Filming has started on the fourth series of Call the Midwife and this year’s Christmas episode at the historic Chatham dockyard and at its studio base in Chertsey, Surrey.

The Christmas special will be followed by eight new episodes in 2015.

Series 4 sees the community of nuns and nurses in 1960, on the cusp of much change in London’s East End.

The BBC teases: “A new decade dawns, and with it come different and exciting challenges for the team at Nonnatus House. Can the nuns and midwives hold onto their traditional values in a rapidly changing world?”

The third series concluded in March on BBC One.

Writer and creator Heidi Thomas commented: “The medical, social, and emotional stories at the heart of Call the Midwife continue to inspire and compel me. The Nonnatus House nurses and midwives feel like my best-loved friends.”

Christopher Aird, BBC Head of Drama, Scotland, added: “We look forward to welcoming Call the Midwife back to BBC One this Christmas and in 2015. Heidi and the talented team will bring some truly wonderful stories to life with our new cast members…”

Jennifer Worth’s original books will continue to inspire the series, supplemented by the testimony of other midwives from the era and new historical research.

Are you looking forward to Series 4? Let us know below…