Our enchanting Christmas

Stars Leonie Elliott, Helen George and Jenny Agutter on why it’s the most wonderful time of the year in Poplar…

- CAREN CLARK

Nonnatus House is festooned with pretty decorations and the residents of Poplar are hoping for snow as BBC1 delivers this year’s festive special of period drama Call the Midwife.

There’s no time for anyone to put their feet up and enjoy the celebrations, however, as Christmas 1966 proves to be one of the busiest Yuletides to date for the caring nuns and midwives, with numerous ladies due to give birth at the maternity home, including a mum-to-be with high blood pressure and a troubled gangster’s wife.

All eyes will be on kindhearted midwife Lucille Anderson (played by Leonie Elliott), though, as she and her devoted fiancé Cyril Robinson (Zephryn Taitte) prepare for a joyous Boxing Day wedding. But when disaster strikes, will they make it down the aisle?

Here, Leonie and her co-stars Helen George (midwife Trixie Franklin) and Jenny Agutter (Sister Julienne) tell TV Times why this episode is an absolute cracker…

CALL THE MIDWIFE NEW CHRISTMAS DAY / BBC1 / 8PM / DRAMA

‘It felt like a real wedding’

Leonie Elliott, 33, plays midwife and bride-to-be Lucille Anderson

Tell us about filming Lucille and Cyril’s wedding preparations…

It was wonderful to put on a wedding dress. I’ve never done that before in my personal life or as an actress.

It just makes you feel elegant, with the corset and train. It was exciting and started to feel like a real wedding because when I had fittings for the custom-made dress, our wardrobe designer, Claire Lynch, brought Prosecco and played wedding music. It was lovely.