Call the Midwife Christmas special part 1 ends on cliffhanger with ...

Before the Call the Midwife double Christmas special arrived on our screens, Cliff Parisi said that "things get out of control" for the Buckles, and he certainly wasn't exaggerating.

In tonight's episode (25th December), Fred was supposed to pick Reggie up from the coach station, but he set off late before then hitting a police road blockade due to the escaped convict.

After waiting patiently with no payoff, Reggie decided to board a bus heading to Penge. He travelled some distance before alighting, which is when a group of lads on their Christmas night out informed him that he's "miles away" from Poplar.

"Oh no," said Fred after he finally arrived at the station. He cast his eyes around, desperately hoping his surrogate son would appear, which is when he found Reggie's bag underneath a bench.

Inside was the carefully wrapped Christmas present he'd bought for him.

"Reggie!" he yelled, fear and panic splashed across his face.

But he was met with silence.

"Normally, Reggie's really sheltered by Vi and Fred, but they've kind of started to try and grant him a little bit more independence as he's got older," Parisi told RadioTimes.com and other press.

"So when we do a job together, he gets a separate pay packet with his own name on it. He's now becoming a young man, and they're trying to respect that and trying to make him more responsible."

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But naturally, that comes with risks.

"On this particular occasion, things get out of control," he said. "So I think it does remind them how vulnerable he can be. Things are all right when they go right, but if they go wrong, Reggie doesn't have another option. He doesn't know what to do."

Call the Midwife airs on BBC One and iPlayer.

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