Call the Midwife fans will best know Stephen McGann as onscreen doctor Patrick Turner in the BBC period drama.
Known for his kind nature and married to the former Sister Bernadette – AKA Laura Main’s character Shelagh Turner – he was recently rescued from the wreckage of a train crash.
Since arriving on the show, he has been involved in plenty of hard-hitting storylines, including fostering daughter May and dealing with his son Timothy’s polio diagnosis.
But what about actor Stephen’s life away from the spotlight of Call the Midwife? Fans might be shocked to know that he is married to one of his co-stars in reality, and has three very famous brothers.
And he didn’t start out as an actor, as Stephen initially trained in music.
From Emmerdale fame to a tragic illness affecting Stephen’s life, Daily Star takes a look at the man away from the limelight.
Emmerdale fame
Long before making his name as Dr Turner, Stephen achieved fame in Emmerdale as Sean Reynolds.
He made his first appearance in 1999, and was known as an inattentive husband to Angie Reynolds. He later got involved in a feud with Chris Tate and was suspected in his disappearance.
From his extramarital affair with Tara Thornfield to his rows with Cain Dingle, Sean definitely made a mark on the ITV Dales before his exit in 2002, and appeared in almost 300 episodes.
As well as Emmerdale, Stephen has appeared in various soaps including Doctors, Casualty and Brookside.
Co-star wife
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Stephen is actually married to Call the Midwife creator Heidi Thomas – and the pair share a son together.
The pair met back in the mid-1980s during a script reading in Liverpool, and have been married now for 30 years – with Stephen admitting he fell “madly in love” with his wife just minutes after meeting her.
Though they lost touch after that first meeting, sparks flew when Stephen and Heidi bumped into each other in a hotel.
He told the Sunday Times Magazine: “I thought the writer [of the play] was probably about 48 and prematurely grey, but I walked into the audition and there was this young girl talking five hundred to the dozen.
“We started chatting about the character and by the time I left the room I was madly in love.”
Heidi also spilled to Good Housekeeping magazine that she writes in various aspects of Stephen’s real personality into the show – and sometimes she finds it hard to differentiate between the two.
She said: “There are definite similarities [between McGann and Dr Turner] – for example, he’s very gifted at origami and I’ve written his talent for origami into previous episodes.
“So sometimes it’s a little bit hard to tell where Stephen McGann my husband and Dr Turner my character begin!
“But there are other things where they’re not remotely like one another, for example, Steve can’t do a forceps delivery.”
Stephen admitted he is banned from seeing Call the Midwife scripts early, however, as he explained that Heidi is often worried about what he’ll think.
He told the WNET UP NEXT podcast: “Heidi always says, ‘I get really nervous because I know he’s got the script now.’
“So it turns away instantly from her being like, ‘No, you’re not allowed to look, you’re not allowed to know’ to she then gets terrified: ‘Oh, I wonder will he like it? Will he not like it? Will he think it’s terrible? Will he think it’s good?’”
Famous brothers
(Image: Getty)
Stephen and Heidi aren’t the only famous members of the family, as Stephen’s three brothers are all actors.
His brothers Paul, Mark and Joe are also well-known in their craft, with Paul best known for playing the Doctor in various TV spin-offs and films.
Paul has also appeared in projects like Luther and Holby City.
Mark, meanwhile, made his name in shows like The Bill, The Grand and Casualty; and Joe is best known for appearing as Edward Hutchinson in Hollyoaks, along with roles in Doctors, Casualty and various video games.
Tragic illness
(Image: BBC)
It hasn’t all been plain sailing for Stephen and Heidi, and their rough patches have made it into the show as well.
Character Barbara catches sepsis in one Call the Midwife episode, which was actually influenced by Heidi contracting the condition in 1998.
Stephen admitted he “sobbed like a baby” when he heard the news.
Writing in The Times, he said: “When Heidi caught sepsis, it clarified everything.
“There was a point where she got wheeled away for more checks and I went to the loo and sobbed like a baby.
“At that moment I realised how quickly life can change. When she got better, nothing was the same again.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
