Walking The Dog with Emily Dean - Helen George (Part One)

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

This week Emily and Ray have a festive treat for you as they take a stroll through the beautifully Christmassy streets of Richmond with Call the Midwife star Helen George, joined by her adorable rescue dog Charlie.Emily chats to Helen about her childhood growing up in Hampshire, the early days of her career including working as a backing singer for Elton John, and her experiences playing Nurse Trixie in Call the Midwife since the very first episode back in 2012.They also talk about Helen’s current turn as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at the Richmond Theatre, which runs until January 4th and also stars Basil Brush. Tickets are available at https://www.atgtickets.com.Helen is warm, funny and wonderfully down to earth, and Emily quickly realises she is exactly the sort of person you would want on speed dial in a crisis. Luckily, the only emergency on this walk involved a shortage of poo bags, which Helen handled with true Fairy Godmother efficiency.Don't miss the Call the Midwife Christmas specials on BBC One, with part one airing on Christmas Day and part two on Boxing Day.It’s a joyful, festive walk with a much-loved face from British television, and the perfect episode to see the year out.Follow Emily:InstagramX Walking The Dog is produced by Will NicholsMusic: Rich JarmanArtwork: Alice LudlamPhotography: Karla Gowlett Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I think people do confuse me for the character. We've got the same voice, the same face. This week on Walking the Dog, Ray and I have delivered a bit of a festive treat for you because we took a stroll around the ridiculously picturesque and Christmassy Richmond with Call the Midwife Star Helen George and her adorable rescue dog Charlie. The reason we met Helen in Richmond was because she's currently appearing in Panto at the Richmond Theatre with Cinderella. Not only does it star Helen as the fairy godmother,

it also features Basil Brush. So frankly, what are you waiting for? It's on until Jan the 4th, so book your tickets now at ATGTickets.com. Helen is obviously a much-loved face on TV because she's been a cool cast member of Call the Midwife playing Nurse Trixie since the very first episode, way back in 2012. So I was dying to get to chat to her.

Find out a little bit more about her childhood growing up in Hampshire, the early days of her career when she worked as a backing singer for Elton John. And of course, her experiences starring in one of the most popular shows on TV, Call the Midwife. Helen was quite honestly a joy to spend time with. She's incredibly friendly and unaffected and open and also utterly hilarious. And I can totally see why she was cast as the fairy godmother in Cinderella, because she also strikes you as the kind of person

who'd rush in to get things done if you called her needing help. Luckily, the only thing I needed on our walk was poo bags, but one wave of her magic wand, and there they were. Ray and I absolutely loved our walk with Helen and Charlie, and I absolutely know you will too. And by the way, do make sure to catch Helen on the two Call the Midwife Christmas specials. Part one goes out on BBC One on December 25th at 8.15pm,

and you can see part two on Boxing Day at 8.30pm. So all that's left for me to say is I hope you have a truly wonderful Christmas. And by the way, thank you so much for joining us on all our walks this year. We genuinely do have the best listeners ever. But then your dog people. And dog people are always the best people. I'll stop talking now and hand over to my wonderful guest. Here's Helen and Charlie and Ray, Ray. Come on, Ray. Follow Helen. So I thought we could walk down to Petersham. Oh, lovely.

There's that lovely place, Petersham Nurseries. Oh, Petersham Nurseries. So beautiful. It looks, I've seen it on Instagram a lot as well. Oh, it's so nice. Is it really nice? It's so nice. And it didn't used to do, I think I'm right in thinking,

before it kind of went to Covent Garden and everything. It just used to do like the old supper night, like on a Thursday once a month or something. And then it became a much bigger thing. Helen, I love that. I can tell you're quite posh because you said supper. Stop it. I just think there's something about, well, I'm not actually, I'm from Birmingham. Yes, and you're from Harbourn.

I am, yeah. Do you know Harbour? Well, no, but I work with Frank Skinner, who's from Birmingham. Oh, lovely. And Frank's really sweet about Birmingham. He gets sort of very excited when you mention. He's like, oh, yeah, I know these areas. Yeah. You know, he's a big deal in Birmingham.

Anyone that comes out of Birmingham, I think. And Lenny Henry as well, he's from... Is Cat Deley Birmingham? Do you know, I think she might be Solly Hole. Oh. Which we don't really... We don't mix with the Solly-Holl. Come on, Ray.

But yeah, from Birmingham. We are in... Well, we're not in Birmingham today. We are in beautiful Richmond. I always think of it as Ted Lassow country now. I know everybody doesn't. You go down the lanes and there's Ted Lassow bloody everywhere. But it makes me think of...

Obviously beautiful Richmond and David Attenborough lives this way. Does he really? I think Richard Grant's around here as well. It makes me think of like really established household rooms. Like really sort of book filled studies with William Morris print. That's what I'm after. Dusty old studies. And we're and it's so beautiful here but we're meeting you here today because you're doing

Panto up the road from here. I am. I'm doing Panto in Richmond. And which Panto is it? It's some Cinderella. Cinderella. I had to think, because we're doing two shows a day, so my brain is absolutely fried. Honestly, I barely know what day of the week it is. So we're doing Cinderella and I'm the fairy godmother. Oh, you're so fairy godmother. It's loads of fun. It's loads of fun.

And what's nice is that there's no pressure. Obviously, you know, we have to do a good show. And the audiences are great and the kids and everything. But I'm so used to doing, you know, serious theatre. serious acting that you know I can sort of like mess up it's okay to mess up like there's a couple of times like I forgot to go on stage the other day and then sort of jumped in the middle of the scene and it was funny you know but you can't do that when you're doing proper acting so it's yes you're so right Helen because I remember I've worked with Frank for a long time we used to do a breakfast show on absolute radio right and one of the reasons I think I loved it we still do a podcast but one of the reasons that I enjoy that kind of work is exactly what you've said

that there's an informality to it. You can mess up. And then once I was offered to do some quite serious radio presenting on Times Radio. And I thought, they're very nice. But I thought, never again. This is so not me. Because it was the idea that if something went wrong,

you weren't meant to allude to it. Yes, you've got to cover up. And I feel dishonest pretending to be professional. Well, there's a perfectionist nature to it, isn't it? And that's not real life. life. You know, on Call the Midwife, if we mess up in a scene, then we retake and we do it again, because, you know, because it's BBC drama. But that's a drama, so you expect that because you're, people are, but I think you're right with, so Panto, there's something really

love, that's why we love Panto. The mess is funny. The slight chaos of it is what we like. The chaos, exactly that. Sorry, get that this man's gentleman's way. Sorry, um, Helen, I need to be formally introduced to your beautiful dog. This is Charles. This is Charles. Charlie Charlie Charlie boy he's 14 he's beautiful and dear old thing and he's still you know he's doing all right there's got some arthritis in his legs and he's got warts all over his back he's a Jack Russell I found him on the streets of Kensal Rise when he was six months old was a stray a dumped pup and literally Helen you found him did you what were you just well he found me yeah he did I saw

I was walking my other dog. I had a miniature yorch terrier called Lottie at the time. And we were crossing over the road and I was talking to someone I knew. And then I suddenly saw this flashed white out the corner of my eye. And I went, oh my God, my friend, what was that? And there was this little tiny puppy that was running across the road, you know, just missing a car. And going into this lady's front garden and he'd sort of made a nest or bed for himself in this flower pot. And I went over to see what, you know, if he was all right. Yeah. And he started bearing his teeth at me and the lady in the house

who popped out of the window and said can you try and get rid of him he's been there for weeks. I was saying oh my god have you not done anything about it so I couldn't get the dog warden out and the postman managed to help me get a spare lead onto his neck and I took him back to mine and basically no one came forward for him I think he was just dumped and he was teething at the time so his baby teeth were coming out so he knew he was about six months And yeah, I ended up, I wasn't sure whether I was going to keep him, but then I just, I remember Pam Ferris, when I took him on to set when I was filming midwife. And she said, well, if you don't have him, I will.

And I suddenly went, no, I want him. I want him. I'm having him. That's so true. It's like when you can't make your mind up about an outfit and a friend goes, oh, well, I think I'm going to get that. And you're like, oh, screw you. No, it's mine. Get off. Yeah. So, um, so I kept him and 14 years later. Here he is. Oh, look at that, sweetie. Is that a yorky, Helen?

That's a yorky as well. An older one. So. Do you go into jumpers in the winter? Yes. In fact, I had his Santa, he's got a Santa knit today. Oh, nice. Fabulously nylon in sheep.

Yes. I mean, the sort of thing that I wouldn't like a match near it. No, no, no. But I need to get a minute. He has a Santa cloak as well. A cloak? Yeah, he has a cloak. It's a Victorian.

Do you know, Ray is quite Victorian. I think he's like a Victorian gent. Yeah, do you often think if they're a human, how would they speak? Well, how would your speak? Well, I think he'd be like Ray Winston. Yes, I do. He's a bit like, whey. What about Ray?

David Bediel called my dog an intellectual. No, you can see that. Do you think so? But kind of like a bit sort of like, oh, a bit... You know that character in Harry Potter? The one that turns out to be Voldemort with the big turbanum. the big turbanum. What's he called? Do you remember? Professor Quiro. Yeah, like a bit like, oh, but very academic. Yes, quite academic and a bit, a bit snobby.

A bit snobby. He's also a bit hard since bouquet. But with a fast in a rhythm. We've got them nailed. Do you do a dog voice, by the way? Like when you're speaking that you were embarrassed of, I say to Ray, good boy, Ray, Ray, Ray, do you like a baby voice? Do you do that? No, I don't. No, you don't. Sorry. I feel really exposed to the show. People do that to, no, people do that to Charlie and he'll just, because he's quite snappy.

And people like to, like, do a baby voice in his face and he'll just like snap at them. Like, keep your face away from his mouth, please. You know what? I quite like that, Charlie. Yeah, he's got boundaries. Healthy sense of boundaries. We can all do with those, Helen.

We need those as women. So I wanted to go back and talk a bit about your childhood because, you know, You grew up, as you say, in Birmingham. And did you have animals when you were growing up? I always wanted a dog. I'm very much a dog person. And my parents weren't into having pets

because they said, you know, we'll end up walking it. So we got a cat called Domino, because he was black and white, very imaginative. And he was just, I mean, he just used to, I think I was young and didn't really know how to deal with a cat. He just used to bite me all the time. So that was the only experience. And then I was desperate. I always had boyfriends with him.

dogs and it wasn't really about them it was about the dogs yeah I used to date folks because I loved their families I realized did you ever do that yeah a hundred like I think oh I don't like you but I love your family and I'd really miss your dogs you know and it's like breaking up with the family isn't it yeah so I didn't really have animals so then I got a Yorkshire oh yeah And then Charlie came along and then I lost my Yorkshire in my divorce, which was one of the hardest things about my divorce. Oh my God, heartbreaking. Because they're seen as objects in a divorce.

Really? Which is insane? So they're not, is that how they're viewed? So it's like the bed or the car? I think it might have changed now, but yeah, they're seen as a sort of, you know, a thing rather than a being. So do they not arrange with dogs? Is it not like kids where you have visitors? visitation or no I think if it if it gets to a point where you know it's tricky yeah

then you sort of we got one each in the end and he was you know my foundling um so I got him and my Yorkie went went away which is terribly sad because I adore her I know yeah but how lovely that you've given a home I know I think I think Charlie hated her anyway so you know he was very happy Charlie likes it it it's all about him now I know he He's like, I just, I always wanted to be an only child and that he is. So, talking of being an only child, did you have siblings when you were growing up? I've got a sister, yeah. Is she a vet?

Yes, she is. Yeah. I love a vet in the family. It's really, it's kind of useful sometimes. Yeah, for a bit of advice. But yeah, she's a vet. Yeah. And what did your parents do?

My dad works in politics at Birmingham Union and my mum, a social worker, but she works with his team as well. I love that. Completely different academics and just not, you know. But I love that. So I'm assuming quite sort of lively, intelligent sort of conversation around the dinner table and things. Yeah, yeah, I suppose so.

They're quite quiet people. Are they? Yeah, which is why I think my career is so sort of, I mean, they've been so supportive over the years, considering they knew nothing really about it. And mum was always very keen to push me in whatever way, well, both of them in whatever way, you know, I was leaning and definitely I was more on the art side of things.

And Birmingham is a great city for culture, you know. We got the Royal Ballet and I used to be one of the junior associates at the Royal Ballet and stuff. So I was always, you know, going to concertos and things at the CBSO and, you know, that lovely theatre, the rep as well, you know, and Stratford up the road. So were you sort of that kid who was doing, you know, ladies and gentlemen, come into the living room, the Helen George show? I think we all were. I think me and my sister and our next door neighbours, we used to put on shows and stuff. But not really, I didn't go to, like, Saturday to stage school or anything like that.

So I just did ballet, and that was it. And I was quite a shy kid. Were you? Yeah, I was quite, yeah, I was quite shy, unless I really knew people well. It's taken a lot to find confidence, I think. Sorry, we're going past a very, what is it? Smelly tar makers. Yeah, it's making tar.

I'm calling those men the smelly tar makers, whether they like it or not. So quite shy and quiet, and would you have, in your friendship group, were you, see, I would look at you, and this just shows how I'm basing this completely, on Trixie, your character on Call the Midwife, because I would look at you and think, I bet she was the really popular, extroverted one in the friendship group. Were you?

No, absolutely the opposite. No, I don't think I was popular at all. I wasn't in the cool group of girls at all. And I think I really struggled to school. I think I really struggled with mainstream education. So, no, I absolutely wasn't that person. But I'm always cast as that sort of person, which is interesting.

I think there's an association with the blonde as well. Probably. You're probably right. But no, I really... You're good at playing those kind of characters, though. Because it's not me. Yeah. So it's so much easier to pay someone that's, you know, actually quite far away from you.

Oh, do you like Charlie Ray? I think Charlie likes Charlie. Yeah. Because do you know what? Ray's quite a quiet, introverted soul. He's never barked, Helen. What? No, he's never barked.

He's mute. He's mute. He's mute. I took him to the vet. I said, is there something wrong with him? They said, why are you complaining? Yeah. It's like having a baby that doesn't cry. It's like, it was honestly, never made a sound. Gosh. Come on. Charlie's pretty good unless, um, no, he's pretty good unless he wants something. If he wants to chew or something, he'll bark. But he does this brilliant thing when I'm, when I, um, I sing as well and I was warming up once. And Charlie started joining in with these scales and sort of started singing along. I love that.

And the kids now, they love it. They're always trying to get him to sing. But when we sing happy birthday, whenever it's someone's birthday as well, he'll always join in. Does he join in? So sweet. So it was evident that you were talented at ballet. Wow. And do you think it was to everyone?

Like you obviously had a skill, because I'm interested in triple threats like you. Who can sing, dance, and act? I can't really dance. This is the problem. I'm kind of, it was more the performance. I think I was good at the performance of ballet, but I don't think I was, I was never good enough to be a ballerina. Really?

Yeah, and actually I've got a touch of dyspraxia as well, which never happened. And looking back, I look back and I think, God, there's so many auditions when I just didn't have spatial awareness and I literally pirouetted out of a room once from a Mammaeer audition. It's frustrating because you so look the part. You're like everyone's dream ballerina, so it's really awful that you're not. You've got to be like the perfect dancer.

It's not fair. God's got that wrong. My brain just doesn't work with the body. But no, and also, when I go to see dance now, I really enjoy watching it, but I miss words. I miss the spoken words, you know. I love them communicating with their bodies, but for me, it's all about the emotion that comes with voice. And I think what ballet was great for me was, you know, pushing me into a performance side of things and letting me discover singing and acting through, you know, that channel.

And did you end up going to, because you, did you go to drama school? Yeah, I did. And was that in Birmingham? Yeah, I went to a performing arts boarding school in Tring. Oh, yeah. First of all, and then I went to drama school in Birmingham. And then I went to do a course at the Royal Academy Music in musical theatre, which was amazing. And actually my best friends today are all from the Royal Academy.

We're very close. And your parents, when all this is going on, as you say, it sounds like they were just very, yeah, do what makes you happy kind of thing. Yeah, they were very supportive. Incredibly supportive. But, you know, also very keen that I stick to the traditions of higher education. And, you know, I needed to go to drama school and the Royal Academy. was an amazing accolades so there's you know there's there's still um worth in in education just

yeah that field you know my dad was a grammar school kid in birmingham and you know one of the first to go to university and his family so he's quite self-made in some ways well i guess so i mean he i mean not in a dell boy way more in that academic way he's very incredibly academic yeah you know what I love me an academic yeah do you yeah yeah I mean it's what I grew up with but he doesn't you know we joke he did have the patches on his sleeves and everything he was a proper like you know yes I see them as a bit Richard Briers and ever decreasing circles their clothes are yeah and yes the patches and always do you know my dad who is a you know not a sort of academic in the discipline sense that you're done but it would be fair to

describe him as a sort of intellect literary intellectual And we went on a holiday and I was so embarrassed Helen because all the dads had what I described as normal books like Geoffrey Archer and Lendayton and the books all had a sort of samurai sword on the cover or a silhouette of St. Petersburg, you know. Yes, yes, yes. And then my dad, he was reading this book and it was called The Psychology of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Oh, for God's sakes. And my sister said, why can't you be like normal dads? But don't you find, as I get older, I'm like, I'm so glad he wasn't like normal dads. Yeah, yeah.

Should we go through the kissing? Oh, let's go through. Yeah. I've betrayed. I'm not a country type. No, well, I've got my sway boots on. Which way, right or left? Well, should we go through, should we go through the fields?

Oh, lovely. This is the Peterson field that takes yours to the nursery's. After drama school and after, as you say, you went to Royal Academy of Music, presumably at that point were you doing other jobs? Were you thinking or were you sort of getting acting work at that point? I got an agent. Well that's a good start. Which was a good start and then I was very lucky.

I got... Thank you. Peter Shemmeadows were in everyone and it's really lovely. Really lovely. And in the summer there's normally cows here as well. Oh yeah. It says visiting graze her, grazing herd. Ray's a snob, but you know that.

Because of mud. Yes, he's a bit, he likes, he likes, um... Oh, don't blame him with that main. He likes carpet and soft of surfaces. We've got this concrete stretch from him and Charlie can get muddy. So, yeah, so when did you, did you start getting jobs or were you, was it... I was very lucky my first... I was very lucky my first job was, oh no, when we were training, we were asked to be Elton John's backing singers, because he went to the Royal Academy of Music, which was really fun.

And so a group of us went and did his tour for a bit, which was fun. Wait, this is extraordinary. So, were you like... Oh yes, poo-poo, sorry. Pooh-poo! Not a fan of Elton John. Look at Ray. Grass, Ray. We're done. We're done, darling. So brave. So brave. Do you know what's awful, Helen?

Is the naked greed here? He heard rustling and he thought treats. Oh, did he? No, Ray. It's poo's not treat. Sorry, darling. Come on. Back we go. It's poo's not treats. I'd watch that game show. Come on, Charlie. Um, so yeah, Elton John, that must have been amazing. Well it was but I was so like you know I was so young and I didn't really I knew who else and John was but I didn't really appreciate his music and really um what songs did you sing then all of his day Saturday night Saturday that's literally the backing just did you have your moves down your backing singer moves I think there was like there was some sort of

jig going on um well we know what it is it's what it's you've got to have your elbows up and down yeah and knees up and down I mean it was amazing and um James Newton Howard was the conductor who, he's married to one of the Arquette sisters. And he went out with Barbara Streisand. If you'd listen to her, well, I listened to her audio book, but if you've read her book, her autobiography, they went out for a while. And I was like, oh my God, James Yudden Howard.

He was conducting. No, it was loads of fun, but I didn't really appreciate it at the time. We did the Albert Hall and, you know. But now I look back at his music and I go, God, he was... Incredible. His music's incredible. Benny and the Jets. I mean, it's one of my favorite.

And what, but I imagine that was, even if you don't realise you're getting that kind of an introduction, I think that's an amazing introduction to the business, if you like, working with someone whose standards are... So high. Yeah. Yeah, and who's such a nice bloke as well. Was he? Yeah, him and Dave, they're lovely, really nice to do so much for charity and, you know, that was evident. So I'm very kind to us.

Yeah, that's interesting. Well, I think when you're a backing singer, especially as a young, that sort of, how you get treated by the turn is quite telling, isn't it? Well, and also because he'd chosen, he could have got sort of professional backing singers, but what he'd done was get people from the Royal Academy that were just graduating. That's lovely.

So the orchestra was made up of the musicians from the Academy. So, you know, that was really lovely. And then I was really lucky. I went straight on to do Andrew Lloyd Webber's Woman in Wight at the Palace Theatre. with Trevor Nunn directing. Did you have to audition in front of them? Do you have, you know what I hate is standing on the stage doing the audition with the faces in the dark, I can imagine.

Yeah, and it's quite intimidating to Lloyd Webber, like the biggest, you know, one of the biggest musical theatre people of our time. No, it wasn't on stage, it was in a boardroom somewhere and they're all laid out on hundreds of people, all on chairs, and it was intimidating and it was one of my first auditions. But yeah, I got the job, and that was amazing.

So I was at the palace for a year, Palace later. And were you starting to think then, Helen? Yeah. God, I could actually... Did you sort of know this is what I want to do forever? Yeah, I did. And actually one of my... You know, some people sort of fall into it and others...

I get the sense with you, it feels like, no, it's kind of this or nothing. Well, yes, it was very much so. But that was only evident from about the age of 15 or 16. Yeah. And then it suddenly all clicked into place. but I remember seeing one of my drama school friends, years later, after, you know, done all right, and him saying, you always knew, didn't you? It's like, what do you mean? He said, well, you just always knew. Because I don't think I'm overly confident. I think I've got a quiet confidence, but I think I just always felt safe in the knowledge that this was the right career for me and it would hold me. And it has so far. I mean, never say never. I've been very, very fortunate and there's been much, you know, better actresses.

that have gone by the wayside over the years and don't work and teach now, and I think, God, I'm really lucky. You've got such a beautiful speaking voice. Oh, thanks. And it's almost, I would almost describe it as the closest I've heard to RP, but you don't really get people like that now.

Your voice sounds like, it's got a period feel to it, which I really love. Which is probably why I'm always in the course of it. 1950s uniform. Why do you think that is? Is that a combination? It's a really distinctive, beautiful voice. Well, thank you. My mum always spoke well. She's from York, but never had a Yorkshire accent, always had a sort of RP accent, and was always very keen for us to speak well and have good table manners. Really? Yeah, and I wish I could pass it on to my kids who are wild and eat with their fingers and wipe their mouths on their sleeves and things. But, you know, I'm

It does seem to be dying out because my mother was so elbows off the table and you know my mum had a thing don't hold your knife like a pen yeah don't hold your peas on top of the fork and you know and the soup spoon I feel like sort of you know one of Princess Margaret's ladies in waitings when I notice these things that I'm like look at that person's table manners you're like oh no there people don't really care about that stuff anymore but they should I just I don't know maybe I'm just maybe I'm just prim but i do think it's important and you know i am i think it's about consideration towards social consideration so if i think my feeling is if everyone has their hands on the table and

stabs their food with the food it's it's kind of it's about respecting other people's space yes and also you know i've got that thing where i can't bear eating noises and stuff like that and i just think you know what you just want to be you don't want to be that one that has terrible table manners that everyone's like oh i can't bear talking to them dinner because they've got their mouth open do you know to mean I don't want to be that and that when we're on set for Call the Midwife I'm always going around the dining table correcting which side the bread plates on and the napkin I mean props just leave me to it now because I'm like okay I'm just going to sort the table

and then I'll come back to the scene because you know the knife and forts on the way around the spoons and stuff and that was always my job as a kid on Sundays doing the Sunday lunch table and putting the cutlery out and I'd always go okay spoons towards the fireplace forks this way and you know I had my rhythms and I still think of it today when I lay a table I go spoons to all the third place and imagine my mom's time. Yes and you learn all those things like my mum was always if you're asked to the post dinner it's like work from start from the outside and work your way in yes you always remember that yeah and talking to

people as well you know talking to people for the first course on your left and then moving to all of that stuff yeah you'd be a good dinner companion you know how it works and and so you mentioned call the midwife obviously That must have been when your agent presumably calls you, this is at works, isn't it? And so there's an audition. Yeah. And do you remember that first audition still? Yeah, definitely.

I've been doing lots of bits on and off theatre and bits of TV and stuff. And then that came just as another audition. But it was straight in to meet the producers and the director, Philippa. Yeah. At Neal Street in their offices, which is Sam Mendes and Pippa Harris's company. And it wasn't a long audition. It's like sort of 10, 15 minutes. Maybe they already knew.

Well, I don't know. I don't know. But I didn't hear for about three weeks, and I just sort of written it off, and then they called me, why is it called me out of the blue? And I think I was getting to the point where I was thinking,

God, something needs to give, otherwise I'm getting a bit exhausted from, you know, the nose. And I got it, and it was like, you know, six episodes, Pam Ferris, Judy Parfit, Jenny Agatha, Miranda Hart. I was like, oh my God. And then it's sort of just, you know, snowballed, really, over the years. And we've just done our 15th series.

So I've been incredibly fortunate just to have that regularity of work as well. And I don't know if anyone, you know, even the people behind it and you guys could have predicted how incredibly successful it was going to be. No, because, you know, on paper it was a show about midwives and nuns. Yeah. And I remember, I think at the beginning, you know, Pippa Harris had a hard time convincing people that it should be made even. And an all-female cast when there weren't that many.

And do you know what's interesting about it as well, Helen, is that all-female cast and also women of all ages represented feels quite rare to me. It's not a full hot flatmate. No, absolutely. And not, you know, and not sort of being catty. Yeah. Like just women living together in a space and working together. You know, women who've given up, where is this? Where is it? Oh, it's here. God, I'm so glad. Squeaky gate. Come on, Charles. Through here. Come on. Come on. Come on, Charlie.

So, yeah, talking about Call the Midwife, it always strikes me watching that show. and I know this is something obviously you've discussed a lot before but how clever it is because the energy of this show is very warm and it's like getting into a warm bath with your horlicks and you think this is lovely I feel comfortable I love the characters but then it obviously is very clever because it's kind of I feel it's like social education through stealth

it introduces all these subjects as well you know abortion feminism racism racism Thalidomide, you know, the solidamide scandal. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think... But people still consider it as sort of cosy watch.

Do you think they do? Yeah, I think they do. And it's, I think that's the genius of Heidi, is that people still, even though, you know, it makes them cry. And there's, you know, it's cathartic in that sense. It gives the British public, um, permission to cry. Yeah. You know, especially the older generations who hold it in. And their lived stories.

you know, all of these stories are a version of things that people that we've known have gone through or, you know, or we're educated by them. For instance, the thalidomide scandal, which I didn't know very much about because it was before my time. Of course. You know, and the fact that there's still survivors living and the compensation and all the rest of it. So it does inform our modern day life. And that's what's so interesting about it, especially as we get closer to the time that we're living in now, because at the moment we're filming in the year 71, 72, when women still weren't allowed to have mortgages or credit cards. Which is unbelievable, right? And it was only in the 70s. Isn't that insane?

Um, so we get, you know, and that's why I sometimes say, you know, there's this new kind of slight surrendered wife moment. What are they called those, what those? Stepford wives. No, it's called something else. Trad wife. Oh God, which is a whole sort of Republican movement and I think women in a box and at home well what's interesting and they're embracing it and my response to those women would be the thing is you're not old enough I remember exactly my mum yeah like you say couldn't have a mortgage or a credit card and that's so they sort of you're like there maybe don't realize how hard one those privileges were and they shouldn't be

privileges but you know yeah we don't want to get run over by the fine food company. Only in Richmond. No Iceland vans around here. Not in Richmond. Not in Richmond. So, yeah, it's been... And I think that's what's so scary as well.

And what's so interesting is that, you know, we're seeing the patriarchy get stronger and stronger. And I find that really terrifying. I find, you know, I think what comes with nationalisation that we're seeing with the St. George's flags. You know, and I don't want to get too political. I don't want to get too political, but what comes with that as well is an anti-feminist movement, right? The Andrew Tate movement. And I feel like we're being hoodwicked into it. I say this to my partner all the time.

I feel like we could turn around in a few years' time, and it's the Handmaid's Tale. Do you know what you mean? I feel like we're not as far away from that as we think we are. We think that we have all this power as women, but it's... coming for us and the anti-abortion laws and things I you know I feel like they will probably be debated in Parliament especially if Nigel Farage has as well I don't know whether this is too political no no I totally agree with you Helen I feel like it's coming for us and we're sort of sleepwalking our way into it well it's

interesting you know I think looking at call the midwife and seeing how in that show you know abortion is obviously a big theme in that and how it simply wasn't available or it was illegal. It's still a big theme, isn't that insane? That now it's illegal in some states of America. And we've seen what that does. We've seen the back streets abortions, the slaughters that happen because of that,

because it's not being monitored. You know, it's always going to happen. There's always going to be a case for abortion. The trouble is, if you don't allow it, it's going to do more harm, right? People will die. Do you know what I'm saying? You know who I'm being reminded of here who talks a bit like this?

What? It's Trixie. Oh, Jesus Christ. Which I love. Because, no, but that's one of the things I love about your character is that she feels like a woman who's unafraid to take up space in a time when women weren't allowed space. And I particularly like, because of how she's presented, as you say initially,

you think, oh, this is going to be the blonde, funny, you know. Whereas she's kind of very political and opinionated and no push over. No. And what a joy to play her, I would imagine. Yeah, massively so, massively so. I think my mum was always very outspoken. Was she? Yeah, but, you know, I've always been a staunch believer in equality.

So feminism is about one up and a shift. I always think, yes as well. And do you find, Helen? What's the response, because I've noticed people, you're probably not aware of it, but just in the walk that we've done here, I've noticed people sort of smiling a bit when they've seen you. And I think that's a nice response to have. Yes.

Do you think you get a nice response from people? I do, I do. I mean, I don't really notice, I suppose. Do you not? You're quite shy, I think. Do you think you are? I think I can be. Yeah.

I think I can be. I think I've learned to override that. and I've learnt to find a character that's confident in my life. But no, I do get a warm response, and that's really lucky, really lucky. People are very, you know, kind to me, which is nice. And, you know, you also think, posh blonde girl on TV, it could have been, could have not been like that, right? People could really turn against me.

So people have always been lovely. But I think there's a truth to Trixie and a vulnerability that people identify. with. Yeah. She's not pretending to be perfect at all. She's got, she's flawed as we are. I like it. I get very excited when Trixie's, because I love some of the other scenes, but you know,

you have your favourite. Yeah. And you have that in any long running drama where you think, oh, no, they're doing these ones, but I really like, it was a bit like in Mad Men or something. I think, oh, I always want Don and Betty. I get, those are my favourite. I feel that with Trixie. When I get Trixie scenes, I go, oh, good.

Good. And Trixie's had a few ups and downs. She has. But she's now back. We're about to see the Christmas special. Yeah. And she's, she's back. She's in an artist house permanently now. She's back and forth between there and New York. Still, okay. So she's still, that relationship is still going on. Yeah. As far as we know. Yeah. And because her husband is based in America. In America. And you can't say anything about the Christmas special, I'm sure. Or someone at the BBC would be remonstrating with us, would jump out of a bush. Look, there's some really lovely Christmas moments. I think my favourite Christmas moments are in this episode. We've got a lovely, there's a lot of snow and there's a lovely Christmas parade where I get to dress up to be as an angel, which is probably my favourite costume of all time, with these massive wings and this gorgeous white coat and sort of like glam rocks. stars on my cheeks which is really fun so it's one of my favourite sort of Christmas

scenes and what's fun is that her brother comes back and the device of having Geoffrey has been a really great thing for Trixie to have someone to sort of bounce off and he's so brilliant and fun and you know outrageous that it brings out that side in her as well and brings back the fun to the character so that's been great in the Christmas special and did you find because you had your kids what I love about that shows it's been such a big part of your life for so long it's formed the backdrop to all of these experiences you've had like you had both your kids when you were doing that show yeah so did was it helpful in terms of did you go into thinking oh I know everything about this now I know

everything about travel birth no but there was a midwife around that I would ask questions to really what on set you mean on set yeah I was pregnant filming with both of them when I was you know when I was having them so that was nice but Yeah, I think that's the thing with a long-running show. And, you know, it's not a soap. So we do have time off to go and do other projects and things and then come back to each other. But it is very much like a family with the crew and the cast and everybody else.

So we've been through so much in our own life. So many deaths and births and marriages and, you know, life events. That we are completely bonded. I really hope you love part one of this week's Walking the Dog. If you want to hear the second part of our chat, it'll be out on Thursday, so whatever you do, don't miss it. And remember to subscribe so you can join us on our walks every week. Thank you.