Call the Midwife - BBC

[angeljenny]

Has anyone been watching this?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01b2w74

I really like it - perfect Sunday evening viewing! I admit that I mostly watched the first episode for the hair and make up styles - shallow!

 

[Miss Golightly]

I saw it for the first time yesterday and really enjoyed it - I wasn't expecting to though! I found it really engaging and very moving (and the costumes were fabulous!) - I'd like to see more of it.....

 

[vintage68]

I watched the end of it whilst waiting for Sherlock to start. I thought it very well done. Of course now I know I'd never make it as a midwife, women are made of much sterner stuff than men. I'd faint dead away!

 

[Wire9Vintage]

I was about to start a thread on this... And ta da!

I quite like it, but it can be rather emotional at times. But overall well done with a nice mix of nostalgia and hard reality.

I too tuned in for the clothes! Glad the rest of it is pretty good, too!

 

[Kitty_Sheridan]

Glad they did Jennifer Worth's books justice. I'd urge anyone who is enjoying the programme to read all of them, 'Call the Midwife' 'Farewell to the East end' 'Tales from a midwife' 'Shadows of the workhouse' and 'In the midst of life' which was published just as she was diagnosed with Cancer and deals with palliative care.
Fascinating stuff, all beautifully and honestly told.
K

 

[angeljenny]

I want to read the books now that I have seen the first few episodes!

I want to be able to do my hair like the style Jenny Worth has in the programme - looks like a good look for work!

 

[angeljenny]

Hair like this -

 

[Wire9Vintage]

Thank you, Kitty. I will keep an eye out for the books. I love Vanessa Redgrave's voice-over as the mature Jenny (assuming it's straight from the book?).

 

[Kitty_Sheridan]

Pretty much, yes she has a lovely voice. One of my favourite parts of 'Atonement' was the ending where she was being interviewed and the truth comes out about Celia and Robbie...

 

[Gingerella72]

I'm surprised I don't see a thread devoted to this show - anyone watching it? I love it so far but every episode is such a tear jerker that I have to make sure to have tissues at hand! (or am I just overly emotional?) The one nitpik I have for period authenticity is the main character, Jenny, going to bed without her hair in curlers or pin curls, but having fabulously curled hair the next day.

 

[AmateisGal]

I've heard great things about this show but haven't watched it yet (must remedy!).

 

[Gingerella72]

The final episode for season 1 aired yesterday (Sunday). They're all available to watch on pbs.org, though. That's how I've been watching it, actually, because the air time conflicts with another show, heh. I like to turn on the cc captioning so I can pick up everything being said in thick English accents!

 

[AmateisGal]

Good to know! Maybe I can watch that now since Downton Abbey is over (I watched it via Great Britain's ITV website).

 

[sheeplady]

I love call the midwife and my husband likes it too. I think the characters are really well developed and I'm learning quite a bit about the NHS and also pregnancy care during that time period through the show.

ETA: I think the reason why it wasn't watched much here is because they showed it at 8pm rather than the usual Masterpiece time slot at 9pm. I actually missed the first episode because I assumed it was going to be on Masterpiece rather than earlier.

Spoiler Alert:
I do hope they develop the young nun's (don't know her name) desire to be a "normal" woman (like the nurses) and if she decides to stay or leave. I was a little disappointed they had that one scene with her taking off the habit and didn't develop it further. My doctor is a former nun who left after 20 years of service to the church, so I find this stuff kind of fascinating.

 

[Gingerella72]

I read it's being picked up for a 2nd season on BBC with 8 episodes which will air there next spring or early summer, which means we'll probably get it next fall. Yes, there were too many holes in the story line that need to be developed more for it to end this way! And I hope they bring back Chummy, despite her getting married in the last episode. But her standing up to her rich mother seemed rushed, I wish they would have played that out more.

 

[sheeplady]

I read it's being picked up for a 2nd season on BBC with 8 episodes which will air there next spring or early summer, which means we'll probably get it next fall. Yes, there were too many holes in the story line that need to be developed more for it to end this way! And I hope they bring back Chummy, despite her getting married in the last episode. But her standing up to her rich mother seemed rushed, I wish they would have played that out more.

This is wonderful news! I want to see more of Chummy too, and I agree about it being rushed with her mother- there is much more to that story and the aftermath. I really like all the girls, and I hope to see more about them in future episodes next season. For instance, I don't know much about the blonde or the girl with the bob; and I'd like to hear more about them. (I am terrible with character names.)

 

[LocktownDog]

I couldn't get into them at all. Strange.

 

[zombi]

I absolutely love this show! My husband who is also a nurse really enjoys it as well.

 

[W-D Forties]

We have a Christmas special airing over here on Christmas day - including the lovely Chummy! You may be able to see it online.

The books the series is based on are excellent by the way (it's based on real life events). There's a great bit in the first book about the Spanish mother with 12+ kids who can't speak English cooking pasta for her brood in the same boiler she cleans the nappies in! Whilst this world seems lovely and nostalgic now at least the series doesn't skimp on the realities of life in post-war Britain - which was blimmin' rough!

 

[sheeplady]

We have a Christmas special airing over here on Christmas day - including the lovely Chummy! You may be able to see it online.

It was broadcast by our public television channel last night here. I thought the workhouse woman was so incredibly sad.