Call the Midwife's Stephen McGann shares behind-the-scenes secret as tragic plot teased
Call the Midwife star Stephen McGann has let fans into a show secret as he rehearses a tense scene with a baby doll. The Dr. Patrick Turner actor, 61, has shown how he films scenes with newborn babies as the BBC period drama produces a new Christmas special and series.
Taking to the official Call the Midwife Instagram page, Stephen can be seen in character as Dr.Turner attending to a very unwell baby, which is a plastic doll, that could be on the brink of death.
Holding the doll's chest gently, the actor lightly places one hand on its chest and gives off a serious expression. When the scene is filmed, the doll will be replaced with a real-life baby.
Letting fans into the secret of using babies as actors for the long-running show, an explanation besides the photo read: "This photo from the set of our latest Call the Midwife Christmas Special shows Stephen McGann (Dr. Turner) rehearsing a detailed medical sequence on the delivery room's Resuscitaire.
"What first strikes us in this picture is the simplicity of the doll used! As you can see, Stephen is using the kind of plastic child's doll familiar to any child.
"Talk about low-tech! Although we do have more sophisticated (and more expensive) prosthetic models available to us, their use for rehearsal really depends on the qualities needed by our cast for the precise actions in the scene."
It continued to explain: "For instance, prosthetic models have full baby weight and size, so that can be good for specific actions where carrying a baby is required.
"But here, Stephen is concentrating on providing oxygen for a child with breathing issues, so the nature of the doll is less important.
"That said, the cheap plastic doll will soon need to be replaced by the real thing! As we come to film the scene itself, it can often be a bit of a shock for our cast when a real, live, kicking baby suddenly replaces our well-behaved plastic rehearsal assistant!"
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Stephen McGann as Dr.Turner in Call the Midwife Christmas special 2024 (Image: Call the Midwife/Instagram)"Real babies are our most precious commodities", the show added, "So their time on set is very short, and our cast must be ready to anticipate the differences between plastic and delicate newborn skin.
"Thankfully our team is well accustomed to this and handles our youngest stars with all necessary delicacy. In fact, there is a particular help to performance when actions with an inanimate doll become an interaction with a real human life.
"The baby in this story comes to Nonnatus House with some very specific medical problems. For all their careful rehearsal, will our team be able to save the real thing?"
Call the Midwife fans instantly flooded the comments section with compliments, with one fan writing: "As a real-life midwife I love the attention to detail."
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Stephen McGann as Doctor Turner in Call the Midwife (Image: BBC / Neal Street Productions / Olly Courtney) window.topArticlesScript="https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/js/dist/article-top-articles20240723.min.js"A second added: "I am always amazed and impressed at your use of actual ‘newborn’ babies and not three month olds like you see on every other show. Your attention to detail is always noticed by my husband as well, especially the cars!"
A third exclaimed: "Absolutely love ,love ,love this series, really looking forward to next series", while another simply added: "Counting down!."
Call the Midwife is set to air on Christmas Day, and is the last episode thought to be set in the 1960s before the plot moves into the 1970s for series 14 which will air in 2025.
Call the Midwife's Stephen McGann shares behind-the-scenes secret as tragic plot teased
Call the Midwife's Stephen McGann shares behind-the-scenes secret as tragic plot teased
Call the Midwife's Stephen McGann shares behind-the-scenes secret as tragic plot teased
Call the Midwife's Stephen McGann shares behind-the-scenes secret as tragic plot teased
Call the Midwife's Stephen McGann shares behind-the-scenes secret as tragic plot teased
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