Leonie Elliott has quit Call the Midwife after six years as nurse Lucille Robinson.
The much-loved midwife has not been seen since the second episode of the current series, when she returned to Jamaica after being diagnosed with severe depression.
Fans had already feared the worst after Lucille’s caring husband Cyril bought her a ticket to the Caribbean earlier in the series.
Lucille had a breakdown after suffering a miscarriage and struggling to conceive again, amid a newly hostile environment in East London following Enoch Powell’s “rivers of blood” speech.
After she left for Jamaica, one fan pleaded with show bosses: “Please make Lucille happy again. Don’t let them leave. I think she is lovely.”
Actress Leonie said after her final scene aired last month: “This season was incredibly difficult to film. Thank you for all your kind words... Look after yourselves and each other.”
Lucille’s husband Cyril, played by Zephryn Taitte, will return for series 13 in which the engineer takes on volunteer work at a homeless shelter.
Tonight, viewers saw him survey Nonnatus House – home to the nuns and nurses – to help the sale of the building to property developer Matthew Aylward, who has married nurse Trixie Franklin (Helen George).
With the community’s immediate future now assured, viewers can expect an influx of new midwives for next year’s series 13 as Jenny Agutter’s character Sister Julienne announced that Nonnatus was to become a training centre.
The drama has been commissioned for two further series, taking it to 2026, when the action on screen will have reached 1971.
Lucille first appeared in the show in the seventh series in 2018, set during the big freeze of 1963.
Actress Leonie started her acting career aged 10 in 1998 BBC1 crime miniseries Undercover Heart.
As a child she also appeared on the stage in musicals such as Annie and The Lion King.
She went on to TV roles including Cherry Patterson in Lenny Henry BBC1 comedy drama Danny and the Human Zoo in 2015.
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