A devastating category-10 superstorm battered Hong Kong whilst filming was underway for this year's Christmas double-episode, trapping the cast in their accommodation.
The Call the Midwife stars and production team had journeyed to the metropolis to shoot this year's holiday special, which unfolds following the devastating collapse of a Mother House facility in a densely populated Hong Kong neighbourhood, resulting in widespread casualties.
Jenny Agutter, who portrays Sister Julienne, revealed that the production team was commanded to remain indoors as the tempest intensified.
"They told us not to open the curtains in case anything hit the windows," she disclosed. "It was rather amazing seeing all the water whipped up. The winds were really bad."
Jenny confessed she momentarily defied the regulations to document the mayhem for her colleague Dan Laurie, reports the Mirror.
"I was rather naughty," she chuckled. "We were told we couldn't go out but I did a little shoot for Danny (Laurie) because he wanted to see what it was like to be in a typhoon.
"But the wind was blowing me all over the place. I wasn't going to hang around for the rain to start!".
The crew remained confined to their accommodation throughout the weekend as the tempest upgraded from a level-six alert to a maximum level-ten crisis.
Series creator Heidi Thomas revealed that warnings were "pinging constantly" on their mobile devices as the threat escalated.
Fellow cast member Annabelle Apsion, who portrays Violet Buckle, described the situation as bizarrely theatrical from the comparative security of their harbour-view hotel. "It was kind of exciting, dare I say," she expressed.
"Our hotel was fantastic. It looked over the sea and you could see things going on down in the streets. We just stayed indoors and had a lovely dim sum lunch!".
The forthcoming episodes will alternate between Hong Kong and the frosty Poplar, where the drama is equally gripping. Back in Blighty, the midwives face the challenge of delivering a baby in a frigid caravan and assisting a terminally ill man to enjoy what might be his last Christmas after discovering him collapsed in the snow.
Laura Main, who portrays Nurse Shelagh, described the ambitious double bill as venturing into "completely new territory". Meanwhile, writer Heidi added that viewers can expect "snow and sweat in equal measure."