Warning: this article contains some spoilers for BBC One’s current series of Call the Midwife.

Call the Midwife fans were disappointed when, during the Christmas special, Nurse Barbara Gilbert (Charlotte Ritchie) and her husband, Reverend Tom Hereward (Jack Aston) made the decision to leave Poplar and move to Birmingham.

“I know I’m supposed to go where God calls me,” said Tom. “I just don’t know why he would call me away from here.”

Thankfully, though, it seems their move was only temporary – and the couple will be returning to the series in this week’s episode (Sun 18 Feb).

While we know that Sister Julienne promised to keep a job open for Barbara, though, it seems that the young midwife will be quite different when she returns to Nonnatus House.

“She looks more sophisticated with her clothes and her hair is longer so she’s styled up in Birmingham,” says Ritchie, in an interview with What’s On TV.

The actress goes on to say that – while she loves her character’s confidence (“she’s brave than me by a country mile!”) – she sometimes finds it difficult to relate to Barbara, especially now that she’s a married woman.

Why? Because, like so many women of the era, Barbara finds it difficult to stray from the cookie cutter image of the ‘perfect’ wife and homemaker.

“She sees herself as a wife and thinks her role is to iron Tom’s shirts and cook the dinner,” says Ritchie.

“That’s where she and I part ways, but that’s fitting for the time.”

Why Call The Midwife's Charlotte Ritchie doesn't relate to her character anymore