No Call the Midwife thread?

[Youcanstayundermyumbrella]

Is there one hiding in a different folder?

What did we think of the Christmas special? Good to see Anita Dobson at work! And the doctor and Shelagh were slightly less annoying I thought.

I just searched online and apparently the actresses who played Mary Cynthia, Patsy, and Delia have all chosen to leave. The police officer chap has also left.

Miranda Hart apparently didn't want to come back, as she was too busy...

Patsy, Delia and Sr Mary Cynthia have all left the show. Never say never but as it stands they’re not coming back. So has Sgt Noakes, which is no great loss as he was a bit pointless.

Oops cross posted with Curbside

Glad I didn't watch it on Christmas Day. Watched it on iPlayer last night and thought it was excellent, but too gritty and upsetting for a festive special.

Agree that there should have been a more specific warning of stillbirth & DV scenes. Maybe some numpty thought it wasn't necessary because it all turned out alright in the end?

Was impressed with Jennifer Kirby's acting. The shock and guilt came across really effectively. Could have done without the pep-talk from Sister Monica Joan though. Seriously, her time must be up soon, surely?

Shame that patsy and Delia have left. Wasn't that keen on Mary Cynthia but wanted to see what happened to her. I love sister MJ but she's too lucid, she was much more eccentric in the early series.

Surely that baby is going to have a hypoxic brain injury.

I'm just watching, I was at work (midwife!) When it was on.

The still born story was terrible, really unrealistic. Agree about hypoxic brain injury.

And yes the abuse story, it was very, very clear when the wife was talking that she had been abused and the daughter sexually abused so to then say "she never mentioned it" was ridiculous.

It's a very odd episode, hope it doesn't set the scene for the rest of the series. I'm so sad that Patsy and Deliah have gone, at least I can imagine them happy together. Maybe Deliah went to Hong Kong too and they are happily together nursing abroad and able to live together as "flat mates".

Love the igloo though, when we had the bad winters a few years ago and had snow for several weeks we built a full size igloo. It was fab.

Is drippy Tom leaving too then?

What was the song they sang at the pantomime?

There was a similar story on 'The Royal' a few years ago. Baby still born but the midwife got it going by putting it in hot and cold water. Same happy parent abs everything is wonderful scene. And all I could think was, that baby is going to start fitting soon. (I'm a peadiatric nurse)

Is it repeated at any stage in next few days.
Can't watch on iplayer

Why not WLAH?. Are you outside the UK?

I thought it was contrived and implausible. Smug Doctor & his insufferable wife have surely had their day now?

Not in UK so iplayer doesn't work

It's a shame that Sister Mary Cynthia, Patsy and Delia have left. I thought that there was still plenty of mileage in all three characters. Still, I guess that the acclaimed CtM has made the actors hot property for new roles. Jessica Raine has done a lot of work since leaving, and was brilliant in The Last Post.

I liked Violet's blue outfit and eye shadow in the breakfast scene, she looked lovely. Normally Trixie's outfits steal the show but Helen George had to hide her bump.

I think that two gritty and distressing storylines were too much for the festive special. They were both brilliantly acted though. I had trouble placing Anita Dobson, what a good character actress she is. The woman who played her estranged daughter is the daughter of Bev Callard (Liz in Corrie). I loved the scene where reclusive Mrs Tollerton was leaving for the funeral and the neighbours gathered round to offer future support and cups of tea.

I recognised the daughter from the Detectorists but I didn’t know she was Beverly Callard’s daughter.

The song was Sealed With A Kiss by Bobby Vinton

I normally like it but I disliked this episode! The stillborn baby thing was ridiculous. The storyline was weak.

I much preferred the first series as the stories were from Jennifer Lee’s book and not made up. I liked the episode with the pregnant teacher though who gave herself a makeshift abortion. That’s the last time the series made me cry or moved me!

Why were the stillborn baby's parents not even a bit pissed off?

I felt thoroughly depressed after watching this. I've always loved CTM but I think it's past its best.

I just want to say what a cracking actress Anita Dobson is - I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed watching her, she's been far too absent since she left Eastenders all those years ago.

I love Call the Midwife in general, but loads of things irritated me in this episode!
The stillbirth-but-not storyline... it seems so cruel, sort of putting a fantasy that can never be into a more "real" scenario. Someone turning out not to be dead after all is what most people briefly hope after a death, isn't it?
Also lots of little grating things: Shelagh getting changed with the curtains wide open, the clearly empty suitcases when Barbara and Vicar left, people layered up with shawls and scarves but no hat, the cheering at the milk floats (I can believe it happened but it was the way they were all lining the streets with nothing better to do!), and the voice-over at the beginning - sounds like someone trying too hard to say something profound, but it's actually fairly basic/meaningless.

... I like all the little details though - "They don't close an airport for an inch of snow" - was I the only Londoner smiling at that?! The frozen toilets, the pristine new tower blocks...