Orpheus students Alice Putt and Joshua Ball
found it interesting to dress in clothes from the 1950s for the filming of 'Call the Midwife'.

Fans of BBC1’s 'Call the Midwife' will have seen students from the Godstone-based ‘Orpheus Centre’ showing off their talents in last Sunday's episode (17th February). Orpheus students jumped at the chance to star in the 1950’s drama with Miranda Hart and Sarah Gordy.

Orpheus’s budding actors could be seen enjoying themselves at a dance at St Gideon’s, where the characters played by Jacob Milligan, who has cerebral palsy, and Sally Harper, who has Down’s syndrome, live. The episode revolved around the love between the pair, and the discrimination they faced when they learned that they were expecting a baby.

The storyline resonates with Orpheus students, who hope it will raise awareness of disability and challenge people's often negative attitudes about learning disability. Getting into character with period costumes, the group impressed director China Moo-Young with their enthusiasm and improvisation skills. She praised the students and said: “They each brought a lovely energy and realism to the scenes – it was a total pleasure to work with them”.

With an early call time on set, it was a 3am get up for the Orpheus students. Like many professional productions, filming fell behind schedule but it didn’t faze student Peter who said: “That is how it is in the TV business.” The students made the most of the exciting opportunity and Elena Eveleigh, Head of Learning at Orpheus, said: “The filming was a brilliant learning experience, and also demonstrated how professional and dedicated our students are”.

Despite the early start Eloise Macdonald and Emma Standen had a great day on set.

The amazing opportunity has stuck with those who took part and Josh, who wants to be a professional dancer when he leaves Orpheus, said: “I was very excited and proud to be on TV - it was a really fun and interesting experience.

It gave me a taste for professional dancing and the world of television and I definitely want to do more”. Orpheus is a Godstone-based charity that increases the skills and confidence of young disabled adults through the performing arts. The students use the inspiration of music, drama and dance to learn practical skills for independent living. www.orpheus.org.uk