The Call the Midwife season 15 finale has aired, and there are empty boxes of tissues up and down the country as the nation collectively wept at the demise of Sister Monica Joan.While her death has sometimes appeared imminent in the past, a strong sense of inevitability has followed the fan-favourite nun for the entire run of the latest season, and Sister Monica Joan has now made her final journey to the afterlife.It has to be said, her exit was handled perfectly, honouring everything viewers know and love about the long-serving nun. However, Sister Monica Joan is set to return to the Call the Midwife world, so its not goodbye for ever, just goodbye for now.Excitingly, a younger version of the character will be a focus of the show's prequel - she will of course look a little different, but it'll be incredible to have a first-hand look at the nun at a different stage of life, and find out more about her as a younger woman.Instead of the usual Call the Midwife Christmas special this year, viewers will instead be treated to the prequel, which not only features a young Sister Monica Joan, but also younger iterations of Sister Julienne and Sister Evangelina.
Set during World War II, the prequel will also introduce three young midwives who arrive at Nonnatus House, fresh faced in the way Jenny Lee skipped up the steps to meet The Order just over a decade later in 1956. Writer Heidi Thomas tells Radio Times the new recruits will be "all completely new, relatively new to the East End, and they really do get thrown in at the deep end"."You'll see a lot of women coming into their own," she continues when sharing news of the prequel, adding, "It's a programme that is going to be about strong women above all else."While Thomas is busy writing Sister Monica Joan as a younger woman, she's still in mourning for Judy Parfitt departing the role.As Sister Evangelina and a host of other ghostly Sisters led Sister Monica Joan to the afterlife, Thomas even had a tiny cameo as one of the nuns helping her pass over."There was a very real moment where Judy and I were sitting alone in this rather scabby dressing room we have in the basement of Nonnatus House," the writer tells Radio Times. She continues, "She was in her night dress and I was dressed as a nun and she took my hand and her eyes filled with tears, and she said,’ You see, to me, she is a real person.’ I said ‘To me, she is too.’ We had our little moment then."
While Judy Parfitt was pitch perfect in her delivery of Sister Monica Joan's death scenes, it might be a surprise to find out she didn't hugely enjoy filming them.It turns out that playing out her character's death reminded the actress a little too much of her own mortality.After turning 90 on the set of the show in November, Judy says it felt like waving goodbye to Sister Monica Joan was like "practicing" for her own death. Although we remain sad not to see Judy in the role any longer, we'll look forward to tuning in to watch whoever picks up the baton to take on one of the greatest characters in TV history, when the prequel arrives on our screens.All 15 seasons of Call the Midwife and all Christmas specials are available to view on BBC iPlayer.
