Stephen McGann's wife Heidi Thomas tests her 'Call the Midwife' scripts out on him for emotional impact.
Stephen McGann in Call The Midwife
The 55-year-old actor portrays Dr. Turner in his spouse's BBC One period drama series and at home she'll get him to read her new stories first and if he sheds a tear than she knows she's got a great episode.
Speaking to TV Times magazine, he revealed: "I read them [the scripts] in the bedroom and she waits outside to hear what I think. Once I came out in tears saying, 'How could you?!' She said, 'Excellent, that's what I wanted!"
McGann's alter ego is facing some tough storylines in the upcoming episodes. One of the characters, Barbara, is under the care of Dr. Turner as she battles septicaemia, and he admits it will have a big impact on the show.
He said: "Barbara's so full of life but this illness is vicious and it has a knock on effect on everyone because they're like family. It's a crisis and a terrible worry but they have to carry on as professionals."
The star's on screen son is also causing trouble in the latest series of the show, and Stephen says that viewers will watch Timothy Turner (Max Macmillan) become more of a "typical teenager" over the next few episodes.
He said: "Tim's being a typical teenager, but the teen culture is alien to Dr. Turner and he feels his son is moving away from him."
And Stephen admits that he was nervous about picking up babies before he had his son Dominic, 21, he now says he "sings" to the tots that play his on screen children.
He said: "I was so nervous about picking up babies before I had a child [son Dominic, 21, with Heidi] but now I walk around the set singing to them all."