Call the midwife starts this Sunday!!! Who's excited?

[Soubriquet]

I certainly am

I don't think it's a good as it was when it first started, and it can be a tad predictable at times but I still love this show

Kits I think everyone accepted the second wife scenario a bit too easily. She was 15 ffs. Isn't Timothy about that now? Surely Dr Turner would have thought that really inappropriate, and had something to say at least behind the husband's back, if not to his face!

There was an episode in the last series (?) where everything was really hectic at the surgery and Timothy was answering the phone. He said something like "No, I cant just write you a prescription... because I'm 15 years old!" I'm sure it was 15...

And they were getting all worried about him fancying the au pair!

Dr. Turner needs to come and speak to us on the feminism board!

Yes, her baby did attend th baby shower but I think she left the show whilst still pregnant. Or it reads like that anyway. Her baby was 6 weeks early.

I thought Timmy Turner was approaching 18 as he seemed to be talking about university.

Some utter bellend on twitter complained about her looking fat!
What was he doing watching CTM anyway?

Been watching CTM for a while but I've just got round to watching the early seasons on Netflix.

In the first season episode where the woman gets eclampsia, does anyone know why it's so necessary for Cynthia to cut her ring off?? Was it just for symbolism or is there a medical reason for it?

I guess so that it doesn’t cut into/get stuck on her swollen fingers.

Tim should be 17 this series by my reckoning. He was 15 two series ago when Dr Smug gave him a bollocking for pretending to smoke.

This is such a great thread, I've been loving the Dr Turner comments :)

I just have a question if anyone knows, it might be obvious and I've missed something but at the end when Sister Julienne gives Trixie her leave, why does she think that she needs it? did she know about her drinking the sherry or that she'd relapsed or did she think it was about her breakup?

I also noticed her looking towards The Bump!

Yes, swollen fingers. The description in the book of eclampsia was horrific :( Really made me take preeclampsia seriously and understand why they are so jumpy about you having any of the signs.

BokoglinGirl the bump was hard to ignore but I read an interview with Helen George and she said that pregnancy was not the right storyline for Trixie, hence why they did their best to disguise it.

I wondered about the wedding ring being removed. Unless it was because her fingers were swollen it seems a bit harsh.

Curbside yes, that bump was like a character in itself!!

Does anyone recommend the books btw, I've always wondered whether it's worth reading them?

The actual book 'call the midwife' is beautifully written. So much better than the TV series I think.

But... I couldn't read the one about the workhouse. There was a teaser at the end of call the midwife book and it was just heartbreaking. It was a novel, unlike CTM so I never read it.

A few years later I read 'in the midst of life'. Well, that was just grim. About death and dying.

I would highly recommend CTM but not the others. Not sure how others feel though?

Wedding ring needed to be removed because constriction to swelling could make the skin split or cause nerve damage and in years gone by that could lead to gangrene etc. Limited antibiotic and viral medicines in 1963.

CTM books are a great read.

Thanks! It just seemed so harsh, especially as they'd done everything they could for her already anyway.

The three books are great but harrowing. The workhouse one isn't a novel but follows the stories of three patients in much more detail with more of their own perspective than just the nurse's view. The stories are probably sadder in that one.

I gave mine away and I wish I'd kept them!

Oh my mistake. I probably should have read it!

It is much more of a story format than the others. I think it starts with a bit of the nurse stuff and then goes into the personal backstory of the patient, which was learned by the Nonnatus staff after spending more time with them (these patients were very damaged and had extreme experiences). Or it might have been the other way around - the patient's story finishing up with the nurse experience to bring it back to the "present day" (obv not actual present, but the time the rest of the books are reminiscing about.) All three of them spent significant time in workhouses which is what the title is about and there is some quite graphic description of child cruelty.

I've just downloaded the book. I hope I'm not sobbing into my Horlicks later!

All three books are very good. Though o didn't think Jenny Lee came across as a particularly nice person.

I loved the books, all of them.
I don't think Jenny is necessarily supposed to come over as nice, older Jenny when writing them was quite open about her naivety and judgemental thoughts and how she grew as a person during that time.

Oh think I might get the books, I see them often in the charity shops near me so will have a look tomorrow. Although the workhouse one does sound very moving.

I agree about Jenny (obv in the show as that's the only portrayal of her I've seen), that she comes across as naive and a bit judgemental, but that's because of her background and youth and I like the honesty there.

Am rewatching on Netflix

The Midwife’s Sister is a great book by Jenny’s sister. On the surface they had a naice middle class upbringing but it was actually quite tough for them. Explains a lot about Jenny’s character.

I didn't know that polarbear, will look for that one too!