BBC One’s Call the Midwife is back for series 15 and Sister Julienne star Jenny Agutter teased the future of her character as she ‘faces serious challenges’
Call the Midwife star Jenny Agutter, who portrays Sister Julienne, has hinted at her character’s upcoming storyline as she ‘confronts significant obstacles’.
The beloved BBC One period medical drama returns for its 15th series, beginning in 1971 with several of the women embracing the Women’s Liberation Movement (WLM) and setting fire to their bras outside Nonnatus House.
Concurrently, Sister Julienne, Dr Turner (portrayed by Stephen McGann), and the entire Nonnatus House team encounter ‘significant obstacles’ in series 15.
Series creator Heidi Thomas revealed what viewers can anticipate from the new season: “More and more babies are being born in hospital, and a complete reorganisation of the National Health Service is on its way.
“But time and again, this brings out the best in them, fuelling not just our drama but their own sense of mission, purpose and vocation. I believe that in many ways, this year sees their finest hour.”, reports the Mirror.
“But then again, there is so much more to come! And we can’t wait to take our fabulous, loyal fans – the other Nonnatus family – with us on this incredible, ongoing journey.”
As Sister Julienne confronts numerous social transformations and questions whether Nonnatus House still has a role in Poplar, actress Jenny, 73, commented on her character: “That’s the big question all the way through this series. It all looks as if they’ll have to fall in line with the NHS and what the council want of them. One of their requests is that they not wear habits but uniforms.
“Well, that’s fine in itself but it’s actually a bigger question which is that Sister Julienne sees the nuns as being missionaries in the East End, serving a community. And she, as a nun, is very much aware of the fact that the first service they have is to God, a higher order than the council.
“The habit is very much to do with showing that they are a part of serving the community. So it’s not just a matter of identification, it’s a matter of knowing what one’s role is and what they’re meant to be doing and feeling that one’s no longer wanted. So it’s a conundrum because if Nonnatus House goes, then a lot of the services that are a part of it go too. But I think that she also sees that this is something coming anyway.”
Discussing the storyline and programme on Tuesday’s BBC Morning Live, Jenny remarked: “Just so much this year, 1971 is packed with all sorts of changes, socially and economically and in medicine and with childbirth.
“We see a premature birth, a very, very extreme premature birth, which they’re able to handle. Ultrasound for the very first time. Epidurals, if you think we’ve come from gas, well, before gas and air in the very early days just breathing, and now we’ve got epidurals. You see medicine move on enormously.
“You see the social issues again. They deal with male breast cancer. They deal with slavery, modern slavery, which comes into a very kind of gentle family. It’s very surprising. There’s a mass of different stories.
“And for Sister Julienne, there’s a sense of, which one saw at Christmas, of her finding a new sense of where they might be able to go or discovering what things were that really sort of moved her.
“She’s very sort of, there’s lots of hard decisions because it’s quite difficult with the autonomy going from Nonnatus House as to where they’re going to go in the future, but I think she also finds a huge strength in her faith and just the realisation that they have a place. It just seems to be a changing place.”
Call the Midwife continues on Sundays at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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