Rebecca Gethings watched Call the Midwife’s 15th-season finale among friends. A lot of them. The actress, who has been playing Anglican nun Sister Veronica since 2023, was with cast and crew from the cherished British drama’s past and present, at an anniversary event where the emotional installment was shown. The following contains spoilers for the Call the Midwife finale.

Appropriately, PBS aired it on Mother’s Day in the U.S. Set in 1971, it overflowed with all of life’s joys and pangs: a wedding, the funeral of Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt), and the blissful sight of Rosalind and Cyril’s (Natalie Quarry and Zephryn Taitte) blossoming baby, thanks to a new thing called a sonogram. But this episode was different. Nonnatus House, the home and workplace of the nuns and nurses who’ve been guiding the women of Poplar through childbirth for decades, shut down amid changes in the healthcare system. Still, the sign on the door read “temporarily closed,” and the show is set to return for a 16th season, after delivering a limited series prequel and a film.

There was also resolution for Sister Veronica (real name: Beryl), who had left Nonnatus House with hopes of becoming a mother. After having a gay old time with Geoffrey Franklin (Christopher Harper), she realized her childbearing years were in the past and returned to her Sisters. Here, Gethings talks about Beryl and Geoffrey’s relationship, her character’s “Cinderella moment,” and saying goodbye to a beloved character.

Sister Veronica had quite a journey this season. When did you find out about her storyline and what did you think?

Rebecca Gethings: We get the scripts quite late so, like your character, you are acting in real time. I lucked out with my scene partner, Chris Harper. We have good chemistry, and that was really vital for building that relationship over a short amount of time. When we did the scene on the bench in Episode 1, where Sister Veronica confides that she wants a child, we had no idea how that would play out. We didn’t know whether they would end up having children together.

The evolution of Beryl and Geoffrey’s relationship was a delight.

She’s no fool. She knows he’s gay, but I think she fell in love with him a bit. When they were in the club and she saw him dancing with Mr. Parry (Paul Bigley), it’s that moment of recognition that this world can’t support her dreams to be a mother, and also that to love Geoffrey is to have to share Geoffrey because Geoffrey’s everybody’s special somebody. There’s a sadness to that and there’s also a nice sort of finality. She makes the choice to go back to the order. Yes, the cards are taken out of her hands and she’ll grieve, but I think she’s also happy to go back because she loves her Sisters as well and the work that she does.

Before you knew the ending, did you worry they might be writing you out?

I did have a chat with one of our executive producers who was like, “Don’t worry.”

Rebecca Gethings and Christopher Harper (Neal Street Productions/Olly Courtney)

Were you surprised Beryl went back to her life as Sister Veronica?

In a way, it’s rather beautiful because it’s true to life. People don’t always get their happy ending. And as custodian of a story about someone who desperately wants a child and doesn’t get to have one, you feel responsible to do that story justice and also to show her walking into her future with dignity and hope. She’s not defined by the fact that she does or doesn’t become a mother. We needed to show that. It would have been slightly jumping the shark to give her a baby and show her having a lavender relationship with Geoffrey. I think some fans would have loved that, but it’s also beautiful to show that sometimes you get what you need, not what you want.

It would have been something if Beryl and Geoffrey got married and started a family!

If there had been someone in Beryl’s life — a Geoffrey — prior to taking vows, she probably wouldn’t have become a nun. I don’t think her calling was to be a nun. She has strong faith, and her calling is to help people and to work within the community, but I think the nun aspect of it was because that offered a way of life, a structure, a community that she didn’t have without it.

You certainly had more opportunities to change up your hair and wardrobe this season.

When you accept a part as a nun, you don’t expect to have a little glow-up. That’s been really liberating, but it’s also quite exposing. The cassock hides a multitude of sins. But I think those particular episodes are really like the birth of Beryl. When she leaves the order, I felt like she was new born in a way. She’s very naked. She’s wearing the clothes from the charity cupboard that don’t fit her and she’s still not really learned who she is out in the world. And she’s being styled by a gay man who has impeccable taste, but it’s not necessarily her finding her way as being shown by the people around her.

It was sweet watching Beryl have her Cinderella moment.

We try to tell the story of how she was growing in confidence through the clothes. The night when they go to the gay club and she dances, that for me felt like the butterfly ball — like for one night only you get to be this beautiful butterfly, and then you go back to the convent.

Judy Parfitt (Olly Courtney/©PBS/Neal Street Prod./BBC/Courtesy Everett Collection)

This season was the last for Judy Parfitt, who’s been a fixture of the show since day one. What was it like saying goodbye to her?

It was very emotional. Judy is a massive personality and I think we’re all going to miss her. For Judy to play that arc as a 90-year-old woman I think was quite hard for her as well. But she does a wonderful job.

Pam Ferris’ cameo as the spirit of her late character, Sister Evangelina, was beautifully handled and affecting when she showed up to guide Sister Monica Joan to the afterlife. I understand most of the cast was kept in the dark about it.

There was a security guard. It was like we were filming a Marvel movie! I was initially in that scene and then I was told I wasn’t, but I had a leaky sieve on the inside, so I knew what was going to happen. In the wrong hands that could have been a really schmaltzy moment, but Pam is such a wonderful actress and it was so understated.

The show hasn’t really delved into the supernatural, but somehow it worked.

And it was hopeful and beautiful, as a woman of faith would be to move to the next stage of being. Death holds no fear for her because she’s dedicated her entire life to her relationship with God. She’s just going back to where she came from.

Will you be part of the upcoming film?

I haven’t been confirmed. I certainly hope so. I don’t want to hazard any guesses at this stage, but if they want me, I’ll be there. That’s all I can say.

Call the Midwife’s legacy is remarkable. It’s considered a family show, but I think of it as great women’s entertainment — an intelligently written series by, about, and for women. I don’t think we have anything equivalent to it in this country right now.

In terms of who it employs as well. Our showrunner [Heidi Thomas] is a woman in her 60s. Our executive producers, Dame Pippa Harris, Annie Tricklebank, they’re women of a certain age. The cast is women of all ages. I’m not wearing any makeup, really, other than just base, and in the narrative, females aren’t passive; they’re driving the plot. Not since Golden Girls! There’s a few examples, but you can count them on your fingers. To be in one of those is a real privilege.

Call the Midwife, Season 15, PBS app; Seasons 1-14, Netflix