"She's not prepared to lose it."
Fans of Call the Midwife will be sad but unsurprised to hear that Joyce will be subjected to racism while carrying out her duties as a midwife in the 14th season.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press about how her character copes in the face of that trauma, Renee Bailey said: "I feel like it's a lot of her balancing all the cases that she deals with, but also the intersections of being a Black woman from the Caribbean in this country, where she's not always going to be wanted, but still having to be a professional and having to paint on a smile and still go to work every day.
"We all do that in different ways in the workplace anyway, but that is a big thing for her this season as well… the mask that you have to wear as a health professional when you're experiencing or witnessing people experiencing things that you might have experienced yourself … and having to just push it all down and still show up."
Bailey went on to say that because Joyce has "sacrificed so much to be here", such as escaping an abusive marriage, "she's not prepared to lose it", even when confronted by racist attitudes.
"The strength in that, her being like, 'I fought for this and I deserve to be here,' that kind of keeps her together," she added.
Bailey also said that, ahead of season 14, she did her own research into the period, which involved speaking to a dialect coach from Trinidad.
"They told me that in 1970 there was a huge Black power revolution in the March of that year, and also in the August of that year the Mangrove Nine in England," she added.
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"So I remember coming into the season and speaking to our exec and being like if there are any things race-related during this, I want you to know where Joyce will be coming from, where she's going to be at, what's going to be going on in her world outside of Poplar and what she'll be experiencing and how she might then deal with those situations."
Call the Midwife season 14 will arrive on Sunday 5th January at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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Abby Robinson is the Drama Editor for Radio Times, covering TV drama and comedy titles. She previously worked at Digital Spy as a TV writer, and as a content writer at Mumsnet. She possesses a postgraduate diploma and a degree in English Studies.
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