Call the Midwife fans were delighted to see the cast reunited with former star Charlotte Ritchie at the National Television Awards at The O2 in London on Tuesday.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, the show shared a snap of writer and creator Heidi Thomas with cast members Laura Main, Jenny Agutter and Daniel Laurie posing for a photo with Charlotte, who played Nurse Barbara Gilbert from seasons four to seven.
The caption read: "Guess who our cast have just bumped into at #NTA2023... None other than Nurse Barbara - the brilliant Charlotte Ritchie!!"
Fans were overjoyed to see Charlotte reunited with some of the main cast members and took to the comments section to praise the photo. One person wrote: "This makes me so happy!! Barbara will always be special to me. You guys are all amazing," while another added: "This made me smile so wide, Barbara."
A third person tweeted: "What a wonderful photo."
The show received two nominations at this year's NTAs for Returning Drama and Drama Performance. Judy Parfitt received a nod for her portrayal of Sister Monica Joan but lost out to Sarah Lancashire on the night. Meanwhile, Happy Valley picked up the gong for Returning Drama.
The sweet reunion comes as the cast returned to set to film the second half of season 13. Filming is expected to wrap in November.
Why did Charlotte Ritchie leave Call the Midwife?
Charlotte left the show in 2018 when her character Barbara died from septicaemia after contracting meningitis. Barbara's heartbreaking death came as a terrible shock to fans, who took to Twitter at the time to express their sadness.
Opening up about the reason behind her exit during an interview with RadioTimes.com back in 2019, Charlotte explained: "I felt like Barbara had gone through such a lovely journey, having arrived at Nonnatus House a sort of wreck and quite incompetent, or at least on the surface.
"And she’s really grown up and become this adult. And it felt like such a lovely time, with her wedding to Tom, having found that happiness and reconciled with Trixie. It could be a good time to go."
MORE: Call the Midwife: what happened to Barbara and Tom?
MORE: Call the Midwife actress to appear in new Channel 4 drama with A-List stars
What has Charlotte Ritchie been in since leaving Call the Midwife?
Following her departure from the show, Charlotte went on to land main roles in the BBC sitcom, Ghosts, and Netflix's romance series, Feel Good.
In 2022, she appeared in the seventh season of ITV's popular detective drama, Grantchester, playing Will Davenport's love interest Bonnie.
After that, she landed a lead role in the fourth season of Netflix's psychological drama, You, which stars Penn Badgley.
When will Call the Midwife series 13 be released?
Call the Midwife will return with a Christmas special later this year, with season 13 set to debut in 2024. If previous seasons are anything to go by, the new episodes should arrive on BBC One sometime in January.