'Call the Midwife' season 5 to premiere in January in the U.K.?

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Ahead of its season 5 premiere, "Call the Midwife" aired its Christmas special last week. While some feared that another character was going to be killed off, fans were relieved to learn that Delia, who was assumed as the character most likely to die back in season 4, is recovering from her brain injuries.

In the finale, it also appeared that Sister Monica Joan died after leaving Nonnatus, but it turns out that she only went home for the holidays.

The show has become one of the best British imports on TV and is becoming a favorite among female viewers. The series is based on the best-selling memoir of Jennifer Worth by the same name. Worth was a real midwife who lived and worked in the East End in London in the 1950s. The novel details the experiences of nuns and nurses living and working together as midwives during the 1950s in Poplar, where some of the poor people of London live.

Now that "Downton Abbey" has ended, fans are now looking forward to new episodes of the drama, which will return with 8 episodes next year. Back in season 3, many thought that it was the end of the series as character Jenny Lee (Jessica Raine), who was the lead character at the time, was killed off at the end of the season. But the show continued to win in the ratings game and was able to get an early season 5 renewal ahead of its season 4 airing.

At the moment, PBS has not announced a premiere date for the drama, but according to Bustle, since "Call the Midwife" premiered in 2012, it has traditionally aired sometime in late January on the BBC in the U.K. before airing in the U.S. in late March.

The website speculates that the show might follow this pattern once again for its sixth season. Meanwhile, Cartermatt speculates that the show's U.K. premiere will be on Jan. 17, which is in line with when the show traditionally premieres.