Call the Midwife is set to be back on screens very soon as the BBC confirm the start date for season 13.

A Christmas special will get fans of the drama ready ahead of the brand new season starting on Sunday, January 7 at 8pm.

Call the Midwife began back in 2012 and was originally based on the books by Jennifer Worth and her time as a midwife in the East End of London during the 1950s.

Now, preparing for season 13 to air, Call the Midwife has become a big hit and has even been renewed to run till at least 2026.

The newest season of the BBC drama is set to see new faces and the return of fan-favourite characters.

Call the Midwife confirms the start date for season 13

Season 13 of Call the Midwife will take place in 1969 and will see new characters Joyce Highland and Rosalind Clifford join Nonnatus House.

The pair, played by Renee Bailey and Natalie Quarry, will join as student midwives and roommates.

Previously discussing the new characters, Call the Midwife writer Heidi Thomas told the Radio Times Magazine: “I can’t wait for the audience to meet Joyce and Rosalind and to follow their journeys, by bicycle, through the streets and lives of Poplar’s residents."

Although new characters are joining Call the Midwife, fans are expected to say farewell to Olly Rix’s Matthew, husband to Helen George’s Trixie.

The characters married at the end of season 12 but earlier this year it was reported Rix would be leaving Call the Midwife, leaving fans wondering what it could mean for Trixie.

Call the Midwife Christmas special first look

The festive special of Call the Midwife is set to take place two weeks before Christmas Day as the midwife prepares to watch Apollo 8 land on the moon.

As much of the world awaits the moon landing, Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt) has shared with Nonnatus house that she believes it will be her last Yuletide after deciding she will not live to see a man walk on the moon.

Trixie and her brother Geoffrey (Christopher Harper) decided they must come up with a plan to lighten Sister Monica's mind.

Elsewhere, Nancy (Megan Cusack) has decided to stay at Nonnatus House as Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter) offers her and Colette (Francesca Fullilove) a room.

Call the Midwife Christmas special airs on Christmas Day at 8.15pm and Call the Midwife season 13 starts Sunday, January 7 at 8pm.