Here’s the fun part: the show pretends to be about London, but almost all the filming happens in southeast England. The seaside trips, like the famous holiday to the coast, are shot at places like Hastings or Eastbourne. It’s cheaper and easier than hauling the whole cast to the actual British seaside, but you’d never know it.
Call The Midwife Set Tour _ Call The Midwife Tour – WFOT
The maternity hospital scenes? That’s usually the Royal Victoria Dock or a repurposed old hospital building in the dockyard. They basically just clean up a hallway, add some creepy medical equipment, and call it a day. You have to admire the resourcefulness—it’s like a very elaborate, very 1950s-themed game of make-believe.
The Magic of the “Poplar” Market
Remember the bustling market where the midwives buy fruit and gossip? That’s filmed at the Chatham Dockyard’s own “Slipway,” which is normally a dry dock for boats. They fill it with stalls, fake pigeons, and extras in flat caps, and suddenly it’s a thriving East End market. The trick is that all the real noise is added in post-production—so it’s actually quiet as a mouse when they’re filming. Imagine Sister Julienne yelling “The baby’s coming!” while everyone is silent, just mouthing words. Hilarious.
Even the famous “bicycle rides” are mostly on closed roads in the dockyard. The show uses clever camera angles and a bit of wind machine to make it look like they’re weaving through traffic. It’s basically a low-budget stunt, but it works so well you forget they’re just pedaling in circles for eight hours.
