A fan-favourite actress on Call The Midwife has decided to leave the show after six years, a source has claimed.
Miriam Margolyes reportedly will not reprise her role as Mother Mildred on the beloved BBC show because she is ‘too busy’ with other projects.
Viewers have been left heartbroken by the 83-year-old’s reported decision and complained the show ‘will not be the same’ without her.
The national treasure first joined Call The Midwife in 2018 in the Christmas Special, with her last appearance in 2021.
Speaking about her exit, a source told the Daily Star’s HotTV column: ‘Miriam loved being part of the show because she absolutely adores it
‘But she is too busy to play Mother Mildred now so there are no plans for her to go back.’
Miriam’s decision to quit Call The Midwife has predictably devastated fans on X with @StarStruckGifts complaining: ‘Such a shame—the show won’t be the same without her!’
Echoing their sentiment, @MccuskerBarbara wrote: ‘Will miss Miriam love her.’
Miriam, who is best known for playing Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter series and for her Bafta-winning role as Mrs Mingott in The Age of Innocence, has had a packed schedule over the past few years.
On TV, she has appeared on multiple documentaries and factual entertainment formats including BBC travel programme A New Australian Adventure and written her third memoir.
She previously told the RadioTimes she has agreed to take on multiple projects as she fears running out of money to pay for carers.
The comedian said: ‘I’m worried that I won’t have enough money for carers when I finally get paralysed or whatever it is that’s going to happen to me.
‘I’m saving up cash so that I can pay people to look after me and my partner.
‘We don’t have children, so I need to make sure I’m going to be looked after in the way that I’ve become accustomed.’
Miriam was diagnosed with spinal stenosis and also underwent heart surgery last year.
She said: ‘I can’t walk very well, and I’m registered disabled, so I use all kinds of assistance.’
First aired in 2012, Call The Midwife centres around the nuns and midwives at Nonnatus House and the complex medical issues they treat during the 1950s and 60s.
The period drama was originally created by Heidi Thomas from the memoirs of Jennifer Worth who worked as a district nurse and midwife, attached to a convent, in the East End of London during the 1950s
Metro.co.uk has contacted Miriam’s rep and the BBC for comment.
Call The Midwife is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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