Call the Midwife

In May 2012, BBC Worldwide and the American Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) announced that the first series of Call the Midwife would premiere in the United States on 30 September 2012.[16] BBC Worldwide has also sold the programme to SVT (Sweden); NRK (Norway); RÚV (Iceland); Yle (Finland); AXN White (Spain; Portugal); ERT (Greece);[17][18] ABC in Australia and TVNZ in New Zealand, where its debut recorded a 35% share of the audience – 20% above average. In July 2012 BBC Worldwide announced it has sold the global Video on Demand rights of the programme to Netflix. According to BBC Worldwide America executive vice-president of sales and co-productions Matt Forde, BBC expects to sign another 13 to 15 deals for Call the Midwife with other international download-to-own and VoD services by the end of 2012.

The second series of Call the Midwife has been sold to PBS for transmission from 31 March 2013[19] and to SVT (Sweden) for transmission from 19 May 2013.[20] In February 2013, BBC Worldwide reported that Call the Midwife had been sold in over one hundred global territories,[21] with global sales contributing to the UK's position as the second largest TV exporter behind the United States.[22] In February 2017, it was reported that the BBC had exported Call the Midwife to 237 global territories.[23]

A second series of eight episodes aired in the UK in early 2013.[24][25] The series achieved a consolidated series average of 10.47 million viewers.[26] A third eight-part series aired in the UK from January 2014,[27] with a consolidated average of 10.53 million.[26]

On 28 February 2014, BBC confirmed that Call the Midwife had been commissioned for a 2014 Christmas special[28] and fourth series, to air in 2015.[29] On 3 November 2014, BBC announced that an eight-episode fifth series had been commissioned; it began airing on 17 January 2016; the fifth series takes the story into 1961.[30] The sixth series began airing in the UK on 22 January 2017, taking the drama into 1962.[31] Series seven, again consisting of eight episodes, began airing on Sunday, 21 January 2018, with episode one viewed by 9.87 million viewers.[32] It was the No.1 rated programme on UK TV for all weeks of its transmission, ending 11 March 2018.[32] The eighth series premiered on 13 January 2019.[33]

The first series was released in a Region 2, two-disc set on 12 March 2012.[34] Series 2 was scheduled for release on 1 April 2013 in the UK (region 2)[35] with a collector's edition, Call the Midwife Collection, containing series 1, 2 and the 2012 Christmas Special, released on the same date.[36]

In the United States, the first series was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 6 November 2012. Series 2 was scheduled for release on DVD and Blu-ray on 18 June 2013.[37] Series 3 was released on Blu-ray on 20 May 2014.[38] Series 4 was released on Blu-ray on 19 May 2015.[39]

A second series of Call the Midwife was immediately commissioned after the drama's opening episode attracted an audience of nearly 10 million viewers. The second episode increased its audience to 10.47 million, while the third continued the climb to 10.66. Episode 4's rating of 10.89 million overtook 2010 ITV hit Downton Abbey as the largest first series audience for original drama on British television in recent years.

In the United States, the series 1 transmission on PBS drew an average household audience rating of 2.1, translating into 3.0 million viewers – 50 percent above PBS' primetime average for the 2011–12 series.[40]

The autumn 2012 PBS broadcast of the first series of Call the Midwife in the United States received widespread critical acclaim, earning a Metacritic score of 8.0. The Wall Street Journal declared that "this immensely absorbing drama is worth any trouble it takes to catch up with its singular pleasures",[41] while The Washington Post stated that "the cast is marvelous, the gritty, post-war set pieces are meticulously recreated".[42] TV Guide called the series "a delight to watch",[43] while the San Francisco Chronicle described it as "sentimental, poignant and often heartbreaking".[44]

The second series opened with a record overnight audience of 9.3 million UK viewers,[45] going on to achieve a consolidated series average of 10.47 million viewers.[26] This was almost two million above the slot average, and by some distance the most popular UK drama in every week of transmission.[46] When viewing figures from BBC's iPlayer video streaming service and a narrative repeat were included as part of the BBC Live Plus 7 metric,[47] the total number of viewers per week was found to be almost 12 million.[48]

The critical reception for series two has praised the programme's sharp blend of prime-time period charm and hard-hitting social commentary. Caitlin Moran in The Times called this "an iron hand in a velvet glove",[49] while Allison Pearson in The Daily Telegraph lauded its ability to "tickle the middle of the brow while touching the most anguished parts of the human condition".[50] In particular, commentators have noted the attention given to female social issues in the drama's post-war, pre-pill setting. Alison Graham in the Radio Times dubbed Call the Midwife "a magnificently subversive drama" and "the torchbearer of feminism on television,"[51] while Caitlin Moran claimed the series encapsulated "how unbelievably terrifying, dreary and vile it was to be a working-class woman 60 years ago."[49]

After the departure of Jessica Raine as Jenny Lee at the end of the third series, Jennifer Worth's family stated that Call The Midwife no longer resembled Worth's stories.[52]