Heidi Thomas: Call the Midwife is about change and challenge
Heidi Thomas has opened up about her approach to writing the newest season of Call the Midwife.
Heidi Thomas believes the latest season of Call the Midwife "very much brings an era to an end".
The 63-year-old writer has enjoyed huge success with the hit BBC drama series - but Heidi believes that Call the Midwife requires continual change.
She told the Radio Times: "I've had a lot of these stories in mind for a long time, and change has generated so many of our stories over the past few years.
"I'm not quite sure what I would do if things weren't changing. The whole point is, it's about change and challenge – and the series itself looks to the future, so it very much brings an era to an end."
Despite this, Heidi admits that evolving the show is an emotional challenge, too.
She said: "I think we've all cried our eyes out at different times because things never will be the same again. But the whole thing with Call the Midwife, like life itself ... it's a process of constant evolution for our characters and also for the stories."
Meanwhile, Heidi previously announced plans to make a Call the Midwife prequel series.
The show's creator said at the time: "The opening of new doors at Nonnatus House feels profoundly emotional, and yet just right.
"I have never run out of stories for our midwives, and I never will. But having wept, laughed, and raged my way from 1957 to 1971, I found myself yearning to delve into the deeper past.
"The Blitz years in the East End were extraordinary - filled with loss, togetherness, courage and joy. The bombs fell, the babies kept on coming, and the Sisters kept on going. There will be so much in the prequel for our wonderful, loyal fans, including the appearance of some familiar (if much younger!) faces.
"As the classic Call the Midwife series moves further into the 1970s, it also seems the perfect time for our much-loved regulars to take a short break from Poplar and test themselves in an unfamiliar landscape. The rise in hospital births, and changes in the NHS, have clipped their wings, and this is their chance to take flight and work out what really matters."
