Call the Midwife’s Stephen McGann’s family life from co-star wife to famous brothers

Call the Midwife has made a very welcome return to One with brand new episodes of the much-loved period drama.

Stephen McGann has reprised his role as Doctor Patrick Turner for his fourteenth series on the show which is now set in 1970 as the plot moves into a new era.

The 61-year-old actor has portrayed the heroic doctor since the very first episode aired in 2012 and has captivated viewers ever since. A true hero in the poverty-stricken corner of London, Dr Turner has saved the lives of those most in need, helped deliver babies, and has generally melted the hearts of viewers with every episode.

Call the Midwife fans will recall the emotional scene when Dr. Turner found love with Sheelagh Mannion (Laura Main) after he was widowed at a young age, with the happy couple now raising four children.

However, it was not all smooth sailing for Dr. Turner as it came to light he suffered a mental breakdown in 1945 and had to stay in a psychiatric hospital for five months.

As the drama returns let’s take a look at Stephen’s life away from the camera as he brings one of TV’s most adored doctors to life for another gripping season of Call the Midwife.

Call the Midwife is based on the best-selling memoirs of the late Jennifer Worth and tells the colourful, heartbreaking and joyous tales of the midwives and families in London’s East End.

The period drama was created and is written by Heidi Thomas. Since 2012, the 62-year-old has shared the heart-warming and sometimes gut-wrenching stories of the nuns and nurses living at the east end convent, and the tales of Poplar’s poorest residents during a time when the NHS was a new concept.

But away from filming, Stephen and Heidi are a real-life couple. They have been happily married since 1990 and also share a son named Dominic.

Speaking to in November 2020, Heidi admitted Call the Midwife is the ‘sole topic of conversation’ in their household, but she never gives her husband a sneak peek at the storylines.

She said: “I live with Stephen McGann who plays Dr. Turner because we’ve been married for 30 years and so he’s the character I know best off-screen.

“I never show him scripts or storylines before the other actors see them because I don’t think it’s fair on him to have to keep secrets”, Heidi added: “He is completely in the dark until he gets that script.”

According to Stephen’s book called A History of My Family in Seven Maladies, he met Heidi after auditioning for her new play at Liverpool Playhouse.

They married two years later, when they were both 27 years old, and enjoyed a honeymoon in Tuscany before starting a new life together in a cottage in rural Essex.

Speaking to in 2023, Stephen recalled a terrifying incident that left Heidi extremely unwell. He said: “When Heidi was suddenly struck down with a constricted bowel and advanced sepsis, fighting for her life. “

He added: “The love of my life was nearly taken away and like Scrooge watching Marley’s ghost, I was shown an alternative world. I walked the walk of a potential widower with a young child, and then she came back to me.”

Stephen went on to credit the for the support and care his family received, crediting it as the real inspiration for Call the Midwife. “In a spiritual sense, that’s when Call the Midwife was born,” he remembered. “The saved my life as a child and Heidi’s life. It’s personal to me.”

Heidi was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by III at Windsor Castle in 2023 for her services to drama.

Stephen, born in Liverpool, isn’t the only member of his family to carve out a very successful acting career as the star has three older brothers who are also celebrated actors.

Joseph McGann kicked off his career as Lord Glozelle in the version of Prince Caspian in 1989 before playing Charlie Burrow in long-running sitcom The Upper Hand.

The 66-year-old has also appeared in a long list of popular TV shows including: All Creatures Great and Small, Dangerfield, Truckers, Vera, Hollyoaks, Casualty, Midsomer Murders, My Family, Doctors and Celebrity Masterchef – plus many more. He has also had other major roles in various stage productions.

Paul McGann, 65, is another of Stephen’s older brothers and is also no stranger to television. The TV star famously played the lead role in Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor, Doctor Who: Shada, and The Night of the Doctor episode of Dr Who.

He also played Mark North in Luther, John Gaskell in Holby City with other TV credits including Moving On, A Mother’s Son, New Tricks, Waking the Dead, and many more.

Documentary buffs will also recognise Paul’s voice as a narrator on many programs including Secret History, Churchill’s Secret and Wildest Indochina.

Their brother Mark McGann is also an actor who made his professional acting debut after joining the Everyman Theatre Company, Liverpool, in the early ’80s before landing breakthrough TV roles.

In 2021, Mark played Jon Cummins in the real-life series Stephen.

He also starred as Mad Dog in the series Scully, John Lennon in the John and Yoko: A Love Story movie, Detective C.J. Brady in Yellowthread Street, Conor Phelan in The Hanging Gale, and Marcus Bannerman in The Grand. Other television credits include The Bill, Where the Heart Is, Shackleton and Timewatch.

A man of many talents, Mark, 63, is also a musician, director, and writer along with heading-up a production company whilst making a short film called Perplexed Music which was released in 2018. He’s also appeared in many stage productions.

Mark, Stephen, Paul and Joe McGann all starred in the 1995 British-Irish TV miniseries The Hanging Gale, and they also also have a sister called Claire.

Call the Midwife airs every Sunday at 8pm on One and iPlayer