Call The Midwife viewers got a shock on Sunday night when an ex EastEnders star made a surprise appearance in the latest episode of the hit drama.
Two weeks have now passed since the much loved show became one of the big ratings winners on Christmas Day, as millions tuned into its festive special, with them then left delighted by the news that a full series was kicking off a week later.
The new series of Call The Midwife started on New Year's Day and saw the debut of a new nun, Sister Veronica and a tense racism storyline that both appalled viewers and left them full of praise for the show's handling of the sensitive topic. The new series continued on Sunday and while favourites like Trixie and Sheila were at the heart of the action, one person fans definitely weren't expecting to see on screen was actor James Alexandrou, famous for playing Martin Fowler in EastEnders.
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James played Martin in the 00s when his character was at the centre of some massive storylines, including getting Sonia Jackson pregnant and then killing her true love Jamie by knocking him down in a car accident. James left the BBC soap in 2007 and, more recently Martin has been played by another James, Strictly 2022 contestant, James Bye.
It took a while for Call The Midwife fans to register where they knew James, who played an expectant father in a difficult pregnancy storyline in Sunday's show, from, but once the penny dropped, Twitter was full of posts about him. One viewer reacted: "Unrelated to the story, but I'm convinced the actor playing Lillian's husband is James Alexandrou who used to play Martin in EastEnders!?"
A second tweeted: "I am sure that is the lad that played Martin in Eastenders before James Bye is in Call The Midwife, I feel devastating news is coming his way with his wife," with another commenting: "Odd to see a previous Martin Fowler in it."
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