Last Updated on December 31, 2023
How to Watch Call the Midwife Online for Free – BBC and More
It’s one of the best period dramas produced over the last decade and it’s won lots of awards. Call the Midwife has fans all over the world, but unfortunately is quite hard to watch in some countries. Here’s how to enjoy all the seasons of this wonderful show wherever you are in the world for a minimal cost.
What’s Call the Midwife all About ?
Call the Midwife is a British drama series about a group of midwives working in the East End of London in the 1950s. The show follows the personal and professional lives of the midwives, as they deal with everything from births and marriages to poverty and illness. Call the Midwife has been praised for its realistic portrayal of life in post-war Britain, and for its strong female characters. It was recently voted the best drama of the last twenty five years in a poll from BBC viewers – it beat Dr Who into second place!
Here’s the trailer for one of the latest seasons , currently we’re waiting for Season 12 which is scheduled for the beginning of 2023.
Call the Midwife – Season 10 Trailer
Where to Watch Call the Midwife Online
There are a few ways to watch Call the Midwife online. In the US it’s most easily available through PBS where you can watch every new series as they are released. You can normally stream the live shows on PBS, AMC, and a few other national stations across the world too. You will however have a limited time frame to watch these shows though. They are usually only available for a short time for free on sites like PBS passport. They do appear on other media sites across the world but you’ll need to use a VPN as described below to access them – for example it was on RTE but you’ll need an Irish VPN to watch.
Of course, many people ‘discover’ Call the Midwife much later than the initial broadcasts and then want to watch them all ! This is much harder to do unless you are willing to spend a significant amount of money buying the series individually. However when you consider there are currently eleven seasons plus a lot of Christmas Specials – it’s a lot of money.
Buying Seasons/Episodes Individually
Currently you can also buy every series on iTunes or on DVD/BluRay. There are now 11 seasons and series 12 is now being produced which is due early 2023. So unfortunately buying each episode can get rather expensive (although arguably worth it – Call the Midwife is a wonderful show). You can also purchase every episode individually on Amazon Prime for just under $2 an episode. Again fairly decent value for one of the best dramas that British TV has produced over the last decade. It’s especially useful if you’ve just missed a couple of episodes or want to re-watch a favourite.
It’s also worth checking out YouTube as the episodes are also available here for a similar price.
Call the Midwife on Britbox
So what is Britbox ? Well, it’s a streaming service that features the best of British TV including all new episodes of your favorite BBC series like Doctor Who, Top Gear and Sherlock. It was set up as a collaboration between the main UK broadcasters including BBC, ITV and Channel 4 to promote their older material.
If you’re looking for an older UK programme then Britbox is probably your best bet. It’s an enormous archive packed with shows from the last few decades of British Television. There’s now also some original shows being produced for the platform not available anywhere else.
It currently has all the previous seasons of Call the Midwife apart from the current one. It also has the various Christmas Specials too. For older shows and a bit of British nostalgia it’s hard to beat, the subscription costs vary depending on which country you’re in.
Which Countries Have Britbox ?
The list of countries which can access Britbox is getting longer. It’s taken a while but now there are a significant list of countries where you can watch things like Call the Midwife on Britbox. Here’s the current list but if your home country isn’t here then keep checking this page as it’s being updated quite frequently now.
BritBox is currently available (August 2022) in:
- The United Kingdom
- Australia
- Canada
- South Africa
- United States
- Sweden
- Finland
- Denmark
- Norway
Remember you must be in one of these countries to access Britbox and it should be noted that the content does vary slightly depending on which location you’re in. That is to say the Danish version of Britbox will be slightly different to the Canadian version. If you’re looking for a specific show it might be worth checking first but overall there’s not a huge variation between the different countries.
Watch Call the Midwife on the BBC for Free online in 2022!
The show was created and produced by the BBC so it’s no surprise this is definitely the best place to watch it. Not only can you enjoy every season ever created, you can also watch every single Christmas Special too. It’s definitely worth waiting until the Winter months to enjoy those though, some of them are hugely atmospheric and a great watch at Christmas.
BBC iPlayer is probably the most comprehensive option for streaming Call the Midwife online. All you need to do is register your own BBC iPlayer account. This service requires registration but it’s completely free and you just need a valid email account. It’s worth it for all of the great content you’ll have access to. If you think you want be able to access because you’re outside the UK then don’t worry it’s actually quite simple. Just watch the next video below and see how easy it is.
Is BBC iPlayer For UK Viewers Only?
The issue for most people is that although the BBC iPlayer is completely free it’s only available for people who reside in the United Kingdom. Like many large media sites (including PBS) they restrict access to their domestic market by using something called geo-blocking.
This technology is extensively used online to determine the location of any visitor and then restricting or controlling what they can access. For the media sites it’s primarily used to restrict access because of complicated and outdated licensing rights. If you pick any major TV sites anywhere in the world, you’ll usually find it’s inaccessible outside their home country. It’s incredibly frustrating especially for ex-pats and people travelling on holiday or work. You can be cut off from all your favourite shows even if you have subscriptions just by travelling outside your home country.
Anyone Can Watch Call the Midwife on BBC iPlayer for Free
The BBC is of course completely free of charge as long as you’re in the UK. Fortunately you don’t have to move countries to get access. It’s pretty easy to watch anything on the BBC iPlayer’s huge archive including all the Call the Midwife episodes by simply hiding your location.
Using a VPN to Watch Call the Midwife on the BBC from Anywhere
You don’t need to know much if anything about the technical side, but basically all these media sites including the BBC lookup your location using something called an IP address. This is the unique network number assigned to every single device connected to the internet. It also can be used to look up your location fairly easily. In fact the vast majority of websites will determine your location for marketing purposes when you connect anyway.
Fortunately there is a way to hide this IP address and thus hide your location, and it only takes a quick click of a button if you have the right software.
Here’s a quick video showing someone in the USA connect to their free BBC iPlayer account using something called a VPN.
Here’s the link to the VPN software used here – NordVPN Discount Page.
Pretty easy huh? Watch all the British TV channels from the US, Europe or anywhere. It’s not complicated to use although the technology behind it is very sophisticated. All that’s effectively happening is that you route your internet connection through an intermediary – the VPN server. As long as that server is located in the United Kingdom then you’ll be able to use BBC iPlayer like anyone in the UK.
Quick BBC iPlayer Tips
It can seem a little daunting using the BBC iPlayer this way but it’s really not. If you visit any large UK expat community in places like Spain you’ll find thousands of retired UK expats who use a VPN every single day to do the same thing. Forget about the technology, it’s really a matter of privacy – hiding your real location from all the nosey websites who want to track and monitor you online.
Having said that there are a few steps which can throw the unsure a little off track. They’re not a problem but they can confuse people a little.
UK TV License Requirement
First of all remember if you’re actually in the UK then you MUST have a UK TV license to watch the BBC. You can be tracked down and fined if caught watching the iPlayer even on a laptop, phone or tablet if you don’t. However if you’re watching over a VPN from some other location then you shouldn’t worry.
The reality is that you can’t buy a UK TV license from outside the UK anyway, so it’s not possible to obtain one. You will be asked if you have a UK TV license sometimes when registering or sometimes before your programme starts.
Just Say YES I Have a TV License
There’s no check or verification. They don’t check, it’s simply a question which you must say Yes to. I’m afraid you’ll have to make this little fib to continue, there’s no other option as stated you can’t actually buy one abroad.
BBC iPlayer Account Registration
You now need an account on the BBC platform in order to stream programmes including Call the Midwife ! This is a relatively recent requirement but it’s not really one to worry about it. Yes if you’re trying to watch from abroad it may feel like this could blow your cover but that’s not really the case.
All you need is an email address which you can access easily to verify the account. You will be asked for a username, your age (well if you’re over 13) and your postcode. The postcode is an address code used by lots of different countries similar to the US ZIP code. Many people panic about this, thinking that the address will be checked but it really won’t. All you need to do is ensure that you use a valid UK postcode for the BBC that exists.
Here’s a few London Postcodes you can Use – N1P 3AB, N1P 3AD, N1P 3AE, N1P 3AF, N1P 3AG, N1P 3AJ
What’s the Best Drama on the BBC ?
There’s no shortage of great drama on the BBC. From “Call the Midwife” to “Line of Duty,” there’s something for everyone. If you’re looking for the best drama on the BBC, here are a few of our favourites:
“Line of Duty”: This award winning police drama is one of the most popular shows on the BBC.
“The Missing”: This gripping show follows the search for a missing child.
“The Night Manager”: This espionage thriller stars Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie and a host of very glamorous locations.
“Sherlock”: This modern adaptation of Sherlock Holmes is one of the most popular shows on television.
Choosing Which VPN to Watch the BBC ?
As we’ve hopefully explained If you want to watch the BBC online, you’ll need a Virtual Private Network (VPN). We’ve shown you one in the demonstration above but there are many more available. A VPN will allow you to connect to the internet through a server in the UK, which will give you a UK IP address. This will let you access BBC iPlayer and other UK-only websites and streaming services.
There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing a VPN:
Lots of UK Servers
This might sound obvious but some VPNs don’t have many UK based servers. If you want to watch Call the Midwife on the BBC iPlayer then the UK servers are the only ones that matter. You need some volume as well because if too many people use the same IP address to connect to the BBC iPlayer concurrently they can get blocked automatically. This is the problem that many VPN services have – they’re easily detected by the BBC website and don’t actually work properly to access it.
Make sure you check that the BBC iPlayer is definitely accessible using the company’s UK servers. At the very least ensure that you have some sort of trial period or money back guarantee just in case4 they don’t work. Approximately 75% of VPN servers no longer work with the BBC iPlayer in 2022 so make sure that you check.
Speed and Reliability
To be fair most of the main VPN services are usually fairly quick especially when using UK servers. However make sure that they are as speed is obviously essential for streaming especially if you’re using the high definition streams. If your VPN connection is too slow you’ll find any video will keep freezing or buffering. This can be a very frustrating experience so make sure that your connection doesn’t slow down when using the VPN connection to the UK servers.
It’s especially important if your internet speed is quite slow as using a VPN will usually have some impact however minor. You’re effectively adding another step to all your internet traffic so there will always be some impact. Remember if your internet connection is a little slow – you can actually download and watch offline – all thin information you need is here download programmes from BBC.
VPN with Security Features
Even if you’ve found your way into the world of VPNs simply because you want to watch the latest season of Call the Midwife – don’t forget they’re extremely useful. All our traffic and information is very vulnerable online and using a VPN is a great way to protect it. It’s especially important if you’re using wifi and internet access while travelling. Internet access in public places like cafes, hotels and airports are often targeted by cyber criminals who try and steal things like usernames and passwords. Using a VPN means you can check that email or pay those bills safely from any internet connection.
Best VPNs have short trials or Money Back Guarantees
It’s worth ensuring that one of these is in place. You never know if a VPN will work successfully with BBC iPlayer as they continually try and block this access. There are still plenty that work but certainly not all of the anymore.
Once you’ve found a good VPN, all you need to do is connect to a server in the UK and visit the BBC iPlayer website. You should be able to watch all of your favorite shows without any problems!
Where Can I Watch Call the Midwife for Free?
If you’re in the UK and have a valid UK TV license then you can watch all the shows for free on BBC iPlayer. If you’re outside the UK then you’ll need a VPN service to hide your location. None of the free one’s work anymore unfortunately but they’re not very expensive and you can cancel at any time.
Where Can I Watch All Seasons of Call the Midwife?
Every season of Call the Midwife is currently on BBC iPlayer as of October, 2023. It looks like they’ll be there for at least a year but it’s impossible to say for sure. If you’re outside the UK then you’ll need a VPN to watch, see the video demonstration on this page.