Scrappy new year

Nuns & nurses battle racism & civil unrest as Call the Midwife enters 1970... but there will be romance & 2 weddings as well

- NICOLA METHVEN

RIOTS, racism and infidelity propel the new series of Call the Midwife relentlessly into the troubled 1970s.

Writer Heidi Thomas says there will be an aggressive campaign of abuse against West Indian nurse Joyce Highland, while insurrection will spill on to the streets over workers' rights.

But on a far happier note, there will also be two weddings.

One is likely to feature Megan Cusack's character Nancy Corrigan, who found a boyfriend in Roger (Conor O'Donnell) when he arrived during the Christmas specials.

Megan says of Nancy's romance: "Conor is gorgeous.

"I told him it would be the biggest acting challenge of his life having to pretend to fall in love with me." Another developing relationship is between nurse Rosalind Clifford and married pastor Cyril Robinson.

His homesick wife Lucille, played by Leonie Elliott, has not been seen since she returned to Jamaica more than a year ago.