs to. She's still a little nervous, but

there's a wonderful story where she's...

she gets into sort of the breathing of the births and things and she really

starts to find her niche in midwifery and sort of in the world and that's

joyful cynthia has a patient who's extremely nervous she's lost her own

and she's got really anxious about the birth and cynthia goes to a lecture and

hears that most of fear

can be solved through how you think and that breathing really relaxes you

relaxes the body i mean things that we're getting back to a medical science

today i think much more holistic approach so cynthia takes us on board

invites the lecturer to come to the mother craft sessions and then he

her and she in fact takes the session herself and really helps this young

and gets her through

And it's just lovely to see Cynthia take the bull by the horns and really go for

what she believes in. It's lovely.

We are all such good friends. It's actually quite boring. There's no real

gossip. There's no nasty one in the pack.

We love each other dearly, and I hope that comes across, especially when the

girls get together. There are scenes in the bedroom when we're drinking or out

on the town. They're really such great days to film.

And then coming back to the dinner table each time, for us young ones, on our

second day ever of filming, that was a real pinch -me moment to be with Pam

Ferris, Judy Parfitt, Jenny Agata, hear their tales of the old Hollywood.

And even now, whenever we come to those scenes, it really is special.

It's still special, even today, and we get on ever so well.

In Tommy World, what's new for Series 3 is she's with child.

and she's in her marital home for the first time, which is very exciting.

So not only is there a new Nonata's house, but there's a new chummy set for

house, which is great fun.

Yeah, I love chummy as a mummy.

Yummy chummy mummy, I call her.

Om.

Because all the love that she didn't get when she was younger, she sort of pours

into this child, and, you know, you just know that she wants to do her best for

him.

I don't know how much it came across in the story, but I often played the fact

that she'd look at her child and just whiff that her mum looked at her like

she's looking at her child, if that makes sense.

She misses midwifery and she misses that role in her life and needs it to be

fully her.

It's sort of dealing with...

whether she can go back to work at the beginning of the series, basically.

Whether she can kind of admit that that's what she wants to do.

I'm sure some of Tommy's neighbours would have frowned upon her at the

going back to work.

You know, why aren't you staying at home? The beginning of the series starts

a whole new setting, which has been quite fun to film in, as well as good

the story and the characters.

We've got some new characters this series.

Jenny's got an interesting storyline as regards... She's got a few romantic

choices to be made.

Aren't I a tease?

You, of course, have the ongoing loveliness of Sheila and Dr. Turner.

Oh, I loved that.

Even though I knew they got together, I'd be watching it going, are they going

to get together?

I'm totally invested in that story. It was brilliant. So, yes, they've got

a journey to go on. No spoilers here. Not from these lips. No. There's a lot

the old and a lot of new.

I don't just like Tommy, I love and adore Tommy.

For the minute I read her entrance in the Jennifer Worth book, when she sent

them to me, I just thought, I have to play this woman, she's just great.

And just goes on that wonderful journey of being a complete fish out of water,

but just determined to...

see because it's so on her heart and she believed that God gave her a gift to do

this but it just didn't make any sense on any level she was practically not

good technically not very good at midwifery but she has the best bedside

because she's so compassionate and so empathetic and I think

that comes from having had a tough upbringing and that's what I love about

is that she's so vulnerable and so sweet but anyone who's been through tough

times in their life do end up being the most compassionate people.

It doesn't matter about her background or where she came from. They just want

her to succeed and fit in because we've all felt like the fish out of water.

So I wanted to kind of honour the audience, I suppose, in terms of their

identifying with Chummy. In my head, there's no overlap at all between Chummy

and Ryan. Well, I suppose when I'm doing it, it's completely different, but I

suppose... The similarity is that fish out of water trying to fit in thing.

So it's two women in their very different ways, simply trying to

cope with life.

But then I think that's probably all women at some point in their life. All

people, in fact, at some point in their life. So it's not some massive

revelation. But yeah, the thing is that sort of every woman feel of showing

their vulnerability and admitting they can't cope.

And so I suppose I love playing that vulnerability and going, I can't do

And then you just hope the television audience goes, oh, phew, no, nor can I.

was too scared to say it.