call the midwife part 2

[NimbleHiker]

I am setting up the next thread before i forget.

Yes it was definitely her gall bladder. I don't understand the Beryl/Matthew thing, it's almost as if he's grooming her. Candlelit dinners, new clothes etc. He's an osteopath, reminiscent of the creepy osteo in the Profumo scandal, Stephen Ward. Weird.

OK. Thanks I must have missed that. It wasn't really the main story though it was more about Susan's ongoing needs, I think.

I had to think who Beryl was. Yes, why can't she get a job as a nurse or midwife in the NHS?

Because she’s only out of the convent temporarily while she decides if she’s going to stay or leave. So this at least gives her a taste of what supporting herself would be like. I thought she and Geoffrey were going to have a lavender marriage o she could have a baby at one point, but now she seems menopausal that might change her mind about leaving the religious life. I reckon now that she’ll go back, and off to India with sister J and the young Scots nun.

coincidentally the episodes shown on U & Drama yesterday included the launch of the Pill as “100% safe” and Susan at 18 months ish when the scandal came out and Thalidomide/Distavil was withdrawn.

I was so looking forward to this new season but I find it unbearably twee for some reason, I've struggled to get through the first two episodes, does it get better?

I think that knowing it’s the last one has rubbed off on the writers and there’s a lot of sentimentality in the way they are trying to tie up important stories from across the seasons. Inevitably there will be a lot more about the characters than the stories as they shoehorn in complete their story arcs. Next week will be a sobfest but I’ll still be glued to it, having invested so many hours of watching it over all the series!

The "get a job" was only for a few weeks while she decided whether to leave the Order or not. Presumably the purpose was to prove to herself that she was capable of working outwith the auspices of the Order and to let her experience what it was like to earn her own money.

Realistically she would be looking for something short term and casual.

I think Trixie was based on a rl person wasn’t she? Bit like Chummy and the nuns.

The writing was poor last night I thought, it all sounded stilted and not at all like how people actually all talk to one another.

I think Beryl will marry Jeremy and adopt a baby, would be a shame for Beryl as although she’d be a mother she wouldn’t be free to marry for love if she found the right person (rather than a conveniently single gay friend!)

The actor playing Susan is amazing , is she the same one who played her from the start? Would an 11yo have been reading Jackie in early 70s though? It was full of teen agony pages and Lillet and Immac ads!

She could still have done Bank nursing it wouldn't have to have been a permanent job.

She's brilliant. I was 16 in 1971 I'm sure younger girls had Jackie for the pop stars. The problem pages were fairly mysterious and not explicit. We'd long grown out of it by 16 so I think 11 onwards is the right age for it..

I’m not sure how long it takes to set that up, or if it was a thing in 1971, but I think she’s only been outside for a matter of a few weeks at this point, if that long!

My Mum did relief nursing for a while at around that time although she'd had a huge career gap and didn't feel she could keep up with advances. She got a job in a care home instead. I got the impression that if you were a nurse you could get a job any time. There were also different levels Auxiliary Nurse, State Enrolled Nurse and State Registered. Nurse.

Ah, interesting! Thanks for that.

Something struck me about this. Earlier series seemed to have a lot more non featured nuns in Nonatus House as services in the chapel always looked quite full. The rota board is full, so the need for the midwives/health visitors is there but there is hardly any staff bustling about. The whole place seems echoingly empty.

And that reflects how the number of women entering the religious life dwindled massively in the second half of the 20th century. In my work I’ve had contact with a number of religious houses and all the convents have been at the point of leaving their Victorian buildings to merge with other houses as their numbers are so low - one had only two nuns left in the 1990s. The Order of the nuns at Nonnatus seems to have been fairly small to begin with, and so it hasn’t taken much for them to reach a point where, if it wasn’t for the secular midwives in residence, they would have had to leave long ago.

Yes.

I was reading Jackie at 11 in 1974/5 so yes! Delivered every Thursday. I was Bay City Rollers obsessed for a couple of months so it was probably mainly for the posters.

Gosh they really need to put the show out of its misery. This series is particularly awful and I used to absolutely love it

I guessed gallbladder when susans mum said ouch and held her right side, I’ve had gallstones and can confirm it was very very ouchy!! Worse than labour actually.

I thought this episode was better than usual. The AA meeting was very good, and Sister Catherine is a good addition. I would, however, be putting a pillow over Sister Monica Joan at this stage. As she’s at least 127, no wonder she wants to die.

I see the BBC are filming the next series already so no putting it out of its misery just yet.

Really? I was sure this was the final series?

The actress who plays Susan really put the annoying Turner kids to shame - they are so bad and stilted. Susan seemed like a really likeable cheeky young girl 😀

The next series is a prequel set in WW2, featuring younger versions of some of the characters.

There will be a film with the current cast set abroad somewhere (probably where Sister Julienne decides to go on their mission). Beyond that, we don’t know the future for the current cast.