Like millions of other fans, Jenny Agutter will be “glued to the television” on Christmas Day watching Call The Midwife’s seasonal special which has, over the past few years, become for many festive viewers every bit as traditional as the King’s Speech.
Unlike the majority of fans, however, the actress and charity campaigner, who plays avuncular nun Sister Julienne in the long-running drama, knows what to expect.
“It’s set in late 1968, going into 1969 when we had a very cold winter, and snow was several feet deep in places and very icy,” Agutter reveals in a dramatic whisper. “Sister Julienne is in an ambulance, which gets stuck in the snow. With the help of a doctor, I deliver a baby. There is a magical feeling about it. I hope audiences will love it.”
So far, so brilliant, which is why the BBC drama series about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s and 1960s has remained a constant amid ever-changing TV schedules. But this episode in particular reveals Agutter has even more historical impact than usual, thanks to veteran writer Heidi Thomas who has “outdone herself”.
Don’t miss… Drivers face three-month prison sentence for sleeping in car whilst over limit
“At that time you had Apollo 8 going around the Moon and people were getting excited about the Moon landing in 1969,” she continues. “The special deals with the past, the present and what the future might bring – it deals with some very big issues indeed.”
After enjoying global fame as Bobbie in The Railway Children in 1970, Agutter, now 70, successfully transitioned to adult roles in a succession of prominent British sci-fi and horror films.
She starred in Logan’s Run, An American Werewolf in London, Equus, The Eagle Has Landed and Walkabout. And last year she reprised the role of Bobbie, now a grown-up, in sequel The Railway Children Return. Not that she’s ever gone away – Agutter had become a familiar face for a new generation of fans following Call The Midwife’s mega-success since it arrived on our screens in 2012. “It’s been great fun,” she smiles.
Today we’re talking about prison. For once not because of a dramatic Call The Midwife storyline though, rather because Agutter is a keen supporter of St Giles Trust, a south London-based charity that, as part of its work, helps former inmates re-adapt to life (hopefully crime free) once they are released. She’s seen the huge difference it makes to those individuals every step of the way – including during a series of visits behind bars to some of the country’s toughest jails.
Agutter has made several visits to HM Prison Wandsworth in south-west London, where overcrowding and poor conditions are rife. She has also spent time at HM Prison Send, a closed prison for women offenders in Surrey.
Trying to keep inmates in touch with the outside world is key to their rehabilitation and well-being when they are finally released, she explains.
“With St Giles, I’ve been to men’s and women’s prisons and listened to prisoners’ stories – I’m very aware they are cut off from the outside world,” she tells me. “They’re no longer responding to society, they are not part of any of that. It takes
an awful lot of work to get them back into the community.
“If you think about what it’s like after you’ve been ill. Sometimes it’s hard to be around people afterwards. You can imagine what it must be like coming out of prison.”
- Support fearless journalism
- Read The Daily Express online, advert free
- Get super-fast page loading
Thankfully, Jenny has never had to encounter this hardship on a personal level. Married to Swedish hotelier Johan Tham for 33 years, they have a son Jonathan, 32, a GP. He had a son, Oliver, in 2021, making Jenny a grandmother for the third time – she also has teenage grandchildren through her step-daughter from Johan’s previous relationship.
“It’s lovely when your child has a child and you can revisit that baby time again,” she has said.
Jenny lives in south London with Johan and credits him as her “stay-young secret”.
So, it pains her when she has observed women desperate to maintain contact with their loved ones in the outside world, especially over the festive period.
“The big thing we try to do is make sure they have access to a telephone at least once a week,” she says. “They need to be able to know what is happening with their children and families. The hardest thing for the women is the separation because they tend to be more social than men and there is more trust in women’s prisons.”
The motto of St Giles is “Turning a past into a future” – newly released inmates are helped with accommodation, jobs, rebuilding relationships and putting affordable food on the table – and Agutter embraces this ambition. “What St Giles’ workers do in prisons is proactive,” she explains. “Before prisoners come out we want them to sign up to a programme, which will help them get back on their feet. It gives them something to hang on to, so they don’t have that terrible feeling of no longer being part of society.”
She believes more changes are needed to better rehabilitate ex-offenders, noting the UK has the highest rate of prisoners in Europe relative to population.
“But we don’t compare with America, thank God,” she adds, with a wry smile.
Right now, with temperatures stuck in single figures, Agutter is volunteering at St Giles’ Pantry service in London. Another side of the charity’s mission, it’s one of five food hubs where those struggling to survive the cost-of-living crisis can get fruit, vegetables and other healthy foods at affordable prices as they move towards independence.
Starting as a crisis service during the Covid lockdowns, additional permanent sites are now up and running in Leeds, Norwich, Coventry and Colwyn Bay, Wales.
This year, Agutter is keen to promote the charity’s “seat at the table” appeal. By donating £30, you can pay for someone to have a Christmas meal.
“At this time of year we all see adverts about people getting everything ready for Christmas,” says Agutter.
“This is a chance to think about people who can’t do that. Putting food on the table becomes an impossible situation with the bills that they face.”
It was a St Giles note posted through her letterbox 12 years ago that prompted her to support some of society’s hardest-to-reach individuals.
Indeed, Agutter concedes not everyone will sympathise with those who have committed crimes.
“It’s not an easy charity to talk about because it doesn’t have the things people want to help, like taking care of the sick or children,” she admits.
But when she popped into a St Giles centre to see for herself, she was impressed by the diligent staff helping homeless people, drug addicts and those with poor mental health.
The charity also offers targeted support in schools to prevent teenagers from turning to crime. And now there are programmes that can and do break the cycle of poverty.
“The ambition is to turn their lives around within six months, which is pretty good,” she says.
Agutter’s selfless dedication to voluntary causes saw her awarded an OBE by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2012.
It was another important milestone following five successful decades on stage, film and television.
As well as supporting the St Giles Trust, Agutter also helps the Cystic Fibrosis Trust charity, which campaigns for sufferers and drug therapy treatments for the devastating lung condition.
“The Daily Express campaign on this issue has been wonderful,” enthuses Agutter. “You’ve done a fantastic job campaigning for drug treatments. It’s made a huge difference.”
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is currently appraising the cost-effectiveness of modulator drug therapies involving three drugs, Kaftrio, Orkambi and Symkevi.
Agutter’s niece Rachel, 44, suffers from CF and takes the new drug therapies.
“The drug Kaftrio has made a huge difference to her life,” she says. “Rachel can walk up hills now which she couldn’t do before. She needed daily physiotherapy but now she can exercise normally. She doesn’t give up, she’s always pushing.”
With so much time juggling her charity work and Call The Midwife, does Agutter have time to pursue other acting roles?
The answer is yes – if the show is Doctor Who, which has just returned to our BBC One screens. Writer Russell T Davies has already mentioned to Agutter, who played Pamela Hawley of the World Security Council in The Avengers and Captain America films, about making an
appearance. “Although I love doing Call The Midwife, I wouldn’t mind being on Doctor Who,” she muses.
You never know what Father Christmas may bring, so maybe viewers can expect a special Tardis delivery some time soon.
- To learn more about the work of St Giles Trust, visit here.
Source: Read Full Article