Why isn’t Call the Midwife on TV this week? BBC confirms series 13 schedule change - what is episode 7 about

Call the Midwife series 13 will not continue this week on BBC One due to a schedule change, and fans will have to wait days for episode seven to be broadcast.

Terrestrial TV is no stranger to schedule disruption, with ITV soaps Emmerdale and Coronation Street, and BBC One’s EastEnders affected by sports coverage over the last two weeks. 

Now the BBC has announced another time change to one of its most popular dramas, with Call the Midwife being delayed a week to make space for a major awards ceremony. 

Why isn’t Call the Midwife on TV this week?

Episode seven of Call the Midwife series 13 was due to be broadcast this Sunday (February 18), but has been delayed because of the Baftas, which will air in the drama’s usual slot.

Call the Midwife was set to air at 8pm on BBC One Sunday, but the Baftas 2024 film awards ceremony will instead be broadcast from 7pm-9pm on the channel. 

The Call the Midwife official Instagram account shared: “Due to the live BAFTA Film Awards next Sunday, Call the Midwife series 13 will continue in TWO WEEKS TIME – February 25 at 8pm on @bbcone.”

Additionally, Call the Midwife fans won’t be able to watch the episode early on BBC iPlayer as it won’t be released on the platform until shortly after it is first broadcast on TV.

However, the Baftas awards show is not actually aired live - it goes out two hours after the actual ceremony begins in London and is edited into a two hour package, down from the roughly three hour ceremony.

When is Call the Midwife next on TV?

Episode seven of Call the Midwife, the penultimate instalment of series 13, will air in its usual time slot at 8pm on Sunday February 25 on BBC One. Episode eight, the series 13 finale,  has also been pushed back a week and will air on March 3 at the same time, with the episode available on iPlayer shortly after it is first broadcast.

The episode is set in October 1969 and sees Joyce win the Violet Albany Prize, which is given to the East London midwife who qualifies with the highest marks in her exams. Elsewhere, Shelagh has arranged for everyone to have their photograph taken for the Gazette outside Nonnatus House and Joyce oversees the care of Gerri Godfrey, a single mother who is pregnant with her second child.

Matthew and Trixie struggle with their change in fortune, and Trixie’s lack of sleep prompts her to seek help from Dr Turner. As Matthew vows to overcome their financial troubles, he is offered a lifeline from an old colleague.

Nurse Crane and Rosalind give a talk about menstruation and contraception, and Rosalind suspects that 16 year old Alison is concealing a pregnancy.