Every Call the Midwife fan will have a soft spot for Poplar hero, Dr Patrick Turner. The kind-hearted GP has dedicated himself to saving the lives of people in the poverty-stricken pocket of East London. Audiences of the BBC One period drama have seen Dr Turner evolve since the first episode broadcast in 2012, and 10 years later he's still making us laugh, and at times cry.
We all cheered for joy when Sheelagh (formally sister Bernadette), played by Laura Main, gave into temptation and married the single father taking on his son Timothy (Max Macmillan) and forming a family together. However, Dr Turner's own life hung in the balance following a train crash in the latest series which aired in February.
Thankfully he made it out of the wreckage after his son, Timothy, tracked him down and got help. A head injury appeared to cause him some confusion, however, a spell in hospital saw him go home with little more than a broken arm. Phew! Our hearts also wept when we discovered Dr Turner suffered a mental breakdown in 1945, which required a five-month stay in a psychiatric hospital, a secret he'd kept from his nearest and dearest. Patrick Turner is played tremendously by actor Stephen McGann.
Call the Midwife is based on the best-selling memoirs of the late Jennifer Worth and tells colourful stories of midwifery and families in London’s East End during the 1950s and swinging sixties. The BBC period drama was created and written by Heidi Thomas.
But away from the camera Stephen McGann and Heidi Thomas are a real-life couple and have been happily married since 1990, they also share a son named Dominic. Speaking to Good House Keeping 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."
According to Stephen's book: 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.
Call the Midwife returns to BBC One on Christmas Day
For more Call the Midwife news and gossip, visit our dedicated page here.
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