Two more series of the award-winning drama Call the Midwife, which is made in Medway, has been announced by the BBC.

The series, which is filmed at Chatham's Historic Dockyard, will now be on our screens until 2022 after it was announced the BBC will make series 10 and 11 and as well as two Christmas specials.

Series nine is just about to start filming and series eight is the is the highest rating returning drama across all channels in this year.

Watch the cast of Call the Midwife at the dockyard

The BBC announced yesterday they have commissioned the drama until 2022 and will make two more series each consisting of eight 60 minute programmes.

Made by Neal Street Productions for BBC One, Call the Midwife has been one of Britain’s most popular drama series since it launched in 2012.

It continues to be the most watched drama series in the country.

The programme is filmed at the 400 year-old dockyard and people can even walk round the set after bosses at the site launched tours in the wake of the success of the show.

The experience is based on the show and a new exhibition at the dockyard.

They are put together with the creators and producers of the programme and feature sets from the series, costumes and props.

Visitors can see key locations often used in filming, with references to episodes and storylines they have been linked to, including HMS Cavalier, the Admiral’s Offices, Anchor Wharf, the Lisbon Buildings and the old dockyard church.

During the tour, people can visit the exhibition, which features props and familiar sets and items used in the show.

Series eight is currently averaging nine million viewers per episode, making it BBC One’s biggest show of 2019 so far and the highest rating returning drama across all channels this year.

Bosses at the BBC say audience response to series eight has also been outstanding as the show explored many areas of medical and social history, including the impact of disability, teenage pregnancy, Intersex representation, Sickle cell disease, mixed-race marriages, adoption, cot death and abortion.

The show features starts such as Jenny Agutter, Stephen McGann, Cliff Parisi, Laura Main and others.

Pippa Harris, executive producer for Neal Street Productions said: "We are delighted and humbled by the continued warmth of the audience response to Call the Midwife.

"It's a testament to the extraordinary creativity of Heidi Thomas who pours her heart and soul into every episode.

"We are thrilled the BBC have put such faith in the show by commissioning two more series and can’t wait to watch our wonderful cast and crew tackling all the social and medical changes which the swinging sixties will bring.”

Heidi Thomas, creator, writer and executive producer added: “Even after all these years, it still feels as though Call the Midwife has more truth to tell, more tears to cry, more life to celebrate, and more love to give.

"We are blessed with the best cast, crew, and audience a show could wish for, and I could not be more excited about our future.”

Charlotte Moore, director of BBC Content added: “Everyone at the BBC is delighted we’re welcoming the nurses of Nonnatus House back for another two series and we’re all looking forward to following our cast through the tumultuous years of the late sixties.

"I’d like to thank the wonderful cast and crew, and particularly Heidi, Pippa and Ann for their continued creative ambition and dedication to such a very special show.”

Fans of the show will return to Poplar in December this year for a Christmas Special and in 2020 for series nine.

For details about Call the Midwife tours and how to book, go to thedockyard.co.uk