Call the Midwife's Joyce warns Rosalind after Cyril relationship progresses

"Is there not a compromise you can reach?" she asked.

"I'm afraid not," he responded flatly.

Once Lucille had secured a job on the other side of the world, hope of a romantic rekindling dwindled fast.

But now that neither of them wants to uproot their lives, there really is no way back for the couple, however much fans willed it to happen.

And that now leaves the door open for Cyril and Rosalind...

After contracting Weil's disease or Leptospirosis, an infection of the blood picked up from animals, soil or water, Rosalind was rushed to hospital as her condition continued to worsen.

After the doctor had informed the midwife that her blood tests were showing some compromised kidney function, he stressed that the next 24 hours were critical.

If the penicillin didn't do its job, she'd be "entering very difficult territory".

But thankfully, Rosalind's health began to improve and she was eventually well enough to receive visitors, one of whom was Cyril.

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"I kept thinking I should have brought you flowers," he said, before taking a seat next to her bed.

He then took her hand in his as they gazed at one another lovingly.

In the wake of Nigel the cat's death, he expressed that he "cannot be an island", that he is "not made to be alone", before telling her of his divorce.

"I cannot know what the future holds, but I know I don't want to face it as a single man," he added, before kissing her on the cheek.

But when Rosalind told Joyce that his marriage with Lucille was officially over and that they were going to be spending some more time together, her friend had some words of warning.

"Don't," she said. "Child, please. Don't.

"It has nothing to do with him being married or being divorced or even being a pastor, which I doubt makes anyone a very exciting boyfriend.

"You are from different worlds. The people who don't like him won't like you, and vice versa. And they wont be afraid of showing it or saying it.

"It's going to be so hard, too hard, and I don't want that for you."

Upon hearing her plea, Rosalind looked crestfallen.

"But what if it's something we want for ourselves?" she asked.

"I've said my piece," responded Joyce, who knows all too well what's in store.

Ahead of season 14, Zephryn Taitte teased "hard times ahead" for Cyril and Rosalind as they grow closer.

"I remember speaking to someone on set, and they said they were in an interracial relationship and how hard it was in the '70s," he said. "They could never be open and flirty with each other."

He went on to that the pair "do have a little spat with some people on the streets".

"That's the early stages of it, and I'm sure it's going get harder for them," said Taitte.

Natalie Quarry also echoed those comments.

"We don't really know what's in store for them… but they will have a lot of trouble [to contend with]," she added.

Call the Midwife airs on BBC One and iPlayer.

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