Sister Julienne is rolling back the years thanks to new cast member Helena Wilson, who plays the younger version of Jenny Agutter's much-loved character19:01, 07 Aug 2026This is Call the Midwife’s Sister Julienne as she's never been seen before - as a young thirty-something nun working in Poplar at the start of the war.‌The character, played for many years by Jenny Agutter, is getting a new lease of life in the prequel series Call the Midwife: Sisters in Arms, which launches with a three-past BBC special this Christmas.‌And alongside Helena Wilson, who plays the young Sister Julienne, is former Coronation Street favourite Julie Hesmondhalgh, seen for the first time as Sister Alice.‌The pictures, which also show Ellie McKay, Liv Andrusier and Lizzie Back as young nurses Sybil, Olive and Marianne, have been released to mark the end of filming on the three-part festive special.Writer Heidi Thomas admitted she had wept through some of the storylines. “I was surprised how many new emotions Sisters in Arms sparked. In particular, the evacuation of Poplar’s children, and the fear that they may not make it home for Christmas, had us all in tears.”‌The story kicks off in September 1939 with favourite Call the Midwife characters Sister Monica Joan, Sister Julienne and Sister Evangelina all in their prime, while Nonnatus House is the beating heart of Poplar. Together with Sister Alice, and local GP Dr Kit, the dedicated nuns get on with their job without the luxury of gas and air, penicillin, cure for TB or welfare state to help them.Then war is declared - and life gets even harder. As the Blitz takes hold and bombs rain from the sky, the women of Poplar are forced to give birth underground while whole streets are reduced to rubble.‌Heidi said the cast and production team had battled to make the series through this summer’s soaring temperatures. “Call the Midwife has a long and noble history of filming Christmas specials during heatwaves,” she laughed. “This year we welcomed the snow-machine back to the Nonnatus House set like an old friend.”She said that Call the Midwife: Sisters in Arms would primarily be about what happens when women go to war. “It is about love and birth, separation and courage, lipstick and nylons (or the lack thereof). But it is also a medical drama, set in a devastating landscape where even the nurses cannot know if they will live till morning.”She said that other storylines had also reduced her to tears. “I thought I had cried all my tears when Sister Monica Joan died. But the thought of her back on her bike, cycling through an air raid, set me off again, as did images of young Sister Julienne shaking when the sirens sound, and Fred Buckle still in his 20s, black with soot and sweat as a volunteer fireman. Then I'd be laughing at Sister Evangelina, in her element as an Air Raid Warden, or the juvenile Dr Turner turning up at a dance and being shy with girls.‌“Sisters in Arms has been a joy to write - like returning to the family home and finding all the people I have ever loved made young again and filled with new energy."BBC drama boss Lindsay Salt said she felt “immensely proud” to take Call the Midwife into this new direction. “The cast assembled for Sisters in Arms are every bit as wonderful as Heidi’s scripts - we can’t wait to take BBC viewers to the Poplar of 1939 to get to know them.”Article continues belowAgutter will have an important role in the new series as the narrator, starting and ending each episode in the way that Vanessa Redgrave does on the main show as the voice of original author Jennifer Worth.The programme-makers have also announced their intention to make to a big-screen version of Call the Midwife, set in the 1970s, plus a return to the small screen with a 16th run of the main show. A full run of Sisters in Arms is also expected to follow at some point.Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.