Call the midwife

[TwinklyFawn]

The call the midwife christmas special is on bbc 1 in 2 parts. The first part will be shown on christmas day at 20:00. The second part will be shown at 19:30 on boxing day. Series 14 will start on 5th January. I am suprised that it has not been renamed as the doctor Turner show.

Also like the new nun... also said she looks facially like Jessie Buckley.
I think it's because it seems like she's going to be more of a real person than some kind of twee caricature!

I'm really not sure about the Dad coming in for the birth - both because of the social norms of the time, the fact nobody asked if the mother-to-be wanted him there and perhaps most of all because only shortly before he had vehemently blamed her for her mother's death!

Wasn’t referring to that specifically. Of course they’re going to shoe-in an issue of the era.

It’s the whole schmaltzy wrapped up in a bow daftness of every episode now that we find silly and predictable.

Well I enjoyed that episode, the last two have felt better. Of course it all gets wrapped up, that's the nature of the show, always has been. It's on the whole self contained episodes with longer arcs for the main cast. So it will be tied up in the 45 mins or however long they are.

The going to pick the vaccines up was clearly making another reference to the strikes going on that were causing issues at the time. Bit of historical colour. Maybe there'll be some more significant strike storylines in later episodes.

I hated the scene with the mum giving out the vaccination leaflets with her son sitting there and all the other mums looking pityingly at him.

Personally thought the new nun looks like a female Elon Musk.

But they took notice and took their children to be vaccinated didn't they? If Andrew had not been with her they would probably have taken the flier and just binned it. The whole point of the scene was that Andrew's mum knew the other parents needed to see what could happen if their child did not get the vaccination.

Years ago funerals did take place very quickly after a death. I’m in my late 60’s and can remember it being 3 or 4 days.

It looks like Cyril is back next week

But what if he doesn’t come back alone?

Was I the only one who drew parallels with the storylines and another story?
A youngish widower with seven children
An innocent new postulant at the convent, who's very good at handling kids
The eldest child is quite taken with a military man but they can't be together

🎼Mill Hill is alive with the sound of music....

I'm really not sure about the Dad coming in for the birth - both because of the social norms of the time

We are at 1970 fathers (as in of the baby rather than the mother) at the birth was becoming pretty standard (my dad was at mine/my siblings births 71, 73, 74 and was far from a 'new man') so the stretch to her father wasn't unbelievable. But I agree she have been asked before he was brought in.

That's true - I remember when Shelagh was released from the TB clinic and Doc and Tim were dashing to collect her whilst she walked alone in the fog ' I was absolutely convinced it would end in tragedy. Sometimes they like to throw in extra which ends happily!

I didn't like the either. or the way they talked in front of him, like he wasn't there.

was shocked that disabled children were not entitled to an education. thank goodness mine was born in the 90's

Yes I was shocked by that too.

Bodies were laid out at home, in un-centrally-heated houses. They weren't whisked away to be kept in fridges at funeral directors' premises. Burials were much more common then. You wouldn't leave a body for too many days. Of course there were cremations then, but I think the ratio of burials to cremations has altered a lot in the 50-60 years since then.

My dad’s funeral a couple of years ago was almost 4 weeks after he died. Too long really. My grandad’s in the 80’s was about a week.

I'm one of 4 dc. DDad was at all those from 1970 onwards, but not those before.

Funerals within a week was fairly normal too.

Late dhs family were coming from South Africa for his funeral, so needed to apply for visas, so it worked out well having the funeral later for us.

My grandma's funeral was 2 weeks after she died. I can remember going away with ny mum just after the death was registered. It didn't help. I wanted to get the funeral over.

I agree about the little boy in the wheelchair being discussed like that. Do we know if the boy has a real condition or is an actor? Upsetting to watch either way.

It showed a child who was disabled by measles.

Ooh well spotted. And a back story to the nun. How do you solve a problem like...

Agree with others though, the last couple of episodes have captured more of the spirit of the earlier series.

Andrew Trottwood is portrayed by Teddy Berriman, a 12 year old actor who doesn't let his health conditions, including cerebral palsy, partial ...

I googled

Anyone else enjoying spotting the TV shows of the time in the background? We saw Jackanory, Trumpton and Dr Who just after his regeneration to Jon Pertwee! As for SMJ's technique for repairing a dodgy TV ... reminds me of a portable b&w set I had as a student, which surprisingly lasted for many years afterwards. It occasionally developed an annoying fault in which the picture shrank to a strip across the middle of the screen, but could always be fixed by a firm, well-aimed clonk on the top. Like SMJ, we discovered this accidentally from sheer frustration... 😁

I was also born in 1970... my Dad didn't even know I had been born until he came in for visiting that evening... my parents didn't have a phone for him to be contacted! Mum was already in hospital as her blood pressure had risen.

Oh, well done!