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Call The Midwife In The Media


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Jenny is leaving the show. BBC productions keep losing their stars. 

This was in the UK media in early/mid March, but it does lead to a good question in need of resolution. What do you do when you have a series based on biographical material, and the actress playing the "author" quits. Recast?  Write out the character? End the series?

Well, we know it won't be the latter, not in the short run, because CTM has already been approved for a 4th series/season.

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I'm glad the show will definitely be back. Personally I never thought of the show as "Jenny's" show although it's based on her memoirs. I feel it's much more about all the midwives. I don't see the show losing that much without that character. Haven't they already combined one or two characters from the books into one etc.? 

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If they get rid of Jenny they'll have to change the Lynn Redgrave narration, and no offense to Lynn Redgrave but the narration can go and not stand upon the order of its going.

 

As for characters, I think Jenny is the blandest of the bunch (and yet the one that gets all the nice guys.) so I think they'll do just fine spreading the stories out among the other characters.

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I'm fine with losing Jenny.  I fast forward through her story lines (the romantic ones, not the births) already.  I am just not invested in her or her many boring romances.  

I think keeping the narration would be fine, if that is the premise of the show.  It can still be to be older Jenny telling us about life in Poplar in the late 1950s.  She could now be retelling stories that she's heard from her friends.  Half the show is that, anyway.  It's not is if Jenny was actually with Chummy during the breech birth or with Patrick and Shelagh on the country road for their big, romantic moment.  

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If they get rid of Jenny they'll have to change the Lynn Redgrave narration, and no offense to Lynn Redgrave but the narration can go and not stand upon the order of its going.

Vanessa Redgrave. Her sister Lynn Redgrave passed several years ago.

 

That is an interesting situation - Vanessa's the voice of older Jenny, so if Jenny goes, Vanessa would likely have to go too.  I wonder if they'd try to figure some way to keep Vanessa around somehow.

Edited by JeanneH
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I'm so thoroughly confused with the season numbers or maybe I'm just remembering wrong. Didn't season 3 end with Jenny leaving and getting married? Did we have a whole season 4 or did Trixie meet the vicar and Cynthia decide to become a nun all in the Christmas special? It feels like we had a whole season without Jenny already with Patsy joining etc.  Can anyone help clear it up for me?

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Just a reminder that season 4 starts tonight on PBS

So glad I saw this, I came here to check when it started up & there was your comment. Not only does my PBS station have the premiere listed as a repeat, but my DVR wasn't going to record the show next week either which does show as new, so I was double screwed. Hopefully my fix sticks & the show actually records.

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Didn't season 3 end with Jenny leaving and getting married? Did we have a whole season 4 or did Trixie meet the vicar and Cynthia decide to become a nun all in the Christmas special?

Patsy joining Nonnatus House and Trixie meeting the vicar both happened in season 3. Jenny left at the end of that season though she didn't get married*. Cynthia deciding to become a nun happened in the Christmas special. 

 

The reason it might feel like there's been a whole season without Jenny is because, though she hadn't left permanently, she was away for a couple of episodes in season 3 (specifically the episodes in which Patsy arrived and Trixie met Tom) after her boyfriend died.

 

*That is to say she didn't get married yet in the show timeline. In the Christmas special there were scenes of her in present day and she had in fact gotten married at some point.

Edited by smrou
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Wasn't sure where to post this, so I figured here would be the best spot.

I live in New York, and last night saw a wonderful show, Fun Home.   How does this relate to Call the Midwife, you ask?

Well, Stephen Mc Gann and his family were seated in my row! Confirmed by the fact that the woman on the other side of them fangirled.  Also confirmed by checking his twitter page- He's in NY because his wife, Heidi Thomas(!!!) Creator of the show, wrote the book for a musical based on the MGM film, Gigi which premieres tonight.

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(edited)

^Cool!

 

Here's a great video (from Radio Times in the UK) about the costumes on the show and how they're chosen to fit the characters. It focuses primarily on Shelagh, Patsy, Trixie and Chummy, with a little bit about Barbara and a few comments from other cast members:

 

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-03-08/call-the-midwifes-cast-and-crew-on-the-empowering-importance-of-the-60s-costumes

 

Apparently a longer version of this feature is included on the UK edition of the DVD set, along with features on the makeup and music of the show. I hope they are included on the US DVDs. 

Edited by Beldasnoop
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That video is great, though when they talked about Patsy's style I was sad there was no focus on her pyjamas (loooove Patsy and her pyjamas). They mentioned Trixie's PJs but not Patsy's! But my favorite part is at the end talking about Chummy when Miranda starts doing her thing when she repeats a word. "Can't stop saying mufti now. It's a great word. Mufti!" Oh, Miranda. 

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Series/Season 5 premieres in the UK on January 24th, and in the US on April 3. The 2015 Christmas/Holiday special will air in both countries on Christmas Day, December 25th.

 

The BBC also announced today that the show has been renewed for a sixth season, due to air in 2017. 

 

Relevant links (with more information):

 

Series 6 Announcement and Series 5 UK airdate

 

Holiday Special US Airdate (With info and promo pictures)

 

Christmas Special UK Airdate/Info (With Pictures) 

 

Season 5 US Premiere Airdate Info

Edited by Beldasnoop
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According to the TV section of my newspaper, there will be a pre-Christmas special on PBS this coming Friday, the 18th, i think a behind the scenes type of show. I'm not sure if this is new, or a repeat of something that had already aired.

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I don't know if it's the same as yours, but WETA has this on the 18th:

Call the Midwife Holiday Special
(First Aired: Dec. 25, 2014)

Rehearsals for the Sunday School Christmas concert disrupt the lives of the nuns and nurses; two patients are dispatched to York Lodge; Chummy runs the facility following a chicken pox outbreak.

Here is the old thread.

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At least now I understand why the episodes have a strange original airdate and my DVR doesn't recognize them as new and therefore my automatic series record is useless.  I can either make sure I do all recording manually or have multiple copies of each episode record.  Not pleased.

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For those wondering about Chummy; she'll be back (a little) for the Christmas special later this year and has officially signed on for S6.  They posted on this Call the Midwife facebook page this morning:

 

We’ve been bursting to share the news that Chummy has now left the Mother and Baby Home and is heading back to Poplar for season 6! We’re thrilled to be once again featuring Miranda Hart and her fabulous blend of warmth, strength and vulnerability, as Chummy gets to grips with the medical and social challenges of the 1960’s. Restored to Nonnatus House, Chummy will relish being back in bustling world of the East End.
Miranda appears only briefly in our forthcoming Christmas Special, but returns to centre stage in Season 6 Episode One, when Chummy is called upon to support a local mum in a challenging situation.
She will appear frequently throughout the new series.
Call the Midwife Christmas Special will air in the 2016 holiday season across the world, followed by season 6 early in 2017 smile emoticon

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