What Year Is Call The Midwife Set In Now

So, you’ve been binge-watching nuns on bicycles, babies being born in precarious situations, and enough teacups to drown a small horse. You’re deep into Call the Midwife, and a nagging question pops into your head: What year is it now? You’re not alone. This show has a special talent for making time feel like a slowly melting stick of butter—delicious, but impossible to pin down. Let’s sort this out, because honestly, the timeline is more twisty than a midwife’s forceps maneuver.

The Year You’re Actually Watching

As of the current fourteenth season (yes, fourteen!), the show has just moved into 1970. That’s right, the bell-bottoms are starting to creep in, and the medical drama is getting a serious upgrade. We’ve officially left the 1950s in the dust, passed the swinging sixties, and are now wobbling into the decade of disco, oil crises, and questionable haircuts.

This isn’t a guess, by the way. Creator Heidi Thomas has been ruthlessly precise, advancing about one year per season. So if you’re watching Season 14, you’re watching 1970. If you’re rewatching Season 1? That’s 1957. It’s like a historical time machine, but with more knitted bedjackets and fewer TARDIS sound effects.

Why Does It Feel Like It’s Moving So Slowly?

Think about it: the show started in 1957. That’s over a decade of Poplar drama, and we’ve only just hit 1970. That’s because each season usually covers only about six to nine months of real time. In TV terms, that’s glacially slow. Game of Thrones covered more years in one season than Poplar does in three.

But here’s the kicker: while the calendar inched forward, the characters aged about fifteen years in real life. Miranda Hart (Chummy) left in 2014, and Jenny Agutter (Sister Julienne) is now legally required to be a national treasure. The babies born in Season 1? They’d be in high school by now, probably vaping behind the bicycle shed.

The “Wait, What Decade Is This?” Trap

One of the show’s sneaky tricks is making every year feel like the same year. The nuns still wear identical penguin-like habits. The bicycles are still clunky. The tea is still aggressively hot. But look closer! In Season 13, they mentioned the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969. In Season 14, you’ll see a character’s new haircut that screams “I’m about to protest the Vietnam War.”

There’s also the medical progress. In the 1950s, a breech birth was basically a miracle with a side of prayer. By 1970, they’re using better fetal monitors and even talking about ultrasound like it’s not sorcery. It’s a low-key history lesson disguised as a cozy drama.

Fun Fact: The Real Poplar Time Warp

Here’s a surprising truth: the real East End of London didn’t change nearly as fast as the show suggests. The show compresses social change for drama. For example, the legalization of abortion in 1967 happens in the show, but in reality, access took years longer. So while the show says “1970,” the characters are often dealing with issues that stretched into the mid-70s. It’s like they’re living in a temporal parenthesis.

And get this: the actress playing the main character in Season 14, Helen George (Trixie), has been on the show since 2012. She’s aged eight years in real life while her character has aged only about twelve. That’s some Benjamin Button energy right there.

Where It’s All Heading

The show runners have said they plan to keep going into the 1970s, but they’ve also joked that they’ll stop before anyone has to wear leg warmers. Leg warmers are the show’s natural enemy. So expect more seasons in 1971, 1972, and maybe even the mid-70s. But here’s the million-pound question: Will the nuns ever get a microwave? Probably not. Sister Monica Joan still thinks electricity is witchcraft.

So, to recap: you’re in 1970 now. If you’re worried about missing a year, don’t be. Just enjoy the ride. The only thing more consistent than the timeline is Sister Julienne’s ability to find a cup of tea in a crisis. And honestly, that’s the real magic of the show.

Bottom line: It’s 1970 in Poplar. The miniskirts are getting shorter, the birth rates are getting weirder, and the nuns are still terrifyingly efficient. Now go watch—you’ve got a lot of babies to catch up on.