After wrapping up another heart-tugging series as Nurse Shelagh Turner in Call The Midwife, actress Laura Main is all set to enjoy Christmas in her hometown of Aberdeen. The filming for the new series concluded in November and was celebrated with a festive lunch with the cast and crew, putting Laura in the perfect holiday spirit to head back to Scotland and spend the season with her family.
“I live in London but I’ll go up and spend Christmas with my mum in Aberdeen. It’s just my mum now, as my dad sadly passed away about three years ago, so I’ll be with her,” shares the 43 year old actress. “I’ve got two sisters up there, and two nephews and a niece, so there will be lots of time with the family and lots of time with my mum. It’ll be really lovely.”
(Image: Humphrey Nemar/sunday express)
Laura’s mum Lorna still resides in the house where Laura grew up, and she cherishes the memories of Christmases spent there – including an early memory of a year when her parents decided to celebrate the holidays at a cottage instead. “We used to go to a cottage near Ballater on the River Dee every summer, and one year when I was eight they hired it for Christmas,” she reminisces.
“I remember thinking, ‘How is Santa going to know that I’m here? ’ I remember waking up early and I couldn’t believe my eyes, because there was a bicycle at the end of my bed. So Santa found where I was!”
Nowadays, Laura and her mum kick off their festive celebrations as soon as they hear the classic Chris Rea hit, Driving Home For Christmas. “We both love that song because it is about getting home for Christmas,” Laura chuckles. “I’ve rarely driven home, usually it’s the train or a plane, but each year we let each other know when we’ve first heard it in the shops. And my mum has even been known to have the CD ready to play as I walk in the door!”
(Image: BBC / Neal Street Productions / Olly Courtney)
Another Main family tradition during the festive season is to cosy up and watch the Christmas episode of Call The Midwife. “It’s lovely to be able to share it with family,” says Laura. “Mum and dad and my sisters and their kids have all been so supportive of my career, but Call The Midwife is particularly special and they all love it.”
This year’s Call The Midwife at Christmas is even more special as it’s a two-parter. The cast, including Stephen McGann, Jenny Agutter and Helen George, filmed the Christmas specials in April as they always do, so they all get to feel festive twice a year. “I love filming the Christmas ones,” says Laura. “I worry about the years when I’ll only have one Christmas to celebrate!”
(Image: BBC / Neal Street Productions / Sally Mais)
The show has so far been set in the 1950s and 1960s, which means the Christmas trees on set are, as Laura says, “Very traditional, none of those LED lights!” There’s often fake snow, too, and because there are lots of kids on set – including the three who play Shelagh and Dr Turner’s son and two daughters – there is a sense of excitement about the festive season, even in April. “Their reaction to the fake snow and things like that is really sweet,” says Laura. “There’s obviously some confusion for them, especially when they were younger and they saw the beautifully wrapped presents around the tree and rattled the boxes that had nothing inside them! I think their chaperones do spoil them a little on those days, though.”
After the festive double episode, fans can look forward to the 14th series in January, with a 15th series also in the pipeline. Laura, who has been part of the show since its inception, was asked if she sees any similarities between herself and her Call The Midwife character, Shelagh, whom she has portrayed for 13 years. She responded: “I think actually that Shelagh has had an effect on me. I feel like I can step up in a way that Shelagh can, and that I’m not afraid to. I care, and help others when called upon. I don’t know if I would have shied away from that had I not been playing Shelagh. Maybe I’ve grown up, but being there for others, that’s something Shelagh has taught me.”
View news Source: https://www.ok.co.uk/tv/call-midwife-star-laura-main-34324020
