Call the Midwife stars on Trixie and Matthew’s relationship breakdown

George said: "It was fascinating and a complete surprise [that they’re having financial troubles]. Heidi [Thomas, creator] wrote these incredible storylines about how they can carry on in their relationship, or can't, because she [Trixie] thinks she's marrying something completely different and she enjoys the title of Lady Aylward.

"She enjoys the shutting down of department stores so she can just on a whim go and shop. She loves that part of it."

"He enjoys giving that to her, as well," Rix added of his character, Matthew. "As a man of that time, it’s really punishing for him to not be able to just freely give, and have to privately and quietly deal with that.

"And what you see happen in series 13, particularly towards the end, is that they communicate a lot but the comprehension totally breaks down."

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He continued: "So, no matter how often they're talking, no matter how much they're trying to get things together, you're watching two people just keep missing each other. And it's heartbreaking.

"It was genuinely very moving on the page. And it was something we found quite emotionally exhausting to do."

George added: "Heidi is such a fantastic writer, and I think these scenes are so different for her, as well, because they almost could be modern.

"The marital relationship is pretty much the same whether it was 50 years ago or today, but it's almost like a sort of kitchen sink drama - they become so active and so visceral and utterly heartbreaking.

"And they were hard, really hard to play, to work on. We have this set of Matthew's flat, Matthew and Trixie’s flat, which is quite a small set. And we’re just in these four walls, and often our scenes would be programmed to be filmed in one day, so there's a sort of pressure on the finality of it all, as well. And she wrote some cracking scenes for us."

It's currently not yet clear what the future will hold for Trixie and Matthew beyond season 13. Last November, it was reported that Rix would be leaving the BBC drama, although it was later confirmed to RadioTimes.com that the actor will feature in all of season 13, with no word yet on what will happen beyond that.

This means the finale could be the actor's last episode, although the door is being left open for a possible return.

Season 13 of Call the Midwife will air on Sunday 7th January 2024 on BBC One. All past 12 seasons are available to stream on BBC iPlayer. If you're looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide or visit our Drama hub for more news and features.

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