Call the Midwife (on PBS in the US)

[crazyforkate]

The midwives have a heavy workday, and stories come with every delivery.

http://blog.freejinger.org/worldly-dist ... episode-4/

[crazyforkate]

Episode Five:

http://blog.freejinger.org/worldly-dist ... episode-5/

[crazyforkate]

Episode six:

http://blog.freejinger.org/worldly-dist ... episode-6/

[crazyforkate]

What happens when Sr. Evangelina doesn't pay enough attention?

http://blog.freejinger.org/worldly-dist ... ode-seven/

[crazyforkate]

In this year's finale, everyone confronts sorrow and grief, and Dr. Turner finds a miracle drug:

http://blog.freejinger.org/worldly-dist ... ode-eight/

[Daisy0322]

Does anyone know if there will be a season 5?

[crazyforkate]

Yes, there will be!

[Seren Ann]

I KNEW it would be thalidomide and I was saying NO ! NO ! NO ! at the screen, like please don't make that baby be born with no arms or something :(

[Violet]

I KNEW it would be thalidomide and I was saying NO ! NO ! NO ! at the screen, like please don't make that baby be born with no arms or something :(

Me too :( But then the series reflects the social issues during that era. It will be interesting to see if they revisit the drug and its consequences in the next series (I think they will or they wouldn't have mentioned the drug at all). My mum told me that my grandma was offered it when she was pregnant with my mum but thankfully decided against it.

[Daisy0322]

Yes, there will be!

I'm so excited its such a wonderful show.

[Daisy0322]

Me too :( But then the series reflects the social issues during that era. It will be interesting to see if they revisit the drug and its consequences in the next series (I think they will or they wouldn't have mentioned the drug at all). My mum told me that my grandma was offered it when she was pregnant with my mum but thankfully decided against it.

Considering that it was a major issue of the time I'm not surprised that they delved into it but it's just so sad to think about.

[August]

Recap for the first episode of Series 4 - spoilers, as usual.

http://blog.freejinger.org/worldly-dist ... Lye_EfF9iM

Great job, but you missed some bits. At the end they don't gloss over the fate of the older children, they say they're fucked, but at least they got to be excited on the boat for a while. Exact quote "they were promised a life of sunshine and opportunity. The truth was otherwise, and the only consolation is that hope made them happy, for a while."

[Bethella]

Great job, but you missed some bits. At the end they don't gloss over the fate of the older children, they say they're fucked, but at least they got to be excited on the boat for a while. Exact quote "they were promised a life of sunshine and opportunity. The truth was otherwise, and the only consolation is that hope made them happy, for a while."

I still thought that was a bit of a cop out, some statistics about what happened could have easily been included in the voiceover but at least they mentioned that it was bad.

[August]

TV and written things are better when they don't explicitly spell out every single goddam implication of every single incident or conversation. That's why UK TV is so much better than US TV. They assume they don't need to have Vanessa Redgrave tell you that even in 2015 the life expectancy of someone with Cystic Fibrosis is well short of someone without it.

[crazyforkate]

You're right, I didn't catch that line, but I do think that it's worth addressing things like that. Honestly, the CF episode, to me, was quite disconcerting, because it did even less to address the effects of the illness than they did with the Home Children. IIRC, there wasn't even a line referring to a shortened lifespan or saying they'd have a tough road ahead - they actually say "It can be treated" and then moved on. It's not really a matter of wanting it to be spelled out - more that it seems conspicuously not there and feels a bit jarring.

I will admit that I also tend to be more of a curmudgeon in the reviews than I am when watching shows for fun, just because it's fun to complain about this stuff.

Edited for riffles

[Furslippers15]

I am so happy to see a thread on their show and the book form. It is agreat series with first class writing and acting. Touching on serious situations that occurred in

East London in 1950 and up. Highly recommend!

[anachronistic]

Is anyone else watching this and loving it as much as I do?

We're in the middle of the 4th season here in the US right now, and every week, I think it can't get any better, and it does. This show makes me cry and laugh and cheer and, most of all, wonder why the heck these actors aren't getting all the awards. There is not a single character I dislike, but I freely admit that I love Patsy a lot right now, and her story line of being a

closeted lesbian. It is absolutely amazing to me that Patsy - say she's 25 in 1960 - would be 80 now and maybe able to actually get married, and she has no idea of all the changes that are in store. I wish we could watch her experience them!

The babies are adorable, and the kid actors are really, really good without being cloyingly sweet. Yes, it's gritty and a bit graphic, but that's what makes it so wonderfully real. It is so feminist, so forward-thinking, so incredibly fabulous.

I could not be more in love with this show. The first three seasons are on netflix and the fourth is on PBS on Sunday nights.

[Fascinated]

I have it recorded but haven't watched it yet. My parents, however, are obsessed with it. My mum was a very young nurse in England and cries during every episode. She connects with the show because it captures the true essence of her life at that time. The attention to detail, whether it be costuming or set decoration, has her in raptures. She talks often about how different things were then, specifically in hospitals. The nurses wore the crisp, white uniforms that, by god, had to be pristine and each ward had a 'Sister' who would run her ward like a battleship. These ladies were not to be trifled with.

I'm just waiting for a few more eps to record so I can binge watch.

[Loveday]

Everything stops for me on Sunday nights when Call The Midwife is on. No one else in my family is interested, so if they stay in the room, they have to be silent as the grave or I'll kick them out. :evil-eye: :lol:

[Geechee Girl]

I'm late to the party. I managed to catch the first 2 episodes. These stories make me ugly cry. :crying-blue: :crying-green: I'm not taking to the new characters very easily. Perhaps they'll grow on me.

[ADoyle90815]

Considering that it was a major issue of the time I'm not surprised that they delved into it but it's just so sad to think about.

If they show the effects of that drug in the next season, it's going to be one of those episodes that makes you cry.

[Violet]

If they show the effects of that drug in the next season, it's going to be one of those episodes that makes you cry.

I know :( The one that really got me this season was the woman who had surprise twins (one stillborn girl called April, then a boy whose name escapes me born alive). That funeral :cry: It just hit home a bit for me (IVF triplet, born at 28 weeks, bro #2 died at 2 days old) just imagining what my parents must have gone through - grieving for the loss of one child but joyful to have the other two who were still fighting for survival.

[Kailash]

i adore Call the Midwife. I've only watched through Season 3. Spoiler: When Chummy's mum was dying, and Sister Monica Joan had her do the manicure, it wrecked me. I am not usually a crier over tv shows, but I bawled and bawled. I still tear up when I think about it.

Also, people on here have spelled the name Sheila but it's actually Shelagh, which I'd never seen spelled like that, although it's probably a common Irish spelling.

[Geechee Girl]

The amnesia story punched me in the gut. I was so hoping for a happier ending since I've cried every single episode this season.

[theinvisiblegirl]

I'm so glad I found a CTM thread! I absolutely love this show. I'm all caught up with season 4 (I do say Series 4, even though I'm from the US, because I like the ring to it haha), but I have the season 4 episodes saved in my DVR to rewatch for the next few weeks. I wish the seasons were longer!