The season finale of BBC1’s Call the Midwife drew more than 9.2 million viewerson Sunday night, half a million more than tuned into watch the final episode of the fourth series.
Call the Midwife’s moving finale, which saw the death of a major character, attracted a record for the show of a 38.4% share of total TV viewing between 8pm and 9pm, making it the biggest show on Sunday night by some distance.
It is also the biggest audience the period drama has attracted for a finale since the end of the first series in 2012, which also drew 9.2 million viewers.
It is also thought to be the single highest-rating episode since series three.
The drama, set in London’s East End in the 1950s, has proved such a success for the BBC that director general Tony Hall announced that a sixth series had been commissioned before the debut episode of the latest series had even aired.
