Switching on the telly after Christmas dinner will be extra special for 45 Gidea Park youngsters – because they’ll be watching their own small-screen debuts.

The Gidea Park Primary pupils, aged 10 and 11, were filmed in 1950s period costume back in July for the festive special of Call the Midwife, which airs at 7.30pm on BBC 1.

“They’d never been on a set before,” said proud headteacher Sue Hartnett. “It took so long to get them all into costume, and a lot of them had to have haircuts – so we had to get permission for them to get their short back and sides.

“It took the whole day to film about 40 seconds but they were really good.

“The director wrote us a wonderful letter to say how well behaved the kids were, so it was a real compliment to the pupils.”

Dressed in balaclavas and duffle coats, the children appear as youngsters who rush to an electricals shop to see a television switched on for the first time.