Call The Midwife Christmas Special

[PinkFrogss]

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

I was also really shocked at the living conditions the family were living in. It was 1969. Were things really still so bad? My df worked in the environmental health department of one of the London Borough Council in the mid 60s. I must ask him next time I see him if that's accurate. That was only a couple of years before I was born.

Yes it’s accurate…my husband was born 1965 and didn’t live in a house with an inside bathroom till 1969, which was a new multi storey flat…which was then pulled down in the90s…

Yes it's crazy how many 1960s buildings got demolished after such a short time.

Built on the cheap, little maintenance, poor design for the UK climate.

In some cases there was corruption in the process of allocating building contracts, so probably even worse skimping on materials and construction there. Meanwhile the Victorian tenements and houses that avoided demolition and got refurbished are still doing well.

And she only said that she lived south of the river. London is a big place!

Nottingham still has MOW.

Exactly this. All of these topics are covered in detail in Our Friends in the North which another pp and I were discussing earlier in the thread

Yes, that was very good on this topic. I remember the news coverage of the corruption cases (Poulson was the main figure there but there were councillors as well, I think) coming to court in the mid 1970s when we were living in Leeds. Scandalous.

Re poverty living conditions in the 60s/70s, there are photos of slum properties from that era, where families with young children were living. Easily found online.

T Dan Smith was the Newcastle upon Tyne city councillor at the centre of the corruption

I didn't see it that way at all. The children were being taken to a TB hospital, hopefully to be cured. The offer to help find the friend was to give her a tiny bit of hope of better things to come.

Thinking back to series 1 and 2 and how Jenny's boyfriend Jimmy was extolling the virtues of new concrete building techniques. It is interesting to apply our current knowledge on how that turned out!

Yes, I think@MrsToothyBitch 's suggestion is good.

I did think it seemed quite a jolly ending for her, to the extent that I wondered if her husband had actually not died and was recovering in hospital.

I thought Trixie buggering off back to nonatus house was ridiculous, can you imagine Mathews am I being unreasonable?? My new wife has decided to live in at work three nights a week....

I also thought it was unlikely that she wouldn't have given that placenta more than a quick eyeball, she's usually very conscientious.

I was a bit surprised that the TB man hadn't been kept in hospital, it was obvious he was seriously ill/dying.

I can remember having my bcg, it was really scabby post injection and we all compared scars! I had to have the heath test again when I started my training.

I thought the wife and kids of the dead man seemed to get over his death rather quickly, the kids were smiling and waving at Nancy when she came and they were doing the ritual!

Trixie's hair looks more like a Lego person's hair every episode. She's pissing me off at the moment. And bloody Matthew shouting for the nanny, ridiculous man. Though the pair of them need a right slap because they are both being completely unreasonable.

@Girliefriendlikespuppies I'm sure my BCG took over a year to heal. It was very messy at times!

Re Trixie being a health visitor with more regular hours, agree that could work for the plot. But then, she's a midwife through and through. Would she be happy being a health visitor when her heart lies in midwifery?

It'll be a shame if it doesn't work out for her and Matthew though. Shelagh made the transition from midwife & nun, living in the convent, to happily married suburban homeowner, parent of 4 and still practising midwifery. I suppose that Dr T can support her fully though, as he understands the call of the job in a way that Matthew can't. It's more to do with Matthew not being able to fully accept that midwifery comes joint first with Trixie. I think it's sad for Trixie if it comes to a crunch point, but in a way I still like that it's not all perfect in reality, even it is is on paper, having a handsome landed husband and a title and all that.

I agree that Trixie ignoring the warning signs re the placenta was totally out of character. She is an experienced and very conscientious midwife. It just wouldn't have happened, especially as a junior nurse was actually pointing out the issues.

Also her wanting to stay at Nonnatus House 3 nights a week is ridiculous. She has a Child for crying out loud, and she is the only mother that child has ever known. They really are tying themselves up in knots trying to keep her at the centre of things. They did it so much better with Sheila, Chummy and Barbara.

Watching series 1 and it would be nice to see Jenny return to see Trixie!! They were lovely friends!

Also surprised at the recognition of Trixie being an alcoholic in the 50s!

It would - but Jessica Raine doesn't seem to have worked a whole lot lately, so I wonder if she's not really wanting to do much acting any more?

Shame.

I couldn't stand Jenny. I thought she was really wooden!

I agree with that. I always found her acting wooden.

Yes, her acting was so wooden. She reminded me of those goody two shoes girls at school who’d be as dull as ditch water.