Call The Midwife will be coming to the rescue of festival goers in distress as two of its stars have been named patrons of Festival Medical Services (FMS).

Stephen McGann, who plays Dr Turner in the hit BBC period drama, and its executive producer and scriptwriter Heidi Thomas, who he is married to, are the first ever patrons of FMS after being invited by chairman Mike O’Connor to raise the organisation’s profile and champion its volunteers.

Heidi and Stephen made their first visit to Glastonbury Festival in 2016 to see the work FMS has been doing there for 37 years, which includes an onsite medical centre, walk-in centres and pharmacies, where more than 3,000 people were treated over the five days.

Jenny Agutter, Heidi Thomas, Stephen McGann and Laura Main
Heidi and Stephen, centre, with Call The Midwife costars Jenny Agutter and Laura Main (Peter Byrne/PA)

Run by fully trained clinical staff, FMS also attends Reading Festival and 10 other outdoor events each year, as well as supporting eight charities across the world which it donated more than £80,000 to last year.

Stephen said: “The missus came to me and said: ‘There’s a wonderful charity and you’re going to Glastonbury,’ and I said: ‘Yes dear’.

“People don’t want to be with FMS – they are at festivals to have fun – but in FMS they see something that makes them feel better and safe, and that is a beautiful thing.

Call The Midwife
Call The Midwife is a hit with viewers (BBC)

“Care for each other is the finest expression of our civilisation. Real care comes in the middle of real life, as the work of FMS at festivals and events demonstrates.

“Parents should know how safe their kids are because of FMS.”

Heidi added: “We can see how well they do it, how this city springs up in a field, with its fully equipped hospital made of tents.”

Glastonbury
Crowds at Glastonbury can rely on FMS (Yui Mok/PA)

But Stephen said that in real life, he would make a terrible doctor despite his role in the Sunday evening series.

He said: “I am the worst doctor. Whenever I’m on set, all I hear from our medical adviser is her tutting.

“She says that even after six years of me trying to look like a doctor, there would be an emergency inside two minutes if I ever tried to do any procedure for real.”