East Sussex girl stars in Call the Midwife Xmas special

Keira Benzies from Rocks Park School was specially chosen to play the part of one of the angels who appeared in the nativity play screened as part of the iconic BBC1 series shown on Christmas Day.

Keira’s mum Lisa said: “She was signed up with a model agency in London then a scouting agency called and asked if she’d like to star as an angel. She was thrilled and so were we. What made it special too was that I shared the limelight with her while I was in the specially chosen audience on screen.

The BBC film crew filmed us in the summer for the Christmas special. It’s one of my favourite shows. Keira is going to be in another episode of the series as well.”

Keira has a brother, Connor, 25 and sister, Alisha, 21 and lives in Church Coombe, Uckfield.

Lisa told the Express: “The whole crew and production team were so friendly and relaxed. It was amazing to see all those characters in person. I had to tell myself I really had been standing next to Helen George in real life. The actors were so like their characters and we were made to feel part of it all.”

We were made to feel so welcome.”

Lisa said that Keira’s teachers at Rocks Park were ‘super excited to watch the show and her whole family settled down to see it too. Her sister Alisha added: “Keira feels so lucky to have such an amazing opportunity at such a young age and is so excited to keep going with her talent.”

Keira was in star-studded company as the Christmas edition featured the full cast as well as many former members. She was able to glean acting techniques from TV legends such as Miriam Margolyes and Jenny Agutter as well as hear the moving lines that opened the show read by Vanessa Redgrave.

The nativity scene opened as Nurse Crane heralded the approach of the donkey, Mary and Joseph by clacking together two hollowed out horse’s hoofs then ringing her triangle as the couple asked for room at the inn. The episode, one of the most-watched programmes on the schedule, came third in TV ratings on the day with 4.7m viewers, falling just behind Strictly Come Dancing (5.8m) and The Queen’s Speech (7.4m.)