Call The Midwife Season 10

Spoiler alert: a woman has a baby.

You're in for a right treat!

There was one storyline that from the first mention I thought it was obviously going to turn out to be **** as the ***** and I was right!

I was pleased I worked it out as I missed all the clues leading to Nurse Valerie's Nan Dolly Rawlings being fingered as the back street abortionist.

Watching it earlier this year did make me feel so relieved that abortion is now a settled issue in Britain, although not Northern Ireland.

What about this show is good or interesting? I keep hearing people recommend it, but - even as a DL frau! - I can’t really imagine getting into a show about old-timey nurses and midwives. I’m asking genuinely - is it the acting quality? Interesting plot? Good characters?

[quote]What about this show is good or interesting? I keep hearing people recommend it, but - even as a DL frau! - I can’t really imagine getting into a show about old-timey nurses and midwives. I’m asking genuinely - is it the acting quality? Interesting plot? Good characters?

It's well written, well acted and is an accurate portrayal of what life was like in the 50s/60s and covers all the social issues have since been reformed and we now take for granted as being settled.

The worst thing about it is the voiceover from Vanessa Redgrave which is overly sentimental, but strip that away and you've got stories about very different women from all walks of life making their way in the world. And the Dr Turner Discovers New Science sub plots can be irritating. A patient who swim in Loch Ness has bruised ears and has vomit the smell of almonds? How strange I was just reading an article in New Medical Discoveries where patients who swim in lakes rumoured to contain mysterious creatures were found to have bruised ears and vomit smelling of almonds. The cure is 10 rounds of the Hokey Cokey and they'll be right as rain!

If Call The Midwife was an American show, Judy Parfitt would be nominated year after year for her performance as Sister Monica Joan. She only has 5-10 minutes of screen time each episode but she makes the most impact.

I love the random display of threads on DL. For a minute, I thought Sister Monica Joan was getting an OnlyFans account.

[quote] What about this show is good or interesting?

It’s total frau bait. Think of it as a Mad Men for women.

R3 It is slow paced and nothing blows up, no nihilism, etc.

But while it looks shiny and lighthearted on the surface, it's dealt with a lot over its ten years. Poverty, changing lives for women, changes to London, gay themes, alcoholism, abortion. It had a season long look at birth defects.

It is set in a nun's order (they are some of the midwives) but it's not overly religious.

It's also changed cast members a few times and it's one of those shows that probably benefited from that.

It has occasionally dragged a bit but always perks back up, story wise.

[quote]But while it looks shiny and lighthearted on the surface, it's dealt with a lot over its ten years. Poverty, changing lives for women, changes to London, gay themes, alcoholism, abortion. It had a season long look at birth defects.

A lot of people who've never watched Call The Midwife it think it's cosy nostalgia tv, when it's actually a subversively liberal progressive programme. It has made the case over and over again for safe legal abortion, gay rights, disabled rights, anti racism laws, free healthcare and good quality social housing. It reminds older viewers how bad things were and educates younger viewers of he same. And it shows women as they are - complicated, ordinary, brave, scared, ambitious and restricted.

I anxiously await the special episode where Tim learns about cottaging in college.

Is this the one with Maggie Smith?

No, it's the one with Princess Anne.

I keep hoping one of the midwives will go out for a bit of Cockney rough. But so far, they’re all good girls. The lesbian was the only one that seemed to have sex.

They went a bit overboard adding characters of ethnic minorities. I’m all for inclusivity but felt a bit incongruous with that period in British history.

[quote] They went a bit overboard adding characters of ethnic minorities.

I think they are a bit ahead of the game with people of Pakistani background. At the time period of the show, the East End was still getting used to the influx of Jamaicans.

[quote]They went a bit overboard adding characters of ethnic minorities. I’m all for inclusivity but felt a bit incongruous with that period in British history.

That period of British history aka the 1960s which saw significant immigration from Jamaica, Nigeria, Ghana, India and Pakistan? Series 10 covers 1966 - Enoch Powell's Rivers Of Blood speech was 2 years later.

If you want to lessen your ignorance about that period of British history watch David Olusoga's The NHS: A Hidden History which explores the discrimination highly qualified doctors and nurses faced in the NHS because they were black or Asian.

R12 Yes, or at least they could have had the Dishy Vicar taking one of the girls from behind or something.

All that happened was a bit of his "hair cream" on the wall.

They had their own dishy vicar, who married one of the midwives (and then she died) and in real life is involved with another one of them (and had a baby with her.)

Does anyone else hate that whiny wimp Shelia?

R18

I love the show - though I admit it is getting weaker - but like you, Shelagh is my least favorite character. I do think it's less about her story line, than the way she plays it - or is directed to play it.

Just anecdotal, but all the nuns I know (Catholic Schools) that left the religious life were much fiercer.

[quote] Shelagh is my least favorite character. I do think it's less about her story line, than the way she plays it - or is directed to play it.

She does play the role very one note. Always saying, “Oh, Patrick”.

But the doctor is married to the producer of the show and if he wanted her gone, it would be done. I think he probably keeps her on because it makes him look like a better actor. He always has that same hang-dog expression and probably not a brilliant actor himself. Remember, she started out as a sister and when they were looking around for a love interest for the doctor, they could have auditioned hundreds of actresses and left her as a sister.

The first few seasons were good. When it became the doctor and Sheila Show, I stopped watching. I always found Timothy creepy as hell, too.

The stories around the sisters themselves were much stronger.

My abdomen always gets a workout when I watch this show, or any program featuring women giving birth. I find I can't help but push along with them.

As mentioned, the show is actually better than you'd think.

But the voice over is HORRIBLE. It's like an endless Hallmark card, and each voice over is exactly like the last and the next.

Such a mistake to keep it going.

R22 watch you don't shit yourself!

R21 exactly! That "Oooh Patrick" is all I think of when Im reminded of her, she's awful.

I miss Jack Ashton as the local curate, Rev. Tom Hereward. Hubba, hubba!

Who was the nun who stole things?

Poor Ben Caplan. He played the local policeman. Then they married him off to Chumley. Then when Miranda Hart got tired of doing the show, he had to leave with her. She knocked him out of a steady paycheck.

Is the blonde back on the booze?

It's like Grey's Anatomy, the show that will not die.

[quote] Is the blonde back on the booze?

No, they use it as a device where she can go around lecturing everyone. It makes her less of a one dimensional character. As Helen George ages, she becomes less effective as the stylish party girl and they needed something to boost her character.

They've gotten rid of the two attractive men on the show over the years. From time to time a hot man will be featured but usually it's just the old trouts.

The Christmas special where they went to Scotland was dire. Of course annoying Sheelah was featured front and centre

I like the new secretary. She outcunts Phyllis.

I mean....a DL legend if there ever was one

R34 she looks like an ugly Miss Marple

Georgie Glen also played in The Crown this season.....the family member who taught Diana protocol.

They've had Fenella Woolgar over the last two seasons and have all but wasted her. Maybe she can only be there part time, but it makes me sad. She should be on more - she's fab.

And no one wants to see the potato faced Sinead O'Nun.

R37

Indeed. We've discussed Fenella Woolgar here before - everyone felt that she is wasted in the role and series. She's a wonderful and accomplished actress, so we wondered if they had originally promised her more, or if she really just wanted a steady paycheck.

Miriam Margolyes - who is a wonderful actress but her character in Midwives is cringe-worthy - said she would have played any part offered to her - she just wanted to be a part of and appear on "Call The Midwife."

So maybe Fenella Woolgar felt the same.

I miss big fat Pam Ferris as Mother Superior. That woman can't commit to anything, she's always quitting successful TV gigs.

[quote] I miss big fat Pam Ferris as Mother Superior. That woman can't commit to anything, she's always quitting successful TV gigs.

In her defense, in an interview she said she was sick and couldn’t keep up with the pace.

Unfortunately, the writing is all over the place. The Jamaican preacher and his black church are not really holding my interest. I’m sure that storyline is there to meet BBC quotas but it’s not interesting, partly because every challenge is solved by the end of the episode. Oh, you have nowhere for your church to meet? No problem. Even though housing is short due to immigration and they’re tearing down buildings that were already beyond repair or damaged during the war, the sisters know of this nice place where you can have church. We’ll just make it look like you’re poor by having everyone in the church stand. And while you’re having church in your nice place, make sure to comment on how there’s not enough housing for the poor.

Aaaaaand….scene!

Do any of the young dolly-bird nurses get groped by lecherous brutish husbands when they go into the poor people's homes?

"Ere, gimme a feel of those titties, ye sexy tart ye.."

[quote]Miriam Margolyes - who is a wonderful actress but her character in Midwives is cringe-worthy - said she would have played any part offered to her - she just wanted to be a part of and appear on "Call The Midwife."

Miriam Margolyes is the answer to Fanny Brice's question, "Would a convent take a Jewish girl?"

You sound charming R41.

PAM FERRIS was not Mother Superior, she was Sister Evangelina. She was the brusque bitch with a heart of gold. Phyllis, to some degree, took on her role once she left (I think there was a season of overlap).

I like Lucille well enough, but R40 is right, her romance is dull. She's more interesting when dealing with patients.

And they do have some rakish husbands - some are a piece of rough, as described upthread, and are delicious to see, even if the show tut-tuts their behavior a bit. Lucky bitches, getting bred all the time by those prize bulls. LOL

Who was the hottie who had an accident on a building site inside a building and died?

Oh, yeah, I think that was how Valerie was introduced? He was in a building with an explosion.

Poor Tony, the cottaging cocksucker of Poplar.

Re Vanessa Redgrave's voiceovers: Her character, Jenny, is LONG gone from the show, so how does Vanessa know what the hell is going on in Poplar week to week? I laugh at the sappy voiceovers every time for that reason.

I was sad when Pam Ferris left the show, but Linda Bassett has been an excellent no-nonsense replacement. And Miss Higgins (who I just saw in an episode of Foyle's War) having a little crush on her was sweet.

Anyone like Fred's wife? She come across as frigid

[quote]Poor Tony, the cottaging cocksucker of Poplar.

That's former soap star and West End leading man Richard Fleeshman, also known as Jackie Corkhill's son

For fans of ILLEGAL HOMOSEXUAL ACTS you're in for a treat with series 10.

[quote] Her character, Jenny, is LONG gone from the show, so how does Vanessa know what the hell is going on in Poplar week to week?

They tried to cover that by saying that she corresponds regularly with Trixie. In the book, Jenny Lee does meet up with Trixie many years after they worked together.

Nonnatus Whorehouse, who is speaking?

[quote] Nonnatus Whorehouse, who is speaking?

This is r41. I’m a regular.

[quote] Anyone like Fred's wife? She come across as frigid

That actress showed her lady parts in “Shameless” when she played the lesbian wife.

They had those visiting doctors a few seasons ago and was hoping one of those guys would stick around. Two of them were pretty hot.

I never realized nuns existed in other Christian denominations. These are Church of England nuns.

Sorry if this was already stated. I'm not reading the entire thread as I'm not caught up on the series and don't want any spoilers beyond a new baby is born!

I'll be damned, R56 is correct.

BUT St Raymond Nonnatus is in fact a Catholic saint.

[quote]BUT St Raymond Nonnatus is in fact a Catholic saint.

They used Nonnatus as a cover. It wasn't the real name of the order.

CTMW is yet another example of British television extending a book long beyond what was originally written for various reasons.

Original Call The Midwife book that series is based upon ended (which would be about season three). That is when Jenny Lee having reconnected with the married man she once carried on with (Jimmy) dies. This is also when the nurse midwife whose life story series is based upon moved on as well (IIRC she married/went on to raise a family...).

However true to what BBC and ITV have now become as with Downton Abbey it was decided to keep series going. Writers were engaged and more plot lines, new characters and so on came to keep things going.

Again taking a page from Downton Abbey, Jessica Raine (nurse/midwife Jenny Lee), left series to pursue other work including films.

British television long has enjoyed healthy international viewership (especially Americans) going back to 1970's or so. Modern technology such as streaming but more importantly cutting of once lavish BBC or ITV budgets have meant when something is a hit, it keeps going to bring in money.

In past when major star of a series left (think Patricia Routeledge of Keeping Up Appearances) most British television series just ended. That largely isn't true any longer again if show is a hit New actors and plot lines are created to keep things going long as ratings hold up.

Above all being said, CTMW has done a great deal to expose or at least talk about things many didn't know about Britain of 1950's and 1960's, or just didn't to remember or discuss.

Racism (blacks and Irish), homosexuality, treatment of unwed mothers (and their babies), domestic violence, child prostitution, the lot.

[quote]Jessica Raine (nurse/midwife Jenny Lee), left series to pursue other work including films.

Which was a good move. Since then, she's played a bitch in "Wolf Hall" and a drunk in "The Last Post" thereby ensuring she wasn't typecast in goody goody roles.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

R56 et al

Contrary to what many believe Henry VIII breaking with Rome and establishing C of E wasn't total end things.

Oxford Movement from High C of E ushered in "Anglican-Catholicism" which included holy orders for men and women.

To R47

How about this then? Who wouldn't want to cottage with that?

Richard Fleeshman starred in "Ghost the Musical" on Broadway.

From production of Company

More from Ghost the Musical.

R60 is right, but I think I remember reading that even by the end of S2 a lot of the actual stories in the Worth books (which I think included the couple that was brother and sister, and the girl on the boat being pregnant) were already utilized, so they knew they had to come up with new stories to continue beyond S3.

I still wonder what went down with Miranda Hart. She seems to have left on not good terms.

"Worth describes Camilla “Chummy” Cholomondley-Browne as “Six foot two inches tall, with shoulders like a front-row forward and size eleven feet, her parents had spent a fortune trying to make her more feminine, but to no effect.” She said her first impression of her was a “bloke in drag.”

R69

Resume of "Call The Midwife" trilogy of books gives an idea of what matches up with what in television show. Yes, Americans and others call it a "series", but British creators would insist CTMW isn't since the thing is based upon a set of books.

Personally don't understand all the fuss. Inspector Morse "series' is often called just that, yet it too was based upon a book.

Story behind real "Sister Monica"

"Nancy, when she was first bound and gagged, had thrashed around in confusion and terror, managing to throw the upper half of her body off the table. Hanging by her legs, one of her lower vertebrae was crushed against the metal edge of the table, an injury from which she never recovered.

She was found to be clean and issued with a certificate to this effect. Her distraught mother, knowing it was futile to complain to the police about the incident, as the men had acted entirely within the law, wrote to the Ladies’ National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts, also founded by Josephine and Elizabeth Wolstenholme, and received a visit from Josephine herself.

She advised that Nancy needed to leave Southampton at once, as she was at risk of being seized and re-examined again. Josephine promised to find a position for her and so Nancy became lady’s maid to the daughter of a baronet who later became a nun: the nun referred to as Sister Monica Joan by Jennifer Worth in her memoir Call the Midwife. Nancy’s back was severely injured and she was cringing and traumatised; she worked for the future Sister until she was 24, when she died of tuberculosis of the spine."

This article was written by a woman whose mother worked with Jenny Lee. I think the tall woman in the picture is who Chummy was based on.

I remember buying and reading the Midwife books years ago when I first fell in love with the show.

They are well written. I eventually donated them (not something I was compelled to read more than once) but they were fun to see how the show based stories on the ones in the books. And the books are even darker thematically in some places.

[quote] St Raymond Nonnatus is in fact a Catholic saint.

His nickname (Latin: Nonnatus, "not born") refers to his birth by Caesarean section, his mother having died while giving birth to him. Raymond is the patron saint of childbirth, midwives, children, pregnant women.

Fleesh needs to sit on me face!

CTMW keeps teasing that "Chummy" may come back one day, but so far hasn't happened.

There really isn't any dirt on why Miranda Hart left CTMW I believe.

As wont to happen with British actors her work schedule of other projects has made Ms. Hart quite pushed busy wise.

This happens again and again as we've often discussed on DL due to nature of British television series.

Actors are signed up for a specific number of seasons or whatever by contract. There is no telling in advance if show or even character will be popular and thus asked to keep on. So actors do what they should, book other work.

Ring, ring..

"Ere, that No Nutters 'orehause? Yea, send me one of yer workin' gerls over. For pete's sake, make sure it ain't that tall one wot looks like a bloke. Or the pissed blonde wot smells like The Queen Vic. Got it? Bloody Nora, last time she pissed in me old ma's bed, the CAWWW!"

[quote]CTMW keeps teasing that "Chummy" may come back one day, but so far hasn't happened. There really isn't any dirt on why Miranda Hart left CTMW I believe. As wont to happen with British actors her work schedule of other projects has made Ms. Hart quite pushed busy wise. This happens again and again as we've often discussed on DL due to nature of British television series. Actors are signed up for a specific number of seasons or whatever by contract. There is no telling in advance if show or even character will be popular and thus asked to keep on. So actors do what they should, book other work.

Miranda Hart left after 4 series because she wanted to do something different, the same reason she finished her sitcom after 3 series. Her crippling anxiety also played a part in those decisions.

Most actors want variety and the chance to do different things. Jessica Raine has done plenty of other things. Charlotte Ritchie went on to appear in Ghosts and that thing with the aristocrat they/them and Lisa Kudrow. Emerald Fennell went on Killing Eve and Promising Young Woman. Bryony Hannah has done very little since leaving.

Some actors want stability and regular work that comes with an ongoing drama but others want variety and will commit to a few years.

R79 - Pam Ferris

R77 I know generally speaking you're correct, but something odd happened at CTM. (By the way, Midwife is one word, not two, so it would be CTM, not CTMW.)

Miranda was announced to return and then there was an about face.

[quote]Miranda was announced to return and then there was an about face.

I wonder if she was unhappy with the married life storyline or the actor who played her husband?

I didn't like the breathy voice she used for Chummy. It made her character too cartoonish.

Miranda has had well documented mental health problems, which is why she's mostly disappeared from the public eye.

Well, bless her heart.

I wonder what happened to the little brunette one.

Just saw episode one and wow.

I mean solid as always but that was a fucking DRAG. Very sad.

I want Cyril in me, quite deeply.

That first episode was UNBEARABLY sad. I mean, are they trying to push viewers away?

And the new uniforms look ridiculous. More waitress than nurse or nun.

I stopped watching the show because of Jessica Raine's incredible Resting Bitch Face.

But I take it she's long gone, and the other characters end up being the stars.

Guess it's safe to return.

I hadn’t watched this show in years so I clicked on this thread to see what was going on. I’m comforted that the hatred for awful Shelagh continues in my absence!

If they had made her nun in Season 1 a scheming sociopath desperate to land a rich husband I might enjoy the character. She’s so saintly and there’s something about her that I’m just not buying. It may be in part because of the actress, who always look like she’s smelling cookies - and in her case it is not endearing.

They really rarely feature Shelagh any more.

And my favorite character is Miss Higgins. She's a cunt of the highest order and a DL legend if ever one existed.

R88 Dear, she was gone after Series 3.

This is Series TEN.

You were safe to return ages ago.

Has anyone else noticed how they always seem to keep Jenny Agutter (who I Iove!) at an arms distance, emotionally and physically, from most of the action? I mean, I know she's the Mother Superior and all, but still....

Is she contractually granted all of her season's scenes to be shot in a couple of days like they used to do with Fred MacMurray on My Three Sons?

As bad as the series has gotten, it's still miles ahead of GRANTCHESTER, which also debuted its series opener last night. I hadn't watched it in a few years and couldn't believe how far the quality of writing, direction and acting had sunk (and it was never really great). Robson Green literally seems to be rolling his eyes and staying as far away from the camera as he can.

R92 Something changed a few seasons ago where they seem to have really pushed Agutter and Judy Parfitt to the periphery.

The scenes are definitely more sparse this season, I assume due to COVID. The fashion thing was the first I'd seen as a group.

R93 If only Robson Green's character would become a nudist, it would make the show much better.

Interesting that they had several of the women in the kneeling position for birthing too.....where their faces would be away from the person nearest them.

I stopped watching Grantchester after the dishiest vicar who ever dished - James Norton - left. However, to be honest his character had become a dreadful bore long before then…always listening to jazz and pining for an awful Frau who was the equivalent of Ann/Egg on Arrested Development. Her??!?

R13, I am a nurse in the NHS, and when I was younger (I’m in my fifties) I worked with people who had come in the 50s and 60s from the Caribbean and Africa, India, Mauritius, etc to work in the NHS.

They had awful stories of racism from patients and other staff. Many of them had been held back in their careers by employers saying their qualifications were not of the same standard than if they had trained in the UK. Often they had to work as Enrolled Nurses rather than Registered Nurses, on less pay and with less potential for advancing in their careers. They had no choice but to accept these conditions. Call The Midwife seems pretty accurate in reflecting the impact and experience of immigration at that time.

[quote] As bad as the series has gotten, it's still miles ahead of GRANTCHESTER, which also debuted its series opener last night.

This season Grantchester is going strong with the gay love story. I’m wondering if they don’t have enough story to fill the season or if they are trying to demonstrate they are diverse. I noticed they hired a disabled actress to play the secretary. And Robson Green has become more saintly. A few seasons ago, he was fucking the secretary.

[quote] Has anyone else noticed how they always seem to keep Jenny Agutter (who I Iove!) at an arms distance, emotionally and physically, from most of the action?

They don’t seem to know how to write for her character. She has zero conflict and is the blandest character along with Shelagh. You’d think as the head of Nonnatus House that she’d have some conflict but she just breezes through every problem emotionally detached.

The thing is, they HAVE written well for her in the past. They did a few beautiful bits in earlier seasons where she had doubts about choosing religious life. Once, it was because a man she'd been friends with came back into her life, suggesting there could have been a romantic moment.

Another episode.....well, the show is generally pro choice or non-judgemental about abortion but they had an episode with a deformed baby that a hospital abandoned and she had a tour de force moment caring for the baby until it died.

The only thing I can think of is that Agutter and Parfitt are at top pay - all shows get more expensive as time goes on because the actors will want a raise (understandably so) and if they're now at a higher pay it could be that they are being used less. But yes, Sister Julienne Potatoes has been pretty much trying to stay strong in the face of Nonnatus House's woes for about three years now....not much else to her story.

WERQ Lucille!

Robson Green is alleged to have a huge cock. Too bad he looks like a walnut.

I'd love to sample his huge cock. Older British men do it for me.

[quote]Original Call The Midwife book that series is based upon ended (which would be about season three). That is when Jenny Lee having reconnected with the married man she once carried on with (Jimmy) dies. This is also when the nurse midwife whose life story series is based upon moved on as well (IIRC she married/went on to raise a family...).

Huh? I'm lost. The women in your last two sentences are the same person. But she died after reconnecting with the married man?

On another topic, I'm very tired of Sister Monica Joan's neverending crises. There's another plot every season about why she's giving up on life or her faith or is otherwise depressed. 🙄

The romance between the two Jamaicans is way too drawn out and boring. It's been in a holding pattern for years. I guess part of the problem is that I find people who are constantly talking about God to be completely without sexual or romantic appeal.

Yes, I found that confusing too R105.

Jenny Lee is Jennifer Worth. The character was on the show for three series, and yes, she did meet up with Jimmy, who died. His death influenced her decision to go into hospice care, if I remember correctly. As on the show, she met her husband, Philip Worth, and they had two children. Worth died literally as they were casting Resting Bitch Face for Jenny.

I agree that Lucille is not very interesting. She's a little bit too much of the "Magic Black Lady" and it's a thankless part. The actress does what she can with it and has given a few good performances. Cyril looks like a fine piece of ass but honestly he's had more chemistry with Sister Monica Joan than he has with Lucille.

Losing Valerie is a shame - she was a breath of fresh air. Which is what the show needs but does not have. I love these characters, but at the same time, I could stand to see far less of Violet Buckle. We could do with less of Cyril, less of the Turners. These very happy people are not as compelling as the writers think. I want to see more of Phyllis and Miss Higgins, and for St. Raymond Nonnatus' sake, let's get a healthy young gentleman or two in there to raise some pulses. Maybe even another Dishy Vicar.

[quote] let's get a healthy young gentleman or two in there to raise some pulses.

Nobody finds love in Poplar. Chummy got a husband and left. Jenny Replacement got the dishy vicar and died. There was a man that was hot for Phyllis but she didn’t want him and then Miss Higgins killed him off. I thought one of the hot doctors would remain, but I guess Val turned in her notice and killed that romance. And Lucille and Cyril are boring. They even tried to hook British Corky up with a girlfriend but that didn’t work. Maybe the doctor’s son will bring home some hot mama from med school.

My Mom grew up in Britain during WW2. She and the other Brits she got to know here in America in the 1960s never escaped the impact of the bombings on their lives. It must have been horrible. I feel that same impact on the characters when I watch Midwife. It brings me right back to my impressions in the 60s.

Richard Fleeshman needs to go full-frontal on his next acting project. He seems the type what wouldn't shy away from it.

Is no one else sick of Trixie? And her trix?

How many pretty young actresses could be on a high profile series like this one for 10 years and not parlay it into.....anything else?

She's parlayed it into a five-year relationship and two children with the actor who played the reverend who married Barbara. Probably has her hands full for the time being.

Oh, she and the dishy vicar had a second kid?

I mean, look at him, I'd want him to knock me up too.

Yes, I just read that it was born this summer.

[quote] Bryony Hannah has done very little since leaving.

They should cast her as Squeaky Fromme in one of the hundreds of Manson murder movies that come out every year.

I had no idea it was even aired in the States! Why do they take so long to show it?

If I'm interested in a show that airs months after somewhere else I just watch it online. I find it strange that so many companies leave it months and still get viewers.

R115 PBS is weird like that, they always delay shit.

Downton was always months after it played in the UK and the plot would always be out online before it got here.

[quote] Downton was always months after it played in the UK

And PBS freely admitted that they held the broadcast for their worst performing month so that they could fundraise off of DA.

Watch out, R117, or Darlene Shiley will haunt you in your dreams!

She's Darlene MARCOS Shiley now. I guess she got "woke."

The worst thing PBS does with CTM and other shows is cut out key scenes.

[quote] Watch out, [R117], or Darlene Shiley will haunt you in your dreams!

Darlene Shiley can kiss my rich white ass.

Can you just imagine how much dough Darlene Marcos Shiley must have??

Georgie Glen also played a lesbian in the comedy Damned.

I’ve read she’s worth $400 million, R122.

I miss LuEsther T. Mertz.

Darlene just seems like Queen of the Mug Cradlers. That bitch married well and that's the name o' that tune.

Let me guess……Nonnatus House is in danger!

Sister Monica Joan has a crisis because she’s depressed, old & feels unnecessary!

Fred Buckle solves a problem for the Nonnatus community with his no-nonsense, plain spoken, down to earth, common sense ways.

Violet Buckle, using her down to earth, common sense, no nonsense ways, uses her needle and thread to solve a problem in Poplar

Sister Julienne will face a crisis about what Nonnatus House means in the modern world. Nonnatus House may not survive. But the sisters of St Raymond will soldier on, wherever & however God wants them to do his work.

PS - Anyone notice Trixie wouldn’t marry the preacher because she didn’t want to spend her life in poor areas, but she continues to live in a poor area?

Trixie was holding out for the gorgeous, rich, recently widowed husband. She’s smart.

Here's a piece of trivia. Angela Lansbury's father, Edgar Lansbury, a member of Britain's Communist Party, served as mayor of Poplar in 1924-25.

"In 1927 Lansbury's timber firm was declared bankrupt. In 1934 Lansbury wrote George Lansbury, My Father. In the work he inadvertently quoted from confidential documents his father had allowed him to see. He was found to have contravened section 2 of the Official Secrets Act 1911, and fined; his book was recalled in order for the text to be censored. He died of stomach cancer in 1935"

damn, another super sad episode.

A few hotties in last night's episode (we're on S10E2 in the states)

I am guessing based on R128's comment that Hugh Grant Lookalike is here for more than just an episode or two.

The sailor was hot, too.

r131 The fact that his name (Olly Rix) has been added to the opening credits along with the main cast of regulars should have given you a clue.

R132 Oh! I hadn't even noticed. I'm usually getting my cup of tea to cradle while I watch. LOL

So butch!

The article at R134 references Ridley Road, which has recently started on Sunday night BBC1.

It's a hard slog set in early 60s London, where a Jewish girl goes undercover to infiltrate a far right Nazi organisation led by Colin Jordan. It's based on the real life activities of the 62 group of Jewish vigilante anti fascists. There's loads of familiar faces in it and it is a great companion piece to Call The Midwife - you can imagine Sister Julien listening to the Colin Jordan speeches on the radio and looking forlorn and praying for calm. I bet Trixie would have put some rocks in a sock and fought with the Jews and anti fascists.

I am very grateful they made the episodes at all, but I'm intrigued at how some of the blocking has been during these first few episodes.

Last night's ep felt like there were a few visible spots. When Fiona held her baby they sort of held the baby up in front of the camera, instead of laying him on her chest.

When the Buckles went to see the West Indies couple Vi and Fred were, like, clear across a room from them.

And I think Jenny Agutter must have or have had a health issue, because she's being distanced from others in scenes. The Turner house felt like it doubled in size. (As did the Buckle store, all of a sudden)

(ps obviously all COVID precautions, sorry I thought I typed that)

Don't be silly! There was no COVID in 1966!

Covid filming is funny. In Lee Mack’s “Not Going Out” there is a scene involving his three children. The camera shows them standing next to each other, then changes angles and you can see one of the children is missing.

Ridley Road looks interesting.

Which of course means the US will see it in 2023.

[quote] Ridley Road looks interesting. Which of course means the US will see it in 2023.

Aren’t you an optimist!

Darlene, your pussy stinks.

Ah, r128. I was wondering that last night. Trixie has to be at least 40 now. She’s so sickly sweet and cheerful, especially in last night’s episode. Just unfailingly upbeat while working with one patient who conveniently died leaving a young baby and a handsome, rich husband.

Is there some kind of rule that every scene lasts 30 seconds? All quick cuts, every problem’s solution telegraphed in advance. I watch it off and on but the early seasons had some really hard-hitting, untidy problems. Now everyone seems to float along on a bubble.

I think they edit the shit out of the PBS version.

This show is another example of Short Attention Span Theatre.

I want to know what Timothy is getting up to at university. He looks like the type that would experiment with a swarthy upper class mate.

[quote] Trixie was holding out for the gorgeous, rich, recently widowed husband

So true. So obvious. But will Trixie give him up because she’s so dedicated to Nonnatus House? She’s a bit of a self-saboteur, isnt she?

I despise Grantchester. The new, supposedly handsome, vicar makes me sick to my stomach. I find him repulsive. Can’t help it. And since when do vicars, housekeepers, housekeeper husbands, policemen, policemens’ wives and children go on vacation together, including the homosexual lover of one of the vicars in 1950s England? And the homosexual vicar and his boyfriend sleep together in a bed in a cabin because you know…..nobody in a holiday camp will notice. Especially a holiday camp where a murder occurred and the policeman & the other vicar have discovered that campers are being set up and blackmailed by a photographer, and the other vicar knows his homosexual coworker is having sex with his bf and is cool with that? I really can’t stand the UK’s anachronistic attitudes in period dramas. It’s a self-congratulatory lie.

[quote] the other vicar knows his homosexual coworker is having sex with his bf and is cool with that?

I’m surprised that none of the British gays have called the show out for portraying “gay as tragic figure.” Everybody gets to live happily except the gay man. If they’re going to force modern storylines on period pieces, then why not let the gay men have happy lives?

Agree with all you say so succinctly r147 and posted a short critique way upthread. Grantchester may be the worst Brit series ever on Masterpiece Theatre.

I swear Robson Green only appears for the free cigarettes.

Is Olly Rix in Ridley Road? I couldn't seem to find a reference to it in r134. Is he part Indian or black? So handsome!

[quote]Is Olly Rix in Ridley Road? I couldn't seem to find a reference to it in [R134]. Is he part Indian or black? So handsome!

The link at R134 has an article about Tom Varey - the lead actor and love interest from Ridley Road - having dated the lead actress from Normal People.

The cast of Ridley Road is Rory Kinnear as Nazi Colin Jordan (horribly effective) and then Eddie Marsan, Tracy Ann Oberman, Samantha Spiro, Will Keen and Allan Corduner as the supporting Jews. Tamsin Outhwaite and Danny Hatchard are two other Eastenders alumni popping up.

And Rita Tushingham is a nosey old biddie, the type Sister Evangeline would visit to sort out her weeping leg ulcers.

Tamzin and Tracy Ann are also both "New Tricks" alumnae. Didn't Rory Kinnear play a Nazi on the last season of "Penny Dreadful?" (City of Angels)

[quote] I want to know what Timothy is getting up to at university. He looks like the type that would experiment with a swarthy upper class mate.

Hopefully one who will teach young Timothy the joys of mutual masturbation.

What really bugs me are these1950s dramas insisting that a woman cannot give her child up for adoption. Every pregnant woman has to wind up with her baby claiming she’s strong enough to face whatever comes….when in the 1950s a single woman would be kicked out of her home & not have enough money to support herself and a child, “welfare state” or not. Plus her chances of marrying a man decreased exponentially with a child whose father didn’t marry the mother.

But the writers & producers of these shows - often women - have taken on the belief that no woman can give up her baby for adoption. It’s just against nature.

In what year does the current season take place? I think we're somewhere in the mid-60, though some of the art direction (kitchens and upholstery, wallpaper) look early 1970s). Has each of the 10 seasons been a new year?

1966 and yes, every season is a new year.

I bet Patrick Turner has a huge uncut slab that begs for attention. Sister Bernadette probably only does it every third Thursday with the lights out.

Fork handles HAHAHAHA

R153 You're not wrong, for the most part. But I think that may be more of a laziness in plotting - or possibly pandering to audience expectations - than any sort of deep ideological bent on their part.

As a fan of soaps I can tell you that there were many times a show would explore the idea of an abortion and/or giving up a baby for adoption and the mother almost always decided to keep the baby. Sometimes she'd miscarry, and less often she'd give it up for adoption and want it back (Downton's Edith one such example).

But actually completely giving up a baby and/or aborting is overall still rare. Most shows cheat and have their cake and eat it too. They can claim a hard edged look at a hard choice, but with the mother almost never choosing to abort or surrender, they can give a "happy ending" too.

Call The Midwife has shown several abortions, though, I'll give them that. The nuns and midwives helped a woman who was suffering side effects from a back alley abortion that was done by Valerie's gram, and there was no judgements or handwringing about it, just "she needs our help."

Well Trixie just went on a rant to the doctor of the posh clinic about performing a “D&C” even as legal abortion was being debated in Parliament, and Nonantus severed their connection to his clinic. I don’t remember her getting so outraged when it came to Val’s grandmother and she’s seen enough poverty-stricken families with too many kids on the show. Was she just pissed because wealthy women could get one with a proper doctor? That didn’t come across in her diatribe.

I loved Dr Whatshisname’s even-handed remark to Sister Julien, “They all do it.”

Isn't Dr. Patrick Turner married in real life to the show's lead producer/creator?

[quote] I don’t remember her getting so outraged when it came to Val’s grandmother

She didn’t have a direct connection to Val’s grandmother. She was working at the hospital and could have had her credentials pulled if she knew it was being done illegally.

R159 She was angry partly because the rich women got a pass to have them while poor women could not, and also because Nonnatus House associating with a clinic doing those abortions put Nonnatus' rep in jeopardy - and the fact that they did them hadn't been made clear to her before (they were done quietly, often, and probably seldom recorded as abortions). I didn't think she was hissing about abortion per se.

R160 Yes, Doctor Turner is married to Heidi Thomas, who runs the show.

Ah, protecting the reputation of Nonantus, I can understand that but the writing should’ve made that clear. To me, it sounded like she was just anti-abortion.

Was there ever a case of posh docs performing illegal abortions getting arrested in the UK or the US? I think the authorities would look the other way.

R162 is right - Trixie isn't outraged by the act of abortion but by the hypocrisy that surrounds it.

Wealthy women can go to a private clinic and pay for a procedure that is effectively done off the books but in a safe and sterile environment with trained professionals. But poor women go to rooms above pubs with dirty equipment and are left to bleed to death if anything goes wrong and risk prosecution if discovered.

Trixie disapproves of both - she supports a woman's right to have an abortion and thinks all women should have the same access, regardless of wealth or class.

The abortion storyline is the best example of why the sneering about Call The Midwife is so misplaced. So many people think of it as a cosy women's show that appeals to "Brexit Britain" and is watched by people obsessed with how much better it was in the past. The reality is it shows how fucking awful life was for the most vulnerable people in society.

Abortion trauma fans would also appreciate the adaptation of Sarah Waters' The Night Watch, where Jodie Whittaker has a backstreet abortion and is saved by Anna Maxwell Martin. Also features Claire Foy taking lesbian baths and one of those Treadaway boys playing gay again.

R163 agreed, we in the States only really saw one or two lines that explained that, it could have been clearer. (I also think PBS cut out some of the scene, because it loves those quick cuts)

PS I noticed yesterday (after watching the Lasso season finale) that Midwife has all its episodes on Apple+ already. You have to pay for each one, but they are already all there, the whole season.

I may pay to (re)watch a recent one at some point, just to see if there's a substantial difference between the two.

r166 Do you think they're complete (i.e., no PBS cuts?)

R167 Not sure but I could be open to spending $3 to find out. If they are I'll start watching them there.

Guess first thing is to compare the run time on Apple vs PBS run time (PBS has it up on their Apple TV site with run time).

r166 They're not on Apple+, they're on iTunes. That's why you have to pay for each episode. And they are the PBS versions.

Some of the Christmas special episodes were longer than an hour but all the BBC shown episodes will be 58 or 59 minutes long.

They fit neatly into the 8pm Sunday night slot on BBC1.

OK thanks R169. I hadn't looked that deeply yet but thanks for clarifying!

Hmm. PBS says theirs are 54 minutes 7 seconds.

A bit OT, I have EASTENDERS on right now.

Anyone know why the last air date for the series airing on WLIW in NYC will be November 2nd? This announcement was just made before tonight's first episode was aired. WLIW airs three episodes every Tuesday night.

Guess this PBS channel can no longer afford this series? Years ago, BBC-America did the same when they were showing the newer episodes, the soap aired for about a year, it was then abruptly cancelled.

Besides the fact that EASTENDERS has been years behind the UK episodes, I will sure miss this series. I've been watching Eastenders since it was first aired in NYC, about 30+ years ago!

R173 I think multiple other services provide EE on same or near same day basis. Paid of course.

Isn't CTM set in the East End? So they were Eastenders too.

[quote] Grantchester may be the worst Brit series ever on Masterpiece Theatre.

And isn’t it basically a blatant rip-off of Father Brown? There’s even been almost identical storylines. Each show has a pious, righteous Frau (Mrs. Maguire/Mrs. McCarthy) who has a husband long thought dead but actually alive and up to no good. Of course nobody ever wanted to fuck Father Brown, though.

R173, you can watch current "Eastenders" daily on Britbox.

Didn’t WLIW have a rabid EE fan named Debby that came on for every fundraiser and browbeat the general public into giving money to support her watching EE episodes from seven years ago (with characters that had already died or left the show)?

That’s not how you died of acute myeloid leukemia in those days.

I'm in the United States, and I got the exact same impression as R162.

The doctor is Stannis Baratheon’s brother.

When I wank my splatter flies clean across the room!

When I first became a nurse I worked in ortho and I’d check the OR schedule for the next day to count how many pre-ops we had. Every day there would be 4 or 5 “D&C for bleeding” on the schedule. One day, I saw the name of our dour part time secretary on the schedule (she had 4 kids and was a total drag). “Hey,” i said to the head nurse. “Marilyn’s on the schedule tomorrow. She’s having a D&C. for bleeding.”

“Yeah. She’s having an abortion.” I was shocked. She said, “Didn’t you ever wonder why they put a reason for the D&C on the schedule? They don’t do it for any other surgery. They don’t say ‘Colon resection for cancer’ or ‘nephrotomy for kidney stones.” They say “D&C for bleeding for 3 reasons,

“First, it’s covered by insurance. An elective abortion is not. Second, it’s the social aspect. If they just say D&C everyone will think “abortion.” The schedule has people’s names on it. The entire hospital would basically see Joan Smith is having an abortion and it could get around.” (This was lonnnnnng before HIPAA and it was a small community hospital.)

“The third reason is that the doctors & administration don’t want to be known as an ‘abortion hospital’ which attracts protestors.”

Abortion was legal at that time, but it was never fully accepted by society. The hospital went out of their way to avoid the subject.

[quote][R173], you can watch current "Eastenders" daily on Britbox.

Cable and the internet connection is costly enough, I refuse to pay for extra channels and for streaming. The only plus I have with my cable package, I get four premium channels for for free HBO, Showtime, Starz and Cinemas. At least I can watch HBO Max for free. I also don't pay extra for my modem and my second cable box.

I had been watching the series EVIL on CBS, it was renewed, then moved to Paramount+, I've been watching the new season free online.

Guess I'll have to search online for EASTENDERS, but the PBS shows are at least 7-10 years behind, so viewing the newer episodes on Britz will be damn confusing!

[quote]When I first became a nurse I worked in ortho and I’d check the OR schedule for the next day to count how many pre-ops we had. Every day there would be 4 or 5 “D&C for bleeding” on the schedule. One day, I saw the name of our dour part time secretary on the schedule (she had 4 kids and was a total drag). “Hey,” i said to the head nurse. “Marilyn’s on the schedule tomorrow. She’s having a D&C. for bleeding.” “Yeah. She’s having an abortion.” I was shocked. She said, “Didn’t you ever wonder why they put a reason for the D&C on the schedule? They don’t do it for any other surgery. They don’t say ‘Colon resection for cancer’ or ‘nephrotomy for kidney stones.” They say “D&C for bleeding for 3 reasons,

Do you have no understanding of patient confidentiality?

How would you feel if your colleagues were gossiping about you having surgery for your rectal prolapse?

[quote]Cable and the internet connection is costly enough, I refuse to pay for extra channels and for streaming.

I don't have cable. (I made the suggestion.)

[quote] Do you have no understanding of patient confidentiality?

Lol. It was an OR schedule. It was years before HIPAA. It was literally hung up on the wall in the nursing station in the most easily-viewed spot so it could be looked at by everyone. We were a specialty surgical floor and shared a nursing station with another surgical floor. The only way we knew which patients were scheduled for surgery the next day, and at what time they were scheduled for (first case? Very necessary to know) was by looking at the schedule. [italic] Everybody [/italic] looked at the schedule. Nurses, aides, secretaries, transport, dietary, the orderlies who covered the whole hospital. How else would you know immediately upon entering the nurses station at the beginning of your shift who needed preop showers or to be shaved by a man and not a woman, who you were probably going to have to throw a foley into, start an IV, give preop antibiotics. The OR schedule was literally the first thing everyone looked at after we took off our coats.

In those days, every patient was admitted to the hospital the night before a surgical procedure. They returned to the floor after surgery the next day, then stayed overnight. Day surgery did not exist. My head nurse was going to find out our secretary was having surgery as soon as she looked at the schedule. The whole hospital was going to know she was on the OR schedule by nightfall. Everyone knew her. Everyone knew everyone who worked there.

I literally didn’t know “D&C for bleeding” meant “abortion.” I thought an abortion would be scheduled as “abortion” or “termination.” It was the early 1980s and abortion was nowhere near the hot topic it is today. Only a handful of fanatics picketed clinics & hospitals where abortions took place. The picketers did not know abortions were done at our hospital. They couldn’t know for sure that a “D&C for bleeding” wasn’t being done because of a fibroid or to detect cancer or because a woman had a miscarriage.

Back in those days, we admitted people to the hospital the night before colonoscopies, barium enemas, myelograms, angiograms, even sonograms. There were no outpatient procedures. We thought it was stupid to admit people for such things — especially because we had to give enemas to the GI patients — but that was the way it was. A lot has changed. OR schedules are certainly not on full display anymore.

(From 1998-2001 I worked in a hospital where the surgical floors had a giant whiteboard in full view from the hallways in the nursing station. It had all the patients’ name on it, their room numbers and their doctors name next to it. It was visible so you could automatically know when walking past the station which preop & postop routines were preferred, as each surgeon had their own demands. It was also on display so residents, interns, med students and even the surgeons themselves could identify which patient belonged to them and where they were when making rounds. Everyone was devastated when they were told they could no longer do this because of HIPAA)

R185 they aren't listing their names, you fat whore!

Does anyone else think Sister Evangelina was actually Ma Larkin? She became a Wife Of Christ after discovering Pop diddling Primrose

[quote] Does anyone else think Sister Evangelina was actually Ma Larkin? She became a Wife Of Christ after discovering Pop diddling Primrose

In between, she tried gardening as therapy but her friend kept killing people.

I do miss Pam Ferris - she had a very particular energy.

Though Linda Bassett has been excellent in that sort of stern older woman role. That bit with the circus a season or two ago was quite moving.

Here's Sister Evangelina while she was Ma Larkin, before Pop kicked her out and she turned to the church

[quote][R185] they aren't listing their names, you fat whore!

[quote]One day, I saw the name of our dour part time secretary on the schedule

Is that you at R193, Miss Higgins?

Is Linda Bassett the older nurse with the curly auburn hair? I love her but that casual white lady afro she sports would have been an absolute no-no in 1966 for a middle aged biddie.

[quote]I love her but that casual white lady afro she sports would have been an absolute no-no in 1966 for a middle aged biddie.

I think the idea was that was how her hair grew and she never styled it. She never bothered with trying to spruce herself up.

That's a very modern mindset, r196.

Professional women in London in the mid-1960s set their hair and would have abhorred an uncontrolled mop of curls. She might not have straightened her hair, likely even be stuck in a 1950s style, but she would have had a part (probably a side part) and a formalized silhouette.

[quote] Professional women in London in the mid-1960s set their hair and would have abhorred an uncontrolled mop of curls.

But that’s not her character. She is no fuss and zero fucks to give take me as I am. A couple of times she has told Trixie that styling is not for her. Glamour is not her thing. She’s a low paid midwife who likes being a schlub.

[quote]Nurse Valerie's Nan Dolly Rawlings being fingered

Pics please.

In Metro New York, Season 10 airs on WNET-13 Sundays at 8:00PM. Tomorrow (the 17th) is Episode 3

Sister Hilda and Dr. Turner are involved with a young woman whose health presents a series of challenges; a complicated pregnancy leads the Nonnatus team on a path of discovery.

When will Sheelah be killed off?

[quote] When will Sheelah be killed off?

When Aunt Ida has something for her face.

I thought maybe Phyllis and Miss Higgins were going to lap at each other's ladyhams.

Anyone who wants to watch Mrs Higgins being rigourously fingered to orgasm by Hugh Dancy should watch Hysteria, with Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jonathan Pryce and Rupert Everett.

Tobias Menzies is in that film too. Does he rigorously finger anyone to orgasm?

If you have PBS Passport, the entire series 10 is now available.

Darlene Shiley can suck my left one

[quote] Darlene Shiley can suck my left one

That’s one of the gifts if you pledge $10,000 or more. And you get a tote bag along with it.

Miss Higgins has just turned up in The Larkins, basically a remake of The Darling Buds Of May which starred Sister Evangeline and Catherine Zeta Douglas Spartacus Jones. She wasn't getting fingered in this.

It's a disgrace they remade the Darling Buds without big chubby Pam. I thought Pop would be diddling her with a chicken bone in the bath

I volunteer to finger the dishy vicar if it makes him feel better about Barbara.

R203, they have already already done lesbianism on the programme. The characters are spinsters. There were many of them after two world wars.

Season 1 they were doing brother/sister incest, which was actually mentioned in the original book.

And one season, they had a man get arrested for cruising in the park toilets.

The most grotesque was the ship’s captain who kept his daughter on board to service the crew. That was from the book too.

R181, no relation

Are people from Jamaica and Guyana into evangelicalism and singing black American spiritual songs? In England?

R213 the guy playing the closet cruiser was gorgeous, and he looked like he had a big pinga!

A new miracle funding source has appeared to keep Nonnatus House functioning. But I forgot what it is already.

I'm sure many new adventures will pour through

Can't Trixie or Violet get Sister Monica Joan a vibrator?

Yeah, it was something about training midwives? Because the last place had that ignorant doctor? Are they going to live at Nonantus? I should pay more attention.

Why can’t Nonnatus House have a bingo night or a jumble sale or a fete to raise money?

More talk about the sexy cottager forced onto hormones

They should have those hot doctors in training come back. Trixie needs a fresh poke in the cooter.

[quote] Are they going to live at Nonantus?

I think so. They said something about being allowed to rent out rooms. But how many freaking rooms does NHouse have? At least 7 people live there. I guess the nuns might double up, except for Sister Joan who blathers too much for anyone to get any sleep. “Oh, I’m having a crisis of faith……Now I’m happy and wise and sharing my outdated knowledge with the young ones ….Now I’m having one of my demented episodes where I seem to jump into the river because the TV is on the fritz…….Now in stealing came (wink)….Oh no, another crisis of faith. My dilemma is, how can the nestlings eat the berries if both the nest and the bush are destroyed by mankind, leaving nothing behind? We shall never fledge without our Lord & savior Jesus Christ…amirite?”

Now in stealing came

“Now I’m stealing cake”…that damn sister Monica Joan is being demented again

They really lessened the storylines involving Nonnatus House. Who cleans the place and prepares the food? In one early episode, they had a storyline about the woman who did this, but you never see her.

And who cleans the doctor’s house because Shelagh is always at the surgery?

In early episodes, they always had a few extra sisters who joined in the “nightly prayer“ scenes, but obviously they got moved to another order because they aren’t ever seen anymore.

If it were just this season I'd say they simplified stories due to COVID and trying to have fewer people around.

But I think they've been doing what R226 said for many years now.

Linda Bassett shows up to record her 2 sentence advice, nods her head as she speaks, then offers boiled sweets.

[quote] Linda Bassett shows up to record her 2 sentence advice, nods her head as she speaks, then offers boiled sweets.

Vanessa Redgrave doesn’t even show up.

And what happens when the eventual reality occurs and she croaks? Does the show end or do they hire someone to play Old Trixie?

[quote] And what happens when the eventual reality occurs and she croaks? Does the show end or do they hire someone to play Old Trixie?

Sooner or later, one of these crises that threatens Nonnatus House will do it in. I think they closed in the 1970s.

Judy Parfitt seems to be sitting in most of her scenes. I wonder if she’s too pooped to run around the set pretending Monica Joan has lit out to seek The Truth down at the docks.

[quote]And who cleans the doctor’s house because Shelagh is always at the surgery?

That little Chinese slave girl they imported.

Last night's episode was virtually Trixie-free. She had like one scene and hardly any lines.

R230 Yes, they're kind of buying time, because I think the use of midwives plummeted after the pill and by the early 70s it was closed.

R151 - Is "New Tricks" any good?

Need help: What is the name of the British detective-mystery series where the out-on-the- fringe detective is always going to the really out-on-the-fringe psychic to help him with cases. I watched two episodes on Amazon Prime and cannot remember the name of the show.

I have watched the first three episodes of both CTM and Grantchester and enjoyed all.

"A new miracle funding source has appeared to keep Nonnatus House functioning. But I forgot what it is already."

R218 - Nonnatus House is going to train midwives for the NHS and received compensation from the government for providing this training, room & board to students as there is a shortage of "places" in London nursing schools.

[quote][R151] - Is "New Tricks" any good?

I enjoyed it, but it gradually got a little repetitive and then they started losing cast members. By the end, none of the original group of four was still left.

R224, the house looks huge when they shoot the interior. It looks like it could be used for a school. But they've implied before that there aren't a lot of bedrooms.

Judy Parfitt is sitting down a lot because Sister Monica Joan broke her leg last season.

Sister Monica Joan had several sessions of intense surprise anal, thus her need to be seated.

[quote]Yes, they're kind of buying time, because I think the use of midwives plummeted after the pill and by the early 70s it was closed.

What does the use of the Pill have to do with midwives? Weren't midwives simply used in place of doctors to deliver babies?

Were the midwives doling out birth control advice and condoms? Many of those midwives seemed very backwards and judgmental, especially when it came to sex outside of marriage. On this series, most of the midwives were nuns, they sure weren't promoting sex other than for procreation.

[quote] On this series, most of the midwives were nuns, they sure weren't promoting sex other than for procreation.

These nuns are non-judgmental nuns, unlike any you see in real life.

Don't they prescribe birth-control pills in their clinic?

Shelagh has a Chinese indentured servant child, who do you think does all of the housework, the white daughter?

⬆️ For R226

Sorry R231, I jumped ahead, but we do think alike. R242

[quote] What does the use of the Pill have to do with midwives?

The birth rate fell dramatically once the Pill came on the scene. More dramatically so for people living in poverty as many in Poplar were.

As discussed with the Trixie episode last week, rich ladies could go have a D&C with all the ease of a dental appointment, but poor women had the church on one side and a lack of choices (in many categories) on the other side.

....and fewer births means less need for midwives

[quote]What does the use of the Pill have to do with midwives? Weren't midwives simply used in place of doctors to deliver babies? Were the midwives doling out birth control advice and condoms? Many of those midwives seemed very backwards and judgmental, especially when it came to sex outside of marriage. On this series, most of the midwives were nuns, they sure weren't promoting sex other than for procreation.

The midwives don't just perform a midwifery service. There are countless storylines about them effectively being a district/community nursing service. Valerie's abortionist nan Dolly Rawlings came into the series because the nurses would call on her to attend her leg ulcers.

There was a storyline about a Jewish family where the elderly wife was dying of cancer and they needed to move out of the house as it was part of a street that had been condemned for demolition? And the storyline with Annette Crosbie who had been a suffragette who had leg ulcers.

And in Season 10 there's the teenage hotel bellboy with the cyst on his lower spine and OTHER ISSUES.

R247 - You are correct. The nursing sisters and regular nurses are all certified midwives but they are also Registered Nurses (or the UK equivalent) so they function like the old Visiting Nurses Association and provide what is today called Home Healthcare in the USA.

If you are looking for new PBS shows to watch "Unforgotten" is terrific. Three seasons, only 4 episodes a season.

Phyllis and Miss Higgins are totally going to munch each other's rugs.

RAVENOUSLY!

Miss Higgins was too over Shelagh the other night, like the rest of us.

She'd HAD IT!

What was the issue? I watched it but don't remember.

Shelagh was asking her for some file and Miss Higgins was, unusually for her, a bit late arriving to the surgery. She was peeved at Shelagh because, well, Shelagh annoys us all. It was so funny. She was all like BITCH I HAVE NOT HAD MY COFFEE YET!

Do the midwives have to quit when they get married? Obv they move out of Nonantus but I’m trying to remember, Chummy & Barbara got married and left. Sheila was different, she was a nun and somehow became a nurse who wears a different uniform than the others.

I thought I was the only one who couldn't stand that boring drip Sheelah. Should known I'd find like-minded people here!

All of those young ladies living together -- did their menstrual cycles synchronize?

The wash tub looked a mess during that week, R256. Sister Monica Joan would run through the house yelling: Murder!

Oh Trixie is definitely going to snag that rich widower.

WON'T SOMEONE HELP THE POOR YOUNG HOMOSEXUAL LAD????!!!!!?????

[quote]Oh Trixie is definitely going to snag that rich widower.

Saw that coming a mile away....

Well, she won't snag him and then she'll be back on the sauce, turning tricks in Poplar's finest massage parlors.

Sorry, "parlours."

My WAG is that this is Trixie’s last season. She’s going to be advising rich guy on getting a new nanny /bonding with the baby and eventually make herself indispensable. Dead wife hasn’t been dead long enough yet so maybe this will drag out another season. New resident, “Nancy” is the new dolly bird who will be Trixie’s replacement in the house.

Has this series finished its run in the US now? Is it ok to post comments on the social housing plot that spanned all the episodes?

R236 - Post away on the social housing plot and define what social housing is for all the non UK posters on DataLounge.

R263 Last night was episode 4 of series 10. We still have three more to go.

We just learned at the end of episode 3 that a few rooms at Nonnatus would open up to midwife students, so that Sister Julienne (seriously) could pay the bills.

Thanks R265 - I won't post about the conclusion of the series.

The 60s in London saw a huge investment in social housing and tower blocks which feature in Call The Midwife. (Grenfell Tower was built 1967) Bomb damaged rat infested buildings were being knocked down to provide more modern and amenable housing, which was run by councils/local authorities and provided subsides housing for those most in need. (And then in the 80s Thatcher introduced "right to buy" which saw many tenants buy their homes at a reduced cost and then profit from selling them on. I live in an ex council house)

But there were still really low quality slums which unscrupulous landlords profited from - these feature in the series as well. That's all I'll say until the series finishes in the US!

R266 Thank you for not spoiling!

There are parallel stories in the US as this was an area of study for me. Many so called slum areas were cleared in the era CTM's depicted over the years, and replaced with public housing towers, much like Grenfell.

They were built cheaply to cut corners and never maintained well.

No one mentioned the return of Timmy Turner! I was hoping for a plot twist where he ended up being one of the boy-whore's customers.

I will give this as a spoiler: Homosexuality was legalised in England and Wales in1967. Hotel rent boy would still have fallen foul of the law as he was under 21.

The last episode of Season 10 has Sister Monica Joan being forced to move into a slum building because her room is needed to house student nurses. I teared up at the scene where she had a conversation with a rat about Balzac. It’s definitely Parfitt’s BAFTA, and hopefully an Emmy.

Spoiler alert.

R269 Most of us knew that, doll.

I did tear up a bit at the kindness of Dr Turner and Phyllis.

I know, MARY!

[quote]Has Dr Turner partaken of the homosex?

A woman once approached Timothy Turner outside a men’s public toilet and asked, “Does your father know what you’re doing?”

Timothy responded, “My father’s the one who taught me how to do it.”

Terrible, R272, simply terrible!

Legalized in 1967? What year is Grantchester supposed to be? Is that how they’re going to get around the Leonard trial?

R274 - I am guessing that Season 6 is taking place in in 1958-1959. I am basing my guess on Geordie's age, his having served in WWII and the age of his children but I could very easily be wrong.

[quote] Legalized in 1967? What year is Grantchester supposed to be? Is that how they’re going to get around the Leonard trial?

I’ve seen the entire Grantchester season. Don’t make any assumptions about the plot.

This current season had some good ideas but they fell flat in the move from idea to execution. So many missed opportunities.

We’ve seen some slum clearing. There was the Typhoid Gran episode where Gran kept making the grand babies sick because she didn’t have adequate hot water for washing her filthy old hands in the old slum house. She got swank new plumbing in her council flat, with lots of garish British wallpaper. And wasn’t the old workhouse woman holed up in a condemned building, screaming at night?

Then there was the decrepit old fellow with “insects” in his grody bedsit. Jenny was horrified and Sister Julienne told her to get off her high horse - she was in the slums now and she’d better love the filthy old people who were crawling with insects as much as she loved Jesus, because….something about god. The old man didn’t want to leave his filth and he croaked it before getting moved to a shiny-wallpapered council house.

And Nonnatus house has supposedly been under the shadow of the wrecking ball since series one. They keep getting a reprieve so Jenny Agutter can continue getting her National Treasure paycheck.

This Irish lass is going to turn out to have been in one of those Magdalene laundry-type situations with the nuns, isn't she?

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Meh, Nancy is a case of nepotism. She’s niece of Sorcha Cusack (Mrs McCarthy on Father Brown) and Sinead Cusack (wife of Jeremy irons). Her father is a producer & her grandfather was actor Cyril Cusack who specialized in playing characters written by playwright Sean O’Casey.

Cyril Cusack used to write lofty letters opposing abortion to Irish newspapers. Turns out he had a child with his mistress pretty much throughout his marriage and child to Maureen Cusack.

No doubt this gave her an “in” for this season’s Call the Midwife which deals with the legality of abortion & the stigma of unwed mothers and their children. And the hypocrisy of men.

Funnily enough Sean O'Casey's great granddaughter Agnes played the lead in Ridley Road!

And Cyril Cusack's other daughter Niamh was the lead in 60s police show Heartbeat and every other BBC/ITV drama going. And another Cusack daughter Catherine was most famous for playing psycho nanny Carmel in Coronation Street, back when Gail Potter-Tilsley-Platt-Hillman-McIntyre-Rodwell was married to Martin Platt.

But Megan Cusack aka Nancy is a decent actress who fits in well with the series.

[quote]This Irish lass is going to turn out to have been in one of those Magdalene laundry-type situations with the nuns, isn't she?

That was my thought, especially after hearing that one of the Catholic nuns was named PHILOMENA.

Are the Irish acting Cusacks related to the American acting Cusacks (John, Joan, and Ann)?

R280 I remember being freaked out by Cartmel stalking Martin! Liked Niamh on Heartbeat too. Memories

Imagine all the people who wanted to be actors who stupidly went & got themselves born into domiciles that did not house acting families.

“Sorry, we’ve got the Cusacks, Redgraves, Cumberbatches, McGanns, Fondas, Arquettes, Foxes, Wests and a slew of other dramatic and comedic dynasties we must see first. Please take a number. Here’s a ticket. You’re 3,847th, Take a seat.”

This has been paywalled - continue the discussion below!

Or just cough up the money.

Sister Monica Joan and Sister Hilda were both missing in this week's episode.

The guy who played the Indian husband is really cute!

Did he play husband of Sarita who didn't want to go the maternity home at first?

r288 Yes.

Waylon Smithers

I'm so glad this thread is back! I've missed it.