A Sparkler For Trixie

It's a white Christmas in Poplar and there's a very special festive surprise for one midwife...

Call the Midwife is as much a part of Christmas as mince pies. The heart-warming BBC period drama brings its 11th festive episode this Christmas Day, full of snow, romance and the wonder of the holidays.

It will be a particularly merry Christmas for midwife Trixie Franklin, as actress Helen George returns to the series from maternity leave.

Helen had her second daughter, Lark, in November 2021-a sister to five-year-old Wren with her partner, the actor Jack Ashton, who she met during his time playing vicar Tom Hereward on Call The Midwife.

The path to happiness has been much less smooth for Trixie, who has struggled with alcoholism. This year it appears the midwife will get much more than just a kiss under the mistletoe from boyfriend Matthew Aylward - she'll receive a New Year's proposal of marriage!

However, Helen reveals it was only television trickery that turned Matthew’s romantic proposal into a magical moment onscreen. Almost everything went wrong when they filmed the scene! We were by the Albert Bridge in Battersea,” explains Helen of the iconic Thames crossing bedecked in lights. It was a night shoot and the council had said, Oh yes, the lights will be on all night for you’. After we’d done one take, the lights went out. The crew were on hold to the council for the rest of the night trying to get the lights back on!”