S04.E06: Episode 6

[Beldasnoop]

Episode 5 is still my favorite of the season, but this is a very close second.  These two episodes in a row have been wonderful. 

 

The tone of this season has been different than previous seasons, especially now that Jenny is gone and Chummy has been absent most of this season. Again, I don't really miss either of them (especially Jenny), but I guess for some people they were the focus of the show. I actually prefer this season where there isn't one "focus" character and all the cast members get their chance in the spotlight.  It's a true ensemble show now, and I love it.  I also like the newer music that's been added this season by composer Maurizio Malagnini (I had previously credited Peter Salem for the music, but while a lot of his music is still being used, Malagnini has taken over as primary composer in season 4). The cinematography is also brighter with more vibrant colors this season, which I also like, and I really like both new characters and think the show has done a great job of integrating them into the story.

 

All shows have to change somewhat over the seasons or they will grow stale, and as much as we might love certain characters, sometimes cast members choose to leave the show (like Jessica Raine) or take long absences to work on other projects (like Miranda Hart). The writers can't be blamed for what the actors decide, and they just have to adapt to these changes the best they can. Aside from a few too many stories per episode occasionally,  I'm personally really liking the way this show has been adapting. 

Edited May 5, 2015 by Beldasnoop

[Sammich63]

I am also loving this season. I do miss Chummy, but I don't miss Jenny at all. Nurse Crane has been a wonderful addition.

[j5cochran]

I looked up Pegeen on IMDB because she looked familiar.  She was the grandmother at the very end of The Da Vinci Code.  What a face she has! 

 

She was also the blind woman kidnapped by Moriarty in the Sherlock first season episode The Great Game.  She

is the one who begins to describe Moriarty's voice, and gets blown up for it, along with a large part of her apartment building.

[SunnyBeBe]

I just don't understand why the ladies were laughing behind Phyllis' back.  It was plain rude and mean.  She was trying to fit in and be sociable and they treated her horribly.  It took me by surprise. 

[anna0852]

I kind of read that as not that they were laughing at her but more at the some-what absurdness of the situation.  I truly don't think any of those 3 are so cruel as to laugh at someone openly like that.

[Beldasnoop]

I saw them as being a little silly, but not intentionally mean. They're being human. Nurse Crane hadn't exactly made it easy for them to relate to her, so when she shows up doing something completely unexpected, they respond by laughing. I didn't see them as cruel--just a little clueless, like we all can be sometimes. 

Edited May 6, 2015 by Beldasnoop

[SunnyBeBe]

To me, the pain on Phyllis' face showed that she was hurt.  When you leave a room and people are laughing loudly and taking about you, indicates rudeness and cruelty to me.  It seemed out of character for them though.

[Anothermi]

I agree that Nurse Crane was hurt by the laughing, but none of the others saw that. They didn't start laughing until she closed the door. True, they didn't think about the fact that she could probably hear them, but I don't think the laughter was malicious. They knew they shouldn't laugh in front of her because THAT would be rude and cruel, but they all found the idea of stern, no nonsense Nurse Crane dancing! a bit incongruos. I don't doubt that if they had seen her face, or someone else told them about her reaction, they would all have felt bad about hurting her - even if a little defensive because it was unintentional.

The whole point of that scene, to me, was to show us (rather than to tell us) that Nurse Crane 1) wasn't stern and unfeeling; 2) had long experience of being a laughed-at outsider; and 3) to set up our emotional reaction to the very low key admission that she was an illegitimate child. I think a lot of her persona came from being, and learning to live with/rise above, the ridicule that came with that status.

[Clanstarling]

I think they've done a brilliant job of making Nurse Crane sympathetic in her no-nonsense way. Just as they did with Sister Evangelina. I've always appreciated no-nonsense medical people.  To me it is very comforting to be in a no BS zone when dealing with health. When I was 13, I had a procedure done on my ear, and when I asked if it would hurt, the doctor said yes. So I held on tightly to my seat and prepared myself for pain (not discomfort, not a slight prick or sting - but strong pain). I've liked honest doctors ever since.

 

I rather like Sister Mary Cynthia. Her habit and wimple are, I believe, becoming her armor, making her feel brave and righteous.

 

Although I do miss Chummy (mostly her interactions with her husband), to me she was always part of the ensemble. I love this ensemble. Everyone is so kind. They leave the meanness to the stories of the week (and even they tend to come around). I believe the giggling midwives would have been mortified to know they hurt Nurse Crane's feelings.

 

I love the hot for nurse look the doctor gives his wife when she's in her nurse's uniform. Makes them seem like a real couple.

Edited May 7, 2015 by clanstarling

[SunnyBeBe]

I know this sounds really bizarre, but.......Dr. Turner reminds me so much of Dr. Oz!  lol

[limecoke]

Queenie, Emma and Pearl! Yay!  Who will be next?

Oh, I have loved seeing the Lark Rise people show up on CTM!  I spotted Queenie right away but needed some help from y'all to identify Pearl.  Wasn't sure I'd like Nurse Crane at first (and I loved Queenie), but she's turning out to be a great addition.  

 

This season has been especially good!

[dcalley]

 

commenting that Timothy's legs look like "forced rhubarb" is maybe not necessary.

I believe that's "false rhubarb."

 

I went from understanding why the girls were giggling to being mad at them for doing so when I saw Nurse Crane's face. And she gave herself a moment to be sad and then tried to put a smile back on, even though no one was there to see it. She's a great addition to the show.

[Nessie]

I have made the "only 12 actors in all of England" comment many times in the past.  But for me, it's part of the fun of watching British shows and movies.  :-)

My sister says this is why seasons (or series) of British tv shows are so short! LOL

 

Violet, by the way, is played by Annabelle Apison who played Monica Gallagher in the UK Shameless for those playing the "only 12 actors in all of England" game :)  I keep waiting for Frank to stumble by when I see her. She's also the new pharmacist on Doc Martin...

It was driving me crazy trying to figure out where I'd seen her before, but then Violet mentioned "her Bert", and it clicked.  I took as a shout-out to Doc Martin, since my PBS station is currently showing the episodes where Jenny and Bert Large get together.

[Badger]

Annabelle Apsion also plays Margaret on "The Village."

[LeGrandElephant]

I'm late in watching this show and this comment could fit in a lot of episode threads, but I noticed it again distinctly here: does anyone find it strange when Dr Turner, talking to Timothy, refers to Sheilagh as "your mother"? Didn't Timothy's mother die recently enough for him to remember and miss her? Ive also noticed him calling Sheilagh "mum", which surprised me a bit as well but seemed to be his way of accepting her into the family. But the dad calling her "your mother" surprised me more. Do they never talk about his actual mother, who they must both remember and miss?

Is is that just a change in attitude over the eras? Seems like there are many movies nowadays where kids resent a step parent and it takes awhile for them to come around even when the parent is perfectly nice. They often are shown throwing tantrums about not wanting to forget the previous parent, you're not my real mother, etc. But maybe back then with young adults dying much more often it was just much more normal to have a step parent and maybe kids saw it as more natural and expected to call them mum and so on? Has this stood out to anyone else?

Edited June 10, 2016 by LeGrandElephant

[dustylil]

2 hours ago, LeGrandElephant said:

But maybe back then with young adults dying much more often it was just much more normal to have a step parent and maybe kids saw it as more natural and expected to call them mum and so on?

With respect, we are talking about the mid nineteen fifties here. I don't think the mortality rate was all that ghastly for young(ish) adults back then - compared to a few decades earlier.

In any event, Timothy was already fond of  Shelagh when she was Sister Bernadette. They had a friendship before the two adults became involved. So it was not as if he had to get used to some unknown woman coming into his life as a companion to his father. Indeed, Timothy had actively encouraged (and abetted) the romance between Patrick and Shelagh. He was part of it from the start.

It is also possible that  Dr. Turner's first marriage wasn't a particularly contented  one (I don't recall any mention, positive or negative) . And he and Timothy decided to put their earlier family life pretty much behind them and focus on this new opportunity for happiness.

[LeGrandElephant]

16 minutes ago, dustylil said:

With respect, we are talking about the mid nineteen fifties here. I don't think the mortality rate was all that ghastly for young(ish) adults back then - compared to a few decades earlier.

Well, we are talking about a time following a massive war, and constant references to people who died in the war or who grew up unhealthy in horrible conditions. I realize it was mostly a generation earlier but there must have been tons of children with dead parents and those attitudes wouldn't change immediately. 

But, in any case, my question was more about social mores. Is it normal to call a recent stepmother "your mother" to a child who is old enough to remember their mother? It seems odd to me and sticks out every time I hear it, even though of course he likes her. So, I'm asking if it was more standard in that era or if others have also found it odd. 

[LeGrandElephant]

51 minutes ago, dustylil said:

With respect, we are talking about the mid nineteen fifties here. I don't think the mortality rate was all that ghastly for young(ish) adults back then - compared to a few decades earlier.

Well, we are talking about a time following a massive war, and constant references to people who died in the war or who grew up unhealthy in horrible conditions. I realize it was mostly a generation earlier but there must have been tons of children with dead parents and those attitudes wouldn't change immediately. 

But, in any case, my question was more about social mores. Is it normal to call a recent stepmother "your mother" to a child who is old enough to remember their mother? It seems odd to me and sticks out every time I hear it, even though of course he likes her. So, I'm asking if it was more standard in that era or if others have also found it odd. 

Edited because apparently it won't let me add a new reply a half hour later:

 

I realize I may have been unclear with the reference to modern kids disliking a stepparent. I don't think Timothy should or would dislike Sheilagh, obviously he likes her and was on board with them marrying. I was saying that, at least currently in the US, I don't think it is normal to refer to a recent stepmother as "your mother" to a kid who is, what, almost a teenager? And certainly old enough to remember his mother's fairly recent death (one of the episodes when the doctor and Sheilagh started talking had him mention it would be their first Christmas without her). So the constant "mum" and "your mother" strikes me as very odd. But I was speculating that maybe it wasn't odd in that time and place, and further speculating that society overall has changed over time on those issues - in the old days there were lots of children with step parents due to death and they were expected to deal with it, and nowadays there are lots of kids with step parents due to divorce and they are expected to be unhappy about it. But I'm no sociologist. 

Edited June 10, 2016 by LeGrandElephant

[dustylil]

15 minutes ago, LeGrandElephant said:

But I was speculating that maybe it wasn't odd in that time and place,

Thinking about it,  I don't believe attitudes are any different today  than they were back then. I  remember those baby boomers in my own family and of my acquaintance who lost  a parent  during their childhoods. Certainly it left scars and  readily embracing a new step parent  wasn't that common. Indeed, it was seen as disloyal. Especially if  the earlier family life had been happy.  But perhaps it is one of those storyline threads we viewers are  not supposed to notice. Like wondering about the apparent absence of locked doors in the bedrooms of Nonnatus House :)

[dcalley]

Timothy's so thoughtful and practical that I could see him doing it for Shelagh to feel welcome (early on) and also for his baby sister's sake (later on). Did Shelagh help care for him when he had polio? That could play a part in him seeing her as motherly.

[Anothermi]

7 hours ago, LeGrandElephant said:

I'm late in watching this show and this comment could fit in a lot of episode threads, but I noticed it again distinctly here: does anyone find it strange when Dr Turner, talking to Timothy, refers to Sheilagh as "your mother"? Didn't Timothy's mother die recently enough for him to remember and miss her? Ive also noticed him calling Sheilagh "mum", which surprised me a bit as well but seemed to be his way of accepting her into the family. But the dad calling her "your mother" surprised me more. Do they never talk about his actual mother, who they must both remember and miss?

 

2 hours ago, dcalley said:

Timothy's so thoughtful and practical that I could see him doing it for Shelagh to feel welcome (early on) and also for his baby sister's sake (later on). Did Shelagh help care for him when he had polio? That could play a part in him seeing her as motherly.

That's how I think it happened too. I think over the span of the show we've been shown the growth of the Turner family which makes the terms "mom" and "your mother" earned and natural.

Season 1 started with Jenny's arrival in 1957. Dr. Turner was already a widower and Timothy was in short pants, so still quite young. They both were getting on with their lives after the mother's death. It could have been a year or more earlier, I don't recall the time line, just that Timothy was familiar with Sister Bernadette and shown to be fond of her.

By the end of Season 2, Sister Bernadette has been in a sanatorium to recover from TB and leaves the order due to her feelings for Dr. Tuner. They decide to get married. Timothy, as stated by dustylil, aided and abetted in this coming to pass. However, in the Xmas special following season 2, as Shelagh and Patrick are planning their wedding, Timothy contracts polio and they call the wedding off to focus on his care (both of them). They do marry by the end of the episode making it 1958.

Season 3 starts in 1959. During this season we learn the Turner's are trying for another child. They learn that Shelagh cannot conceive as a result of her TB. They decide to adopt and have a new daughter by the end of the season. Timothy is involved in this decision. He definitely is happy to have a sister.

Season 4 starts in 1960 and Season 5 in 1961, so the Turner's have been married for 2 to 3 years. Enough of their family life has been shown to make the use of the terms "mom" and "your mother" understandable. It never stood out to me because it was addressed bit by bit throughout the series. I had to go back and look up episode stories to jog my memory so I could try to explain. They've been through quite a bit together and Timothy has been portrayed a the kind of child who wanted his father to become part of a family again and was sensitive to others.

I can't confirm it, but I think there may have been a scene of Timothy and Shelagh coming to an agreement that he would call her mom somewhere in all the backstory I've laid out. I know he was calling her mom after Angela came into their life.

4 hours ago, LeGrandElephant said:

I don't think it is normal to refer to a recent stepmother as "your mother" to a kid who is, what, almost a teenager? And certainly old enough to remember his mother's fairly recent death (one of the episodes when the doctor and Sheilagh started talking had him mention it would be their first Christmas without her).

I think they couldn't have been referring to Timothy's mother based on the time line I've laid out. It seemed like she'd been gone at least a year when the series started so by this season it would be 5 or even 6 years since her death. The only Christmas references I recall Timothy making were in regards to Angela when he was lobbying for a silver tree so Angela could say they got it her first Christmas.

As for whether or not it is normal. I couldn't say. I think different families deal with the step-parent's "name" differently - both then and now. So that's another reason the use of "your mum" didn't stand out to me. Hope I've explained myself adequately. It's an interesting discussion.

[anna0852]

I think the 'your mum' thing also stems from the fact that Dr. T was widowed, not divorced. If Tim's bio-mum was still alive and in the picture I highly doubt he'd be calling Shelagh 'mum' as well. And I do remember that before they were married Dr. T referred to her as "Auntie Shelagh" right before Tim got polio.

[LeGrandElephant]

I have friends with step parents they're very close to, and they mostly call them by their first name. But, would that have been acceptable for a child to do in the 1950s? Can anyone weigh in on what name most children called their stepparents in that era (the era when most stepparents were the result of the first parent dying, before divorce became more common)? 

Because I can't think what else Timothy  should call her (except "Sheilagh", but maybe it wasn't acceptable for children to call adults by their first names at that point), him calling her "mum" doesn't bother me as much as Dr Turner referring to her as "your mother" - maybe because the latter implies they never talk about his actual mother. 

There are other phrasings that strike me as odd, but I assume they are Britishisms, e.g. "I'm going to call Doctor" instead of "I'm going to call the doctor," and "let's see how Baby is doing" instead of "let's see how the baby is doing". But this "your mother" stuff has been standing out to me for many episodes.

5 hours ago, Anothermi said:

 

 

I think they couldn't have been referring to Timothy's mother based on the time line I've laid out. It seemed like she'd been gone at least a year when the series started so by this season it would be 5 or even 6 years since her death. 

 

 

Ive been marathoning the show on Netflix over the past couple weeks, and I'm 99% sure I remember that line, but it could have been in the first season, which wouldn't contradict your timeline by much. 

[Anothermi]

5 hours ago, LeGrandElephant said:

Because I can't think what else Timothy  should call her (except "Sheilagh", but maybe it wasn't acceptable for children to call adults by their first names at that point), him calling her "mum" doesn't bother me as much as Dr Turner referring to her as "your mother" - maybe because the latter implies they never talk about his actual mother.

I'm pretty sure there are still adults who believe it is bad manners for children to call adults by their first name. It would very likely have been seen as disrespectful in the '50s. Dr. Turner has a "position of respect" in the community and Britain was (and still is to some extent) a very class conscious society. He and his family would be expected to be, on some level, a role model. Shelagh was known in the community as well and it would have been quite enough scandal that she left the order and married him. To us they seem very conventional, but that wouldn't have been true back then so observing social conventions would be necessary to keep the trust of the community. Having said all that, I don't think that was why the show decided to have them address Shelagh in that way.

The second part in bold is probably the nub of your issue, and it is very likely true. Dwelling on what you can't change would not have been seen as useful. In the fifty to sixty years preceding the time period this show is set in, Britain had gone through a lot of change. There had been two World Wars and most people would have lost family members - many of them when they were still young like Timothy's mom. Not talking about them would have been seen as being kind (not poking at a wound) or as a way to do what had to be done -  feed and clothe the family; look to the future. There wasn't much time to examine feelings. There wasn't much in the way of luxuries and free time. Even those with time on their hands would have seen it as self-indulgent to focus on their own feelings.  If Timothy is lucky, there might come a time when he is grown with a family of his own that he might ask his dad about his bio-mother -  if his dad is alive still. That's often the time these things become important to us. (or if one of his children become famous they may get to be on Who Do You Think You Are and research Tim's mother's history for him. Lots of those families don't know much about recent ancestors.)

I think I understand why you found it so odd, but I think even these days some people just don't want to keep a loved one's memory alive - for a variety of reasons.

Edited June 10, 2016 by Anothermi

[CoderLady]

Tim Turner is my absolute favorite TV child. He's survived the loss of his mother, contracted and beat polio, gained a new mother and sister, and throughout it all has maintained good humor and an even temper. He has a strong intellectual curiosity about science and medicine and artistic skills (piano). The worst thing he's done was grouse about having to wear short pants past the point where he thought it was appropriate but that worked itself out. If he continues the way he's been written he may be the first TV teenager who doesn't get all angsty at the drop of a hormone. One can hope.

[Beldasnoop]

I think the reason they don't talk a lot about Tim's mother on the show is essentially practical. Since this is an ensemble show and not focusing solely (or even primarily) on the Turners, it has to concentrate on the elements of their story that are most relevant to the show. Mrs. Turner #1 exists primarily as exposition, and since Mrs. Turner #2 (Shelagh) is a major character on the show, it's her relationship with Patrick and Timothy (and theirs with her) that is focused on when there is time for a family scene. Dwelling too much on the first wife/mom, or any exposition character would detract too much from the story of the show, which is primarily a medical show and not a family drama, and that story also has to move forward. 

Still, in terms of what we have been shown (supplemented by other official sources I'll mention), I don't think there's been an indication that they aren't allowed to talk about Tim's mother. They do talk about her at least once--in series 2 when then-Sister Bernadette is in the sanatorium and Patrick is shown sitting in the car looking sad. Tim, who is in the back seat, asks his dad if he's sad, mentioning his maternal grandmother's ("Granny Parker") saying that Patrick had acted something like that after the first Mrs. Turner died. Also, in the first Christmas special, Patrick did mention the time frame to Sister B. He said "it's been almost a year" and "it will be the first Christmas since his mother died", putting the first wife's death somewhere around January 1957 (before the start of season 1). 

The show also gave Tim and Shelagh a common bond even before her romantic relationship with Patrick began (they both lost their mothers when they were young children---Sister B mentions this in the same scene in the first Christmas special after Patrick talks about how long it's been since his wife died). I think that connection somewhat informed the relationship that grew between Timothy and Shelagh even before she officially became his stepmother. She was also shown to have a good rapport with children and it seemed that Tim was completely on board with her marrying his dad (he even wrote the proposal note). There were indications that she was having difficulties learning how to be a parental figure to him after the marriage, though especially in the first half of the episode where Tim gets his leg braces taken off, although they made great progress in that episode, and by the end of series 3 Tim was calling her "Mum". I'm fairly sure the first time he does that is in the last episode of series 3, and it does seem to be 100% voluntary. 

The show, and especially with the Turner family, seems to have been emphasizing the idea that family is about more than just biology. I think Tim sees Shelagh as his second mother--not diminishing the first (who he will always remember), but still Shelagh is his primary maternal figure now, and he loves her as such. She's the one who will be there as he grows up, and if and when he eventually has children of his own, the only grandmother they will know on his side will be Shelagh. I think step-families are different depending on the people involved and the circumstances. In the case of a widower with a young child marrying a woman with no children of her own, I think the relationship is inclined to be more traditionally parental than in the case where there was a divorce and the biological mother is still around and involved in the child's life, especially if the stepmother is inclined to love the child as her own, as Shelagh clearly is (and stated this in episode 7 of season 4) and the child fully accepts the step-parent (which has also been indicated on the show). The Turners also have Angela, who is adopted and not biologically related to either parent or Timothy, but they are her family. Patrick and Shelagh are the only parents she knows and Tim is her brother just as much as he would be if they were biologically related. I think the fact that this family is shown to be so happy and well-functioning and clearly loving even though they are not strictly speaking a "traditional" family is a major theme of their story on this show. They demonstrate that families are about love and choice as much as (or maybe even more than) about biological ties. It's not saying biology isn't important, but that it's not the only important thing.

In terms of what was the accepted practice at the time for how children addressed step-parents, I'm not sure because I wasn't around, but looking at pop culture references (like the The Brady Bunch from the late 60s/early 70s, and The Sound of Music film from 1965) it did seem that children calling a loved step-parent "mom" or "dad" was not unusual, even when the child is a teenager when the parent remarries (Liesl in The Sound of Music calls Maria "Mother" after the marriage--editing to add I know this film is set in the 1930s even though it was made in the 60s). I personally have known people who called step-parents by their names and those who have called them "Mom" or "Dad". I think it varies depending on the dynamics of the relationship and what the child wants. 

As for Mrs. Turner #1 there is some backstory about her in the latest Call the Midwife companion book, Doctor Turner's Casebook, which was written by Stephen McGann (who plays Dr. Turner) and with a foreword by show creator (and McGann's real-life wife) Heidi Thomas. It's not a lot, and there's a lot more information about Shelagh (because she's much more relevant to the actual show), but it does say her name, how she died, and does indicate that Patrick and Tim did talk about her after she died. I don't think they talk about her on the show much because there isn't time (and also because like in real life, a family has to move forward. It's important to remember the past, but you can't live in it). She has been mentioned a few times, but only when it's been relevant to the current story--like when Tim found the picture of his mother. While that story wasn't given a lot of time, what I took from it was that Tim was conflicted about showing the picture to his parents because he didn't want to make it look like he didn't appreciate Shelagh, but by the end of the episode he'd been reminded even more that he has a loving second mother in Shelagh (that's the episode where he overheard her saying she loved him as much as she would if she'd given birth to him, which made him smile). He clearly wants to remember his first mother, though, so he gets to keep and cherish his memories of her, but he's also got a life in the present and the future with a family who loves him. 

Edited June 13, 2016 by Beldasnoop

[CoderLady]

What a beautiful post. "Like" just isn't good enough.

[dustylil]

2 hours ago, CoderLady said:

Tim Turner is my absolute favorite TV child

Mine too. I particularly liked  when Timothy kept a  notebook for his father of all the gifts that had been brought to the house and services provided to the family when his father was ill  with emotional exhaustion. No fanfare, no "aren't I a fine son" on his part. Just the preparation of  a detailed log of the kindnesses done, knowing it was something that his father could keep and reflect on.

[kathe5133]

Re step parents.... I remember as a child in the 60s that if your mother died and father remarried, the woman your father remarried was your "mother".  Same if the mother remarried.  Not saying it was right, but the attitude was that the partner was the parent simply because they married.  Children didn't have much say.  "Here's your new mother/father, say hello".  Again, not saying it was the right way, but children were not considered individuals.  They were along for the ride and did what they were told.  Now in Timothy's case he truly loves Shelagh, but I also may have felt "different" for not having a living mother.  Shelagh and Patrick's marriage made Timothy the same as others, with two parents.  It's more recent that children get to weigh in on a parents dating.  Referring to a stepmother as "my father's wife", would have been the considered down right disrespectful in the 60's.  Now a days, and this could be that the stigma that used to surround divorce has disappeared, it is not uncommon.  

[LeGrandElephant]

On June 11, 2016 at 2:16 PM, kathe5133 said:

It's more recent that children get to weigh in on a parents dating. 

In the opposite direction - I was quite surprised when Sheilagh and Dr. Turner were talking about adopting a baby and she said "I hope Timothy agrees!"

 

On June 10, 2016 at 5:53 PM, Beldasnoop said:

I think the reason they don't talk a lot about Tim's mother on the show is essentially practical.

Didn't want to quote the whole thing, but great post. 

[PRgal]

I don't think it's just about not being polite to address an adult - even a stepparent - by his/her first name back in the 1960s.  Shelagh and Max adopted a child.  It would be weird for one kid to call Shelagh by her name and the other, "Mum." 

[mbutterfly]

Did Shelagh adopt Tim? Why was I thinking that? 

[jschoolgirl]

I am binge-watching on Netflix before season 6, so I am late to the party.

I was also late to pick up that Patsy is a lesbian, as others did before Delia ever showed up. Netflix doesn't have the scene in the recap that mentions Patsy and Delia talking about dancing.

But in that era (30s-early 60s), it was pretty common for females to dance together at a party if they did not have a date or if they just wanted extra dances. But maybe not for them to do so in a foxtrot or a tango? It seems that the two could've danced a few dances without a big deal, in the absence of Heavy Glances or whatever. Of course this was a square dance, which is a whole different deal.

In what episode did Timothy find a photo of his mother? It's so aggravating that even Netflix omits scenes!!!

[dcalley]

On 3/27/2017 at 10:33 PM, jschoolgirl said:

In what episode did Timothy find a photo of his mother? It's so aggravating that even Netflix omits scenes!!!

http://previously.tv/call-the-midwife/just-in-time-for-mothereffing-mothers-day/

[Brattinella]

My parents did not die until I was well into my fifties, and I called them Mom and Dad.  I still think it is rude for children to call their parents by name; is this a permissible thing now?

[JeanneH]

3 hours ago, Brattinella said:

My parents did not die until I was well into my fifties, and I called them Mom and Dad.  I still think it is rude for children to call their parents by name; is this a permissible thing now?

I'm in my 50s and never call my parents by their names unless I need to get their attention when we're in a crowd (Mom. Mom. Mom! Barbara!!)

[Kohola3]

No one of my acquaintance nor any of my relatives ever called their parents by name.  Who does that?

[caitmcg]

Quote

No one of my acquaintance nor any of my relatives ever called their parents by name.  Who does that?

From childhood on, everyone in my immediate family (parents, stepparents, me and my brother), when speaking of my father or mother in the third person to any of the others, has used only his or her given name, never Mom and Dad or "your mom/dad." In adulthood, I've called my mother and father by name around half the time, and my father, at least, always signs cards and email to me with his name rather than Dad, and my mother does some of the time. All my maternal grandparents' grandchildren always called them by their given names, not Grandma, etc., by their request (my brother and I have also always used only given names for our aunts and uncles). All of us, elder and younger, find this all just fine. And by younger, I mean currently in our mid to late 40s.  

Edited May 6, 2017 by caitmcg

[JudyObscure]

We were the other extreme, I guess.   My brothers and I called our parents, Mama and Daddy until their deaths in their eighties.  I  remember calling my mother, "Mother," a few times when I was a teenager, but it was only when I was angry and being a brat .

[jaybird2]

my mother was 'mother' and we wouldn't have thought of calling her mom or anything else.  and daddy was daddy.  we still refer to them as mother and daddy when we discuss them and they have been dead for years.

[Portia]

The youngest of my three children inexplicably began calling her father Kevin when she was about 10. She was just being silly at first, but it stuck. While her older sibs called us Mom and Dad, to our last-born we were (and remain to this day) Mom and Kev. As a result, people occasionally get the idea (and who can blame them?) that he's her stepfather, but he doesn't mind one bit. In fact, I think he secretly sees it as a sort of symbol that they have a special bond. (She's the one child who followed in his footsteps professionally.) If anyone finds it horrifying for a child to call a parent by their Christian name, I'd recommend they avoid that practice themselves and not get too bent out of shape about other people's families. :-D

Edited May 11, 2017 by Portia

[caitmcg]

On 5/18/2015 at 11:44 PM, dcalley said:

Quote

commenting that Timothy's legs look like "forced rhubarb" is maybe not necessary.

I believe that's "false rhubarb."

Nope, it's forced rhubarb, which is a growing method common in the UK, making rhubarb available earlier in the season than it would otherwise be, given the climate.

[dcalley]

Thanks. It's been so long now that I don't know if it was bad captioning or me figuring out that there is a plant called false rhubarb.

[RedbirdNelly]

I'm really late to the party, slowly making my way through this show. Like many I really appreciated how we got to know more about Nurse Crane. I thought at first she would be one dimensional--or just disappear as that awful, overly stiff nurse after an episode or two. Well done show