Members of the Maidstone Singers had to sport some very vintage haircuts for an appearance in the popular 1950s drama Call the Midwife.

It was short back and sides for the men and rollers and head scarves for the women when a group of 15 were filmed as part of the BBC 1 series, shot at Chatham Dockyard.

Their starring role came after they received a call out of the blue asking them if they would like to take part.

Although they are having to keep any storyline under wraps before the episode is broadcast on Sunday they are able to reveal they play the part of the Poplar Choral Society. The series, which stars Miranda Hart, is set in fictional Poplar Docks in east London.

The music for the show arrived by post. It was then arranged into four parts by music director Jeffrey Vaughan Martin.

Recordings then got under way at their rehearsal rooms in Maidstone’s Brewer Street.
They went to the dockyard to be filmed by Neal Street productions and the experience included getting into costume.

Dennis Fuller from the group said: “It was very exciting for all of us. None of us had done anything like that before.

“It was a short back and sides for all of us men – even though I’d only had my hair cut a few days before. The women were walking around with hair nets on for a while.”

He added: “It was great fun, the whole thing. We don’t know what’s going to be shown of course, but we will all be watching.”

The group, which was founded in 1998, can get ready for some major exposure as the second series of the drama averaged more than 10 million viewers.

Their next (non-televised) outing will be performing with the West Malling Community Choir on Saturday, March 15, at St Mary’s Church in West Malling. The concert starts at 7.30pm.