Call The Midwife’s Cliff Parisi, known for his role as Fred Buckle, has shared insights into the filming of the show’s Christmas special during an appearance on ‘s Morning Live. He also discussed a ‘first’ for the beloved series.
Joined by Annabelle Apsion, who portrays Fred’s wife Violet, Cliff spoke to hosts Michelle Ackerley and Rav Wilding via video link about the festive episode, which features a mince pie competition.
In a first for the series, the Christmas special will be a double episode airing on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Despite the challenges of filming the longest ever Call A Midwife Christmas special, Cliff assured viewers that they are in for a “treat”.
He explained: “It is a challenge but it’s the crew more than anybody else. You’ve got a director working on a double episode, they’re the first in and last out, the same with makeup and costume and all these people and they work incredibly hard.
“We pop in and try not to bump into the furniture and try not to fluff our lines. They really put the work in so it’s double the work but it’s also double the fun and double the joy so you’re going to get a real treat at Christmas,” reports .
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Call The Midwife’s Cliff Parisi and Annabelle Apsion share Christmas special secrets on BBC’s Morning Live (Image: BBC)
Annabelle lifted the lid on upcoming delights, including the much-anticipated mince pie contest. She explained: “Well Violet, as you know, always wants to organise everything for the community and bring everybody together and I think she thought the mince pie competition would be something that everybody could enter. But people get very competitive and really want to win so really that’s the feature behind it and there’s quite a funny conclusion to the winner and the loser.”
In the latest instalment, trouble brews when Fred has to retrieve their surrogate son, Reggie, played by Daniel Laurie, from the coach station, leading to unforeseen delays and mishaps. Cliff revealed: “Chaos ensues I can’t tell you much more than that but it’s a bit of drama.”
Call The Midwife stars chat to Michelle Ackerley and Rav Wilding on Morning Live (Image: BBC)
Fresh off their TV Times Award win for Best On-Screen Partnership, Annabelle shared her thoughts on why viewers are enchanted by their on-screen family. “So many people come up to both of us and also to Danny who plays Reggie and say how much they love our family which is lovely as we feel like a real family. I think people enjoy our banter and the way we’re not perfect, they enjoy the way Violet is bossy to Fred and, of course, Reggie brings this lovely love to the mix. We’re playful and real.”
The new series will move into the ’70s and Cliff detailed: “The world becomes a little bit more politcal, people want more money, they want a better life, unions get involved and we try to show that.”
Annabelle chimed in: “It’s quite fun for Violet because she gets stuck in there and finds herself in the middle and sometimes she and Fred don’t agree on certain things. It’s fun, it’s ‘true’ to the historical times and of course it’s the Midwife family.”
Morning Live is on One weekdays at 9.30am and on iPlayer
There’s a double Christmas episode of Call The Midwife for the first time (Image: BBC)