Call The Midwife Christmas Special

[PinkFrogss]

Anyone watching? Apologies if I’ve missed the thread.

Trixie had to go one better and saying they are moving and it will be a very exclusive place. Her terribly posh accent is even stronger in this series.

I think that's to set us up for the Aylward's great fall from financial grace in the coming series.

She's telling US how exclusive her new place is so that we realise how much she's lost when they have to pitch a tent up in the Nonnatus gardens

I think the irony here for Trixie is that a great deal of the Barbican was dedicated to social housing…. So she’s most likely to end up living to the women she is regaling her takes too.

I assumed the Aylwards lived in a Mayfair flat? Hence we only ever see a glimpse.

I agree the storyline will arc to Matthew being in financial trouble, he seems even more sweaty and shinier than usual..

Another one for the list of improbabilites is growing up in a boys boarding school.and not having learnt to ride a bike.

The Barbican wasn't social housing.

It was owned by the City of London Corporation, so technically local authority housing, but let at commercial rents and advertised to senior executives as an exclusive and upmarket development. At least 1 earl lived there, and a baron, along with judges, senior politicians - foreign and domestic, and celebrities.

@NoBinturongsHereMate technically and practically it did form affordable social housing and still does but I accept your point it wasn’t built specifically for entirely this purpose. Because it was owned by a local authority it was subject to right to buy so a huge chunk of the estate was lost in the 80’s to private hands. The corporation does still retain a large amount of housing stock and although technically subject to market rates, there is a large discretion. My mate lived there in the 80’s and paid nowhere near market rate. There are certain buildings which were and are still considered to be more exclusive and therefore were always in private ownership when built. The whole place is fascinating and vibrant (one of mine went to school there). I’d love to live there but the listing means renovation is very tricky and expensive.

I'm not sure what the criteria were for having a hospital birth. I was born in 1967, in hospital (Lancashire).
My mum said she was told to give birth in hospital because she had size 3 feet! I think that was supposed to be an indicator of potential problems as she was only 5ft tall.
I think by the time my sister was born in 1975, the default was hospital

Did anyone get the vibe that the Trinidadian midwife actually wants to be a doctor?

Things had changed a bit by the 80s. In 69, and well into the 70s it was all intended as stylish, modern living for the men who were 'something (reasonably big) in the City'.

They would have been moving into Speed House, one of the squares built around a lake and gardens - every flat had a lake view and a study, and there was a staircase and lift between each pair of flats. luxury penthouses at the top, garden maisonettes at the bottom.

@Netaporter yes I thought they lived in Mayfair. Or somewhere like that, hence using the Lady Emily clinic. He also had Nannie's for Johnathan. So I don't get why he's living in a poly flat in Poplar with washing drying in the living room. Barbican was owned by the council. But not actually social housing.

Cross posted with everyone else!

https://heritagecalling.com/2022/02/28/brutal-and-beautiful-the-story-of-londons-barbican/

This has some photos of the original Speed House flats, aimed at 'young professionals, likely to have a taste for Mediterranean holidays, French food and Scandinavian design’.

Not sure where they're going with Trixie in this series. She just doesn't seem to fit in anymore - not one of the young midwives, learning and having fun, or one of the authority figures, training in the new nurses, or even like Phyllis doing it because she really needs the money. It's highly unlikely she would still have been working as a midwife and would more likely, as Lady Aylward, be sitting on fund raising committees for maternity hospitals etc, while looking after Jonty and hoping to have a baby of her own. I also don't understand why they're moving into a flat, however spacious and posh. Surely they'd want a house with a garden where their son and any further children could play? This was the route taken by the Turners and by Chummy and I imagine Trixie would want something similar albeit in a more upmarket area.

I agree Cyril, as a very religious man, would take his marriage vows seriously. Perhaps they're going to show him having a huge conflict of conscience by falling for the trainee midwife but not wanting to go against his beliefs and ultimately breaking her heart. Or perhaps some tragic news will come about Lucille and he will be free to marry again.

I wondered last night at Matthew’s comment about buying Trixie a sports car if she learns to drive. I hope she’s not going to meet a tragic end.

I find her intensely irritating, so I hope she does meet a tragic end.

IIRC Jennifer Worth didn’t particularly like Trixie in the books.

Yes. I like her, nice combination of rebel and swot.

I also thought the Trinidadian midwife (what are those new midwives names?) made a point of aggressively throwing away the church leaflet-something to come there? Past trauma?

I like both the new midwives-although like Nancy even less if at all possible.

Good point about the camaraderie with the midwives-they were a team-and had fun together whilst working hard and now they are very disparate group-Lord and Lady Alyward/ the Turner's/ phyllis and miss higgins/ the buckles/ Cyril/ nancy and kid/ sister julienne and monica joan-no overlap and story lines very splintered and even the nuns aren't singing any more-alll very piece-y and too many different groups.
Nancy trying to hang out with the new ones but that doesn't gel with me.

Think it has run its course sadly-and I have watched and loved from day one.

I think that's to set us up for the Aylward's great fall from financial grace in the coming series

Is that what’s going to happen.

Oh heavens. Who was the actress who met an untimely and tragic end in an open top sports car and a scarf around her neck?

I've seen spoilers about Trixie and Matthew... not sure if I should mention...

Oh no please don’t reveal spoilers on this thread . I’ve managed to avoid spoilers so far .

If you are itching to tell you can PM me 😉

Isadora Duncan

I like both the new midwives

There are 4.

Yes there are-I should have said I liked the 2 they focused on in this episode.