S09.E01: Episode 1

[OnceSane]

Quote

Dr Turner and Nurse Crane must deal with an alarming outbreak of diphtheria. Fred finds an abandoned baby in a dustbin, and the team must help locate its mother.

Airs January 5, 2020.

[MissLucas]

Well, that was more like it. I really loved the little bits of continuity: Mother Mildred not letting Sister Monica Joan hoard the tea cakes (much to the latter's chagrin), Sister Hilda's enthusiasm for tutti-frutti op-art hosiery and Valerie still struggling with what happened with her grandmother (plus a Tim sighting).

As for Primrose's plot: It was utterly predictable but I couldn't help grinning when Mother Mildred rang the presbytery's bell. Whoever was going to open that door had no idea what was going to hit them. Loved the way Margolyes put all her outrage in the single word 'Father'. And chasing him away with a breast-pump was a truly inspired move. If only all priest-babies had had a Mother Mildred on their side 😞

Lovely montage of Churchill's funeral (and I liked Dr. Turner's reality check making sure things were not getting too saccharine). Trixie, Valerie and Lucille looked smashing in their 60's attire heading to the funeral. Trixie was great in all her scenes with Mrs Bowland. And kudos to Jenny Rainsford for a performance that displayed fierceness and vulnerability at the same time.

The diphtheria plot got a bit lost among everything else going.

Loved Violet handing Fred the framed picture of his first wife - somehow that was the most touching moment of the episode for me. The cliff-hanger didn't leave me quite as troubled as poor Sister Julienne since I know seasons 11 and 12 are already green-lighted 😉

Edited January 8, 2020 by MissLucas

[OnceSane]

2 hours ago, MissLucas said:

Loved Violet handing Fred the framed picture of his first wife - somehow that was the most touching moment of the episode for me. The cliff-hanger didn't leave me quite as troubled as poor Sister Julienne since I know season 11 and 12 are already green-lighted

This was me.  Nothing else made me cry, but Violet encouraging Fred to add his first wife's picture to their "those we loved and lost" area...I teared up a bit.  Though I do worry about Nonnatus House's next location, it took them a few months to find this place after the bomb detonation in the Christmas special a few years ago.  And they have been told on multiple occasions that the next big push is to get most women delivering in hospital.

I do wish the diphtheria had a little more focus.  And did the homeless shelter look just like that shitty cheap place the Irish mother and her boys were staying in a few seasons ago?  They may have repurposed it, set-wise, but I can also see the old place going out of business/being closed down and this homeless shelter moving in.

And this is the kind of situation Mother Mildred's way of interfering really worked.  The priest needed to be put in his place and kept out of the way & she was just the woman to do it.  Loved Trixie's care with Primrose's mom, though I wasn't expecting the latter to be the priest's housekeeper.  I honestly thought she was going to be a wealthy young woman scared to tell her family.  I liked this better.

I like that Lucille took part in the hosiery pictures, but was very much the most primly posed of the bunch.  That is totally in character for her, so I appreciated that.  And I kinda want to see the ladies wearing their hosiery on a night out.  Trixie may need to get a few new things to complement the stockings!

I'm glad Val will go visit her grandmother; I didn't want her post-conviction visit to be the only time--though I don't think we'll see the visits onscreen.

This was a fantastic start to the ninth series.  This show hits the mark much more than it misses.

[purist]

On 1/6/2020 at 11:57 PM, MissLucas said:

Loved the way Margolyes put all her outrage in the single word 'Father'.

That was wonderful. A highlight of a very good episode.

[Bunnyette]

It’s back on PBS with cut scenes I suspect...but great to see it back.  With this lockdown I’ve been watching old episodes on Netflix.

Edited March 30, 2020 by Bunnyette

[Kohola3]

Wow, a diphtheria epidemic and quarantine - shades of the present with the major difference being that diphtheria is treatable.

I have been counting the days and the episode did not disappoint. Great story, loved Mother MIldred taking the "FATHER", she really nailed it.  What a skunk he was.  And then telling the mother "I loved you" - past tense.  I wanted to smack the snot out of him.

Violet - what a woman.  Fred is a lucky man.

[Blackie]

Did they cut out a scene showing the picture the ladies submitted for the prize and all we got to see was them receiving the 2nd prize?  The show has so may plots at go at once and then the cutting of scenes makes it worse. I had read the synopsis about Fred finding the baby and the diptheria outbreak but the show started with Winston C. dying, Tim at school, Trixie shaving her legs, the lady in false labour, I thought I was watching the wrong episode.

Don't get me wrong, I love what this show does right. But trying to put too much into a show is what it does wrong.

[JustDucky]

I wonder if a bunch of us made it public that the only thing keeping us from financially contributing to PBS was the way they cut scenes from CTM...  If they'd actually quit doing it.  There were so many questions, like: what did the contest picture look like?  What was with the Turner's rabbits?  And how did that young man test to get into prep school from home?

Loved the Buckles in this episode.  They were just right.  And Fred's emotional attachment to Primrose was realistic and sweet.

Mother Mildred scored all the points tonight.  Between the sympathy towards Primrose's mother to the way she handed that "father", she won my heart.

I could pick this episode apart until it's sore and scabby, but I'm so glad to have fresh Midwife tonight that I'll let it slide.  (Except for that shoddy editing, of course.)

 

[Kohola3]

26 minutes ago, JustDucky said:

There were so many questions, like: what did the contest picture look like?  What was with the Turner's rabbits?  And how did that young man test to get into prep school from home?

And what was the point of the 15 second call from Tim?  Why bother?

I think that there was a man monitoring the test that the youngster was taking at home.  I believe I saw him standing there as the test was turned over.

[LittleIggy]

2 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

And what was the point of the 15 second call from Tim?  Why bother?

I think that there was a man monitoring the test that the youngster was taking at home.  I believe I saw him standing there as the test was turned over.

There was a proctor for the boy taking the test at home.

No surprise that the baby daddy was the priest. Would an older Anglican nun like Mother Mildred have been that liberal back then? Just wonder. 
Putting the lid on that trash can was a risky move. Why didn’t Brenda leave the baby on the Nonnatus door step?

Hooray for Nurse Crane giving the housing people what for!

Glad the show is back!

[GaT]

Didn't women shave their legs before 1965?

[Dr.OO7]

What a lovely episode, if not eerie, in light of current events.

I saw the "Thorn Birds" twist coming the minute we met the priest.

[Blackie]

4 hours ago, GaT said:

Didn't women shave their legs before 1965?

 

Trixie was trying out a new electric shaver so they probably used razors before that, if at all?

[JudyObscure]

7 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Hooray for Nurse Crane giving the housing people what for!

Yes and I like the way the actress played it, starting out just crisp and official until losing it in the end.  Mother Mildred, on the other hand, is equally furious over every thing.  I thought she might have been only suspicious of the priest at first and then gained certainty as she saw the sewing box, but she was so positive she was right from the very first and never once wavered.  It could have been a delivery man for all she knew.  I just don't like her.  

 

41 minutes ago, Blackie said:

Trixie was trying out a new electric shaver so they probably used razors before that, if at all?

Yes, we used our father's old Gillette safety razors and our shins we usually nicked to shreds. It was a favorite Christmas gift when the new pink Lady Gillette came out.

[Kohola3]

7 hours ago, Brookside said:

Why?  Why do they do that?

Drives me nuts especially when we see postings from the UK referencing scenes we don't get.  I think it's a timing thing, have to get those Viking cruise line ads in.

[MissLucas]

5 hours ago, GaT said:

Didn't women shave their legs before 1965?

Yes, they did - it's connected to fashion history. Gillette produced the first lady shaver in 1914 but that was more directed at underarm hair since bare arms became more acceptable. Rising hemlines during the next decades, nylons (and their shortage during WWII which made bare legs acceptable), the arrival of the bikini were all factors in the rise of female grooming even before the mini skirt came along.

Edited March 30, 2020 by MissLucas

[Blackie]

Quote

28 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

have to get those Viking cruise line ads in

 

 

like anyone is ever going to go on a cruise again in the next few years.....  c'mon give us our scenes!!

[Badger]

Jennifer Kirby who plays Val is currently in the US and she tweeted that she didn't realize they cut so much out of the show here.  She mentioned that Val and her cousin made up and a scene of Dr. Turner petting a rabbit.

I noticed three other things that got cut.  There was a montage of photos of Val, Lucille and Trixie sitting on the steps in their uniforms and dark hose showing a little leg and a hand choosing one of the photos.  

There was a cute scene with Shelagh cleaning Tim's old school blazer and she tells the girls to feed Genevieve.  They run outside and then you hear shrieking.  Shelagh and Patrick rush out and Shelagh looks in the rabbit cage and notices 2 baby bunnies which she says look like animated giblets which was why the little girls were so traumatized. And Dr. Turner says he thought Flopsy was a girl.

Also, in the scene where Val, Lucille and Trixie are going through the hose they won, after Lucille remarks about one pair being fuschia, Val picks up another pair and notes that they are turquoise fishnets.  Nurse Crane says, "If you think you're wearing those to work, I beg to differ."

[Kohola3]

7 minutes ago, Badger said:

I noticed three other things that got cut. 

Thank you for filling in some gaps!  Sometimes the cut scenes are superfluous but other times, when missing, make the story impossible to comprehend.

[jschoolgirl]

I was surprised to see Lucille making the sign of the cross. AIUI, she belongs to an Afro-British evangelical congregation.

[PradaKitty]

After airing in the US Call the Midwife shows up on Netflix IN FULL EPISODES. I usually watch the PBS airing and the Netflix to see what I missed! 

[Suzn]

14 minutes ago, jschoolgirl said:

I was surprised to see Lucille making the sign of the cross. AIUI, she belongs to an Afro-British evangelical congregation.

I noticed that too.  I just doubt that is done in the church she belongs to.

[GaT]

1 hour ago, PradaKitty said:

After airing in the US Call the Midwife shows up on Netflix IN FULL EPISODES. I usually watch the PBS airing and the Netflix to see what I missed! 

I was just wondering about this. Maybe I'll watch again from the beginning.

[dargosmydaddy]

16 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Putting the lid on that trash can was a risky move. Why didn’t Brenda leave the baby on the Nonnatus door step?

So much this! Don't get me wrong, I felt for the lady, but I really don't know why she was allowed to get the baby back after that. Thank god for Fred (and the blown fuse... which, was there a cause for that? It seemed like another very awkward/ sudden scene change from Churchill's funeral to Fred changing the fuse, like something had been cut), or that would have had a very different ending.

[Bunnyette]

Apparently there is a cut scene showing them all leaving for Churchill’s funeral...a significant historical moment in history next time they have a pledge drive I’ll say no pledges unless you restore the cut scenes!

[Blackie]

5 hours ago, Badger said:

She mentioned that Val and her cousin made up

 

Why did they even start this storyline in this episode, that just seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back. And especially when the 2nd part wasn't shown,it was like a big time hog.

[chitowngirl]

You got the sense that they made up at the end because they gave each other a friendly wave, but you’d never know this from the angry exchange we saw.

Edited March 31, 2020 by chitowngirl

[Kohola3]

2 minutes ago, Suzysite said:

I was wondering how effective penicillin was against diphtheria.  

It is the treatment of choice.

[OnceSane]

8 hours ago, PradaKitty said:

After airing in the US Call the Midwife shows up on Netflix IN FULL EPISODES. I usually watch the PBS airing and the Netflix to see what I missed! 

The episodes aren't full on Netflix.  They seem to be cut differently than the PBS versions sometimes, but still aren't the full episodes that air on the BBC.

[MMEButterfly]

19 hours ago, GaT said:

Didn't women shave their legs before 1965?

We absolutely did shave our legs. There were electric shavers but they plugged in until, maybe, the early 6os. So probably most women didn't use electric. 

Edited March 31, 2020 by MMEButterfly

[LittleIggy]

16 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

Drives me nuts especially when we see postings from the UK referencing scenes we don't get.  I think it's a timing thing, have to get those Viking cruise line ads in.

I would rather see those cut scenes than the Behind the Scenes featurettes. 

[Gizkok]

I bought my first electric shaver in 1964.  It seemed to take forever to get a close shave, which really wasn't all that close at all.  Using a razor and lather worked much better but that tied up the bathroom.

[anna0852]

I'm so confused. Wouldn't you have just shaved while in the tub/shower?

[Gizkok]

Well, yes, of course but with 5 people sharing one bathroom we only had a limited amount of time in there.  Much better to shave in the privacy of my bedroom even if it wasn't a very good shave.

[Kohola3]

17 minutes ago, anna0852 said:

I'm so confused. Wouldn't you have just shaved while in the tub/shower?

Back in my day (before each snowflake child had his own) we had one bathroom for the entire family.  Dad got his time to shave in the morning and the rest of us had to be in and out or face the wrath of the rest of the group waiting.

[txhorns79]

I enjoyed the episode.  I don't know what it is but one thing I really appreciated is how calm Lucille and Phyllis were when the cord had pro-lapsed during the delivery.  There was no real panic, they always maintained their professionalism and pleasant demeanor.  If this was a medical show on a broadcast network, there would have been screaming, yelling, dramatic music and the preview would have suggested the pro-lapse was the equivalent of an alien bursting from her chest.  

I'm not quite sure how Sister Julienne's plan of "let's not tell anyone the place might be torn down," will actually work in practice.  Presumably, people are going to notice once the rest of the block starts going up. 

I also appreciated that Mother Mildred was not bullied by the priest and was just not having his particular bs.

[StatisticalOutlier]

What was under the table in the squalid apartment?  It looked like a lizard tail or something?

 

[geauxaway]

26 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

What was under the table in the squalid apartment?  It looked like a lizard tail or something?

 

Pretty sure it was the back half of a dead rat.

[StatisticalOutlier]

I immediately thought rat, of course, but it didn't look like a rat's tail.  But part of a rat plus the tail could very well be--my TV isn't that great.

Totally OT, but I heard an interview the other day where a woman recommended rats as pets.  Not mice, not hamsters.  Rats.  Because they're bigger and can therefore be cuddled, and they can be trained to do tricks.

Still not convinced.

[geauxaway]

2 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I immediately thought rat, of course, but it didn't look like a rat's tail.  But part of a rat plus the tail could very well be--my TV isn't that great.

Totally OT, but I heard an interview the other day where a woman recommended rats as pets.  Not mice, not hamsters.  Rats.  Because they're bigger and can therefore be cuddled, and they can be trained to do tricks.

Still not convinced.

I’ll pass lol!  

[caitmcg]

2 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Totally OT, but I heard an interview the other day where a woman recommended rats as pets.  Not mice, not hamsters.  Rats.  Because they're bigger and can therefore be cuddled, and they can be trained to do tricks.

Still not convinced.

Oh, I’ve known people who kept pet rats (or their kids have). To be clear, they were acquired at pet stores, just as your typical hamsters or gerbils are, not captured in the wild (or the wilds of someone’s basement), and fed pellets. They were white, rather than gray like the unwelcome vermin.

[Sarah 103]

On 3/29/2020 at 10:05 PM, Kohola3 said:

And what was the point of the 15 second call from Tim?  Why bother?

I think that there was a man monitoring the test that the youngster was taking at home.  I believe I saw him standing there as the test was turned over.

I'm guessing they are writing the character of Tim out and instead of leaving viewers wondering "what happened to Tim," or "where is Tim," this 15 second call is supposed to explain that. 

You are correct. The man there was proctering the test so Terry could take the test from home and there would be no question of cheating or recieving help. 

 

[Straycat80]

I’m so glad this show is back! It did seem ominous that they mentioned a couple times that the building the nuns were in was going to get demolished. I hope they don’t end the show if they let this happen. When did these house visit and delivery at home end in England anyway? 

[Kohola3]

26 minutes ago, Straycat80 said:

. I hope they don’t end the show if they let this happen.

No worries, it will be back.

Home births have regained popularity in England with about 50% taking place outside of hospitals.

[bunnyblue]

Oh, man, when Terry coughed right in Dr. Turner's face I cringed and was sure Dr. T would be deathly ill by episode's end. The real world is making me paranoid about the reel world.

Judging by the way she was dressed and her reluctance to say where she came from, I thought Brenda was going to turn out to be a runaway nun. One who had a steamy affair with a priest, like a more scandalous version of Sister Bernadette and Dr. Turner. Turns out her story wasn't as romantic as Shelagh and Patrick. I have a hard time believing Mother Mildred's progressive attitude about Brenda and her situation. I would think a nun in 1965 would judge the woman more harshly than the baby-daddy-priest.

I've found Violet rather self-centered these last few seasons, but her framing the picture of Fred's first wife and telling him to "put her on display with everyone else" was very sweet.

I'm so annoyed with the continued cutting of scenes. I was so confused with Valerie's storyline with her cousin; I saw the scene of the cousin bitching Val out and then the other scene of them smiling and waving to each other. I even rewound to make sure I hadn't missed something. Nope, just PBS cutting important stuff again. 

So, they're going to tear down Nonnatus House again. What a crappy way for Julienne to find out - from the surveyors. I don't know the fate of the real Nonnatus, but I assume with the show ending in 2 seasons, they will demolition the building and disband the nuns and midwives. It will definitely be sad to watch. 

Edited April 3, 2020 by bunnyblue

[JudyObscure]

5 hours ago, bunnyblue said:

I have a hard time believing Mother Mildred's progressive attitude about Brenda and her situation. I would think a nun in 1965 would judge the woman more harshly than the baby-daddy-priest.

Yes, it reminded me of another unwed story they had where a teacher is pregnant by a married man and Sister Julienne comes down really hard on the red-headed nun (sorry, can't remember her name) just for being a bit disappointed in a fellow teacher. 

I can only handle their anachronistic attitude toward unwed mothers by telling myself these nuns are totally non judgmental toward everyone -- that's why Mother Mildred went a step too far for me.  Kind and forgiving to the woman, but extremely harsh and unforgiving to the man.  Plus, I don't find  angry and hateful a good look for a nun.  Sister Julienne would have had a little sympathy for a lonely man falling in love with a woman he saw everyday.

I wish we had more of Sister Julienne, she's my favorite by far.

[Gizkok]

9 hours ago, bunnyblue said:

Oh, man, when Terry coughed right in Dr. Turner's face I cringed and was sure Dr. T would be deathly ill by episode's end. The real world is making me paranoid about the reel world.

Judging by the way she was dressed and her reluctance to say where she came from, I thought Brenda was going to turn out to be a runaway nun. One who had a steamy affair with a priest, like a more scandalous version of Sister Bernadette and Dr. Turner. Turns out her story wasn't as romantic as Shelagh and Patrick. I have a hard time believing Mother Mildred's progressive attitude about Brenda and her situation. I would think a nun in 1965 would judge the woman more harshly than the baby-daddy-priest.

I've found Violet rather self-centered these last few seasons, but her framing the picture of Fred's first wife and telling him to "put her on display with everyone else" was very sweet.

I'm so annoyed with the continued cutting of scenes. I was so confused with Valerie's storyline with her cousin; I saw the scene of the cousin bitching Val out and then the other scene of them smiling and waving to each other. I even rewound to make sure I hadn't missed something. Nope, just PBS cutting important stuff again. 

So, they're going to tear down Nonnatus House again. What a crappy way for Julienne to find out - from the surveyors. I don't know the fate of the real Nonnatus, but I assume with the show ending in 2 seasons, they will demolition the building and disband the nuns and midwives. It will definitely be sad to watch. 

I tried to contact PBS and I guess if you aren't getting in touch to join or donate there seems to be no way to let them know why I don't want to join or donate.

[laney]

4 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

I can only handle their anachronistic attitude toward unwed mothers by telling myself these nuns are totally non judgmental toward everyone -- that's why Mother Mildred went a step too far for me.  Kind and forgiving to the woman, but extremely harsh and unforgiving to the man. 

I believe that nuns saw a lot of what was going on behind the scenes with priests long before the public became aware. He was emotionally abusive to her and lied to everyone. Although she retained sole rights to the baby by leaving him off the birth certificate, it also allowed him to continue preying on others as a priest. There is a difference between someone living a life that the nuns consider sin, and someone holding themselves out as living an upstanding life while committing sin in secret. 

[JudyObscure]

1 hour ago, laney said:

I believe that nuns saw a lot of what was going on behind the scenes with priests long before the public became aware. He was emotionally abusive to her and lied to everyone. Although she retained sole rights to the baby by leaving him off the birth certificate, it also allowed him to continue preying on others as a priest. There is a difference between someone living a life that the nuns consider sin, and someone holding themselves out as living an upstanding life while committing sin in secret. 

The teacher could have been said to "hold herself out as living an upstanding life," yet they  understood that people can slip below  their own standards.

The woman in this case, left a baby to die in the cold.  She too committed her sin in secret while presenting herself publicly as a moral housekeeper.

The priest wasn't responsible for what other priests have done and it's not as though he was a pedophile.  I'm not sure he was "preying on" this woman or emotionally abusive to her.  He said he had truly loved her and she might have actually healed a little  from the husband who beat her if the priest had been gentle with her.

I think it's a double standard in the show, with the women being given forgiveness and the benefit of the doubt regarding future behavior, while the men are held accountable for the relationship as though they were the only one with any agency. 

I understand that as her employer and as a man in a position of authority he is more to blame than the woman, but I still think he is a human, subject to temptation and worthy of forgiveness if he falls.

Edited April 3, 2020 by JudyObscure

[MissLucas]

3 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

I understand that as her employer and as a man in a position of authority he is more to blame than the woman, but I still think he is a human, subject to temptation and worthy of forgiveness if he falls.

I would have felt more sympathy for him had he not done his damnest to pressure her into giving up the child - including to threaten her with social services, casting doubts over her mental state and trying to blackmail her with her job. He also tried to throw his paternal rights into the mix which of course backfired in the end. 

Also: they had a sexual relationship so chances are that he had seen her scars and was aware of her emotional vulnerability. 

He was clearly fearing the scandal more than he cared for her - otherwise he would have respected her decision and set arrangements for her in motion. Like organizing a job where she could keep her child. As a man of a cloth this would have been an option under the pretense of being charitable towards his 'fallen' housekeeper. Or he could have asked Mother Mildred to do that instead of trying to pull rank (so to speak). This is what other priests in his situation have done - accepting raised eyebrows and whispers within the congregation as the price - at least the more decent ones. 

 

Edited April 3, 2020 by MissLucas