Call The Midwife Christmas Special

[PinkFrogss]

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

Well someone else has to leave the house first because there's no room at the inn right now 😂

@Lorrymum when I was 14 we moved to a late 50's/60s house and it had a fitted kitchen that was built with the house. It was painted cream and China blue. The cooker (and fridge, washing machine, etc) wasn't integral but the cupboards fitted around things perfectly.

I recall DH and I viewed some 50s houses, in the early 90's and they had very similar wooden fitted kitchens too.

The Turner's kitchen isn't that outlandish for the times. I imagine a GP in the East End would have been very well off relatively speaking and probably had "the best".

@Toddlerteaplease average CofE stipends are around 27k so I'm surprised you were told 11k which would be much too low for full time, even with all the benefits in kind.

They do like to promote self supporting ministry these days though - much cheaper to have a properly paid job elsewhere and minister for free.
That's what Paula Vennells was doing and look how that turned out!

Anyway, on topic, I'm liking the new pupil midwife Norelle and I don't really care what happens to Trixie now as its stretching credulity that she'd still be there. And apart from his money, what does she see in Matthew?

I was wondering if we're ever going to find out more about the other two student midwives, or if they are going to be kept in the background? They don't seem to have much to do with the featured characters.

@Lifeinlists this is an RC stipend. It was only 5k in my diocese a few years ago.

I'd assumed as we got stories with 2 of the students the first week that it would be the other 2 in the second episode, but they do seem to have vanished.

I think the extra students are background characters

Different life experiences and economics. I lived in local authority housing, as did my family and friends. Certainly didn't see an integrated oven until the late 70's.

I was born in 1968 and the first oven I remember was a built in fan oven in a fitted kitchen. I imagine this must have been early to mid 70s although I can't be sure.

I thought the new midwives were called Joyce and Rosalind?

I agree re Trixie. I think they've written her into a cul de sac with her marriage to Matthew. It's placed her in a situation where her continuing as a midwife just isn't believable. I hope they're not going to kill Matthew off, or have the marriage suddenly go off the rails. We've had those storylines with Tom and Barbara, and Lucille and Cyril. But I don't see how they can continue to keep Trixie in the series otherwise. Her natural next step would be to have a baby, particularly as she's older than the average age for marriage in that era, so presumably wouldn't want to waste too much time getting pregnant. But that would make it even more unbelievable that she'd continue working.

I think Helen and Olly might both leave at the end of this series.

It would make sense. I like Trixie but I think she's come to the end of the road. If they'd kept her single and given her some role of authority similar to Phyllis they might have been able to continue with her character. But by marrying her off to a rich man they've really limited their options.

Seeing Tom and Barbara written down just makes me think of The Good Life 😁

😄

I think she definitely needs to move to pastures new

Loved reading all your thoughts over Christmas cheered me right up! It was a major anti climax when SMJ didn’t pop her clogs either. Why isn’t she shipped to the Mother House and given 6m of silent worship to reflect on her vows and stop being a royal pain in the neck and extra work?

Trixie should be off opening her own women’s refugee or teen mum half way house. She has the money, experience and status to fund it via all her Rich friends and relations. They could ring her up now and again to take on a waif and stray.

I think one reason why hospitals became popular was because they kept you in for at least a week. If you dropped your 9th at home was no such thing as rest.

I think the only reason for the Sr MJ/last Christmas story was so that Colette could bring joy and hope into her life. The writers seem very anxious to bring her into the centre of episodes. Presumably so we will all be in bits when she is diagnosed with leukaemia during this series.

I too thought of Our Friends In The North when I watched those scenes. In fact I thought of it a few series ago when they started moving people into the flats. They have handled the timeline well.

Our Friends in the North is an incredible series and probably the best ever commissioned by the BBC. It is 30 years old and initially set in the 60s and based on true events (the mould issue is the T Dan Smith scandal) but all of the issues are still so prevalent now. I agree it is well worth a watch.

Is the girl playing Collette actually related to Heidi Thomas in some way?

Watching Sunday's episode. Matthew looked like he was about to have a heart attack before the driving lesson even started didn't he, he looked all bloated and sweaty.

Mind you the driving lesson is exactly what would have happened if dh tried to teach me, he's a hideous passenger.

Not sure what Trixie is at the moment. Why are they making her so inept at driving? She's gone from a woman becoming confident in her own skin and seriously skilled (Trixie in Africa performing the CS?) To this prissy wife who doesn't even know to stop at a stop sign.

I want to know how the mum knew that Nicholas means Victory of the People without Google. Presumably going to the library to look it up in name book between visiting various hospitals, scrubbing walls and being ill herself.

Did she briefly try to learn to drive once before and was bad at it then too? Maybe in her Vicar years. Or am I thinking of someone else... I know one of the nuns learnt to drive 🤔

Sister Winifred wasn't it? Think that involved an accident too. Didn't she spend ages "practicing" by pretending to drive on a chair?

Yes, Sr Winifred was a terrible driver. I think Phyllis tried to teach her.

I'm surprised Trixie hasn't learnt before. Either in Africa with the mission or on one her stints with rich aunt. Or indeed her brother.