Call the Midwife will run for at least nine seasons, the BBC has confirmed today.

Charlotte Moore, Director of BBC Content, and Piers Wenger, Director of BBC Drama Commissioning, have announced the commission of Season 7, Season 8 and Season 9.

The commission consists of eight 60-minute episodes in each season, plus three more Christmas specials.

Call the Midwife launched in 2012 and continues to be the most watched drama series in the UK, with all five seasons so far averaging around 10 million viewers per episode.

Buy the complete Season 1-5 box set on Amazon here.

Executive producer Pippa Harris commented: “Like a truly supportive parent, the BBC has nurtured our series from conception onwards, and this exceptional three-series commission further demonstrates their care and commitment. It’s a testament too to the passion, skill and creativity of Heidi Thomas, and to the dedication, talent and brilliance of our cast and crew.”

The show’s creator Heidi Thomas said: “I am hugely excited by the prospect of creating three more series of Call the Midwife. In the 1960s Britain was a country fizzing with change and challenge, and there is so much rich material – medical, social, and emotional – to be explored. We have now delivered well over one hundred babies on screen, and like those babies, the stories keep on coming! Above all else, it is an incredible privilege to work on a show that is made with such care and received with such love.”

Charlotte Moore, Director of BBC Content, added: “I’m privileged to have Britain’s most popular drama series on BBC One, and this new three-series commission underlines our commitment to the show. Call the Midwife continues to raise the bar with each new series and is really valued by audiences. The quality and ambition of the storytelling is credit to the excellence of writer Heidi Thomas, who has successfully brought the show into the 1960s with a diverse range of subjects.”

Call the Midwife writer Heidi Thomas has promised “new challenges and new triumphs” in the sixth season.

This year’s Christmas special was filmed in South Africa near Cape Town in April and will air in its now traditional Christmas Day slot next month.

Eight new episodes will follow in early 2017.

Season 5’s finale was the highest rated programme of 2016 with 9.2 million viewers.

Are you looking forward to the return of Call the Midwife? Let us know below…