A first look at Call The Midwife’s new prequel series, Sisters In Arms, sees Julie Hesmondhalgh posing with a clapperboard as it’s confirmed that filming has wrapped on the BBC show.Getting into character as nun Sister Alice, the former Coronation Street star, 56, is joined by Helena Wilson as a young Sister Julienne ahead of the three-part Christmas special hitting screens later this year.Julie and Helena join a stellar cast including Ellie McKay as Olive Dobbs, Liv Andrusier as Marianne Siegler and Lizzie Back as Sybil Maxted in the highly-anticipated new offering by Call The Midwife creators.Set in 1939 at the start of the Second World War, Sisters In Arms will follow the nurse-midwives and nuns as they attempt to serve their community amid unprecedented and difficult circumstances.The show will also explore the beginnings of Nonnatus House in Poplar and will follow the earlier years of much loved characters Sister Julienne, Sister Monica Joan (Helen Schlesinger) and Sister Evangelina (Amy Booth-Steel). Speaking earlier this year, show creator Heidi Thomas revealed why she wanted to expand the Call The Midwife world, telling the BBC: ‘Having loved and lived with the Sisters of Nonnatus House for so many years, I found myself longing to turn the clock back and tell the story of their finest hour – the Blitz. A first look at Call The Midwife’s new prequal series, Sisters In Arms, sees Julie Hesmondhalgh [pictured left with Helena Wilson] posing with a clapperboard as it’s confirmed that filming has wrapped on the BBC show Julie and Helena join a stellar cast including Ellie Mckay as Olive Dobbs, Liv Andrusier as Marianne Siegler and Lizzie Back as Sybil Maxted in the highly-anticipated new offering by Call The Midwife creators’Who were Sister Monica Joan, Sister Julienne and Sister Evangelina when they were young? What did they do, how did they survive and how did the conflict change them?’Above all else, Call the Midwife: Sisters in Arms is about what happens when women go to war. It is about love and birth, separation and courage, lipstick and nylons (or the lack thereof). But it is also a medical drama, set in a devastating landscape where even the nurses cannot know if they will live till morning.’Filming for the prequel series began in June this year, just three months after the main show went on hiatus, with its premiere expected to air on Christmas Day.Series 15 of the long-running Call The Midwife came to an emotional end back in March, with fan favourite Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt) passing away in tragic scenes after being diagnosed with chronic kidney disease.Before Sister Monica Joan died, she was visited by her nearest and dearest, but Call The Midwife fans were left shocked when the spirit of Sister Evangelina appeared by Sister Monica Joan’s bedside. Other huge changes saw the closure of the Maternity Home, Cyril and Rosalind become man and wife and Nurse Trixie leaving her job after taking on a majority share of The Lady Emily Private clinic. Meanwhile the future of Nonnatus House was left in jeopardy amid NHS modernisations, with Sister Julienne sadly announcing that it’s likely that the nuns will be taking on overseas missions as their home will become ‘a place of prayer and charity’. The hit drama won’t be back on screens for a few years while creator Heidi works on the prequel series as well as a film. Series 15 of the long-running Call The Midwife came to an emotional end back in March, with fan favourite Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt ) passing away in tragic scenes after being diagnosed with chronic kidney disease Speaking to Radio Times ahead of the final episode earlier this year, Helen George, who plays Nurse Trixie Aylward, said: ‘We’ve all been saying that we’ll feel it most in April because that’s when we usually start filming. ‘So when that comes around and we don’t, we won’t have the support network and community that work has given us.’Apart from that first year, we’ve always known at the end of filming that we’d see each other again. Co-star Laura Main, who plays nurse Shelagh Turner, added: ‘Even that first year, we found out after the second episode that the show would be coming back. ‘We’ve had rare and lovely stability for 15 years. We’ve never had to be upset at the end before.’Helen concluded: ‘And it is just a pause because we know it’s coming back. But it won’t be the same, with different characters leaving and whatever.’