S06.E01: Episode 1

[MaryHedwig]

Quote

Is Chummy permanently gone???? I thought it was just temporary.

Writers: The next time the midwives interact with Constable Peter Noakes please add this line.

"Chummy misses you all. She'll be over soon with a pie, and to show off Young Sir- he's walking now!"

Edited April 3, 2017 by MaryHedwig

[SomethingIsMe]

Thrilled CTM is back though! I want to adopt 10,000 Mickeys, he might be the most adorable child I've ever seen. I'm so bummed there are no more (written) re-caps for this show, I loved reading them after every episode.

[mbutterfly]

13 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

I agree.  Didn't they use to have a little more lightness to balance the dark?  Bad things would happen sometimes with the patients and babies, but we always came back to a sense of stability and comfort at Nonnatus House. A few words from one of the older sisters would put things in perspective and then the nun's singing would leave us with a sense that all would come right.  Not anymore.  The promotion of Sister Ursula and demotion of our all knowing, kind Sister Julienne just pulled the rug out from under me.  The foundation of the show was lost.  After that was the horror of the domestic abuse, but it was little Sister Mary Cynthia's breakdown that  did me in and I just felt overwhelmed by grief. 

Maybe it's because I've been watching the re-runs on my local station, but I was suddenly aware of just how many wonderful characters we've lost; Jenny Lee, Sister Evangelina, and Chummy.  Those were major characters  and last night Trixie was missing so it felt even more like a group of relatively new people. 

To me, Barbara and Tom have zero chemistry and the ring story was just silly.  Didn't Trixie just make Tom promise not to give Barbara his mother's ring because she had always had to wear hand-me-downs?  She couldn't afford a swimsuit and now she can buy a diamond?  All just to save his pride? Lots of young couples start out with a tiny stone costing very little and if he (an Episcopalian minister!) couldn't afford even that, then they could do without.  I've been married twice and never had a diamond, it's not required. The whole storyline just felt contrived, sort of like a laboring, injured mother struggling to get out of a locked room and through the streets, to the midwives -- only to have her baby born covered in feces.  Really, writers?

The show was so much better when it was based on the real memoire and not modern writers trying to stuff enough tragedy for three episodes into one, just to up the tissue count.

I so agree. Earlier, the midwives and sisters went into many dark, even tragic places. But at the end of the day there was the warmth of Nonnatus House -- the communal meal, the singing, the prayers. I want that back, please. 

[LittleIggy]

9 hours ago, Calamity Jane said:

My favorite moment was when one of the girls was trying to dial in Radio Luxembourg.  It was the only station for rock & roll when I was a teenager in Paris, besides a few hours a week on AFN (Armed Forces Network), and sometimes terribly hard to find for some reason.  Later on, there was Pirate Radio from a platform out in the Channel, so at least you had two sources for listening to popular music.  Nostalgia!

British stations didn't play rock and roll? 

Sister Winifred mentioned in the South Africa Xmas special that she was a red head under her wimple in explanation of her dire need for sunblock.

Wonder if Lester worked for the Kray brothers.

Edited April 4, 2017 by LittleIggy

[movingtargetgal]

Poor Mickey being so afraid of his father that he started wetting the bed as the time of his father's release grew near.  

[Chewy101]

16 hours ago, Fireball said:

  16 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

To me, Barbara and Tom have zero chemistry and the ring story was just silly.  Didn't Trixie just make Tom promise not to give Barbara his mother's ring because she had always had to wear hand-me-downs?  She couldn't afford a swimsuit and now she can buy a diamond? 

NO CHEMISTRY. Barbara is one of those characters that I have no complaints about, but somehow no praises for either. She is just there. Like a blank little Stepford, ready to be a dutiful insert wherever needed. I haven't seen anything between her and Tom that looks promising or healthy in the long run. I think when he was so stringent with Trixie in one season, and then groping Barbra's butt in another, he proved how inconsistent he is, and I don't know if either woman feels truly respected or known by him. They just haven't done much for Tom's character for me. 

[J-Man]

14 hours ago, Subrookie said:

Did they not show the Christmas episode here in the US? It doesn't show up on my on demand and I had it set up for a series recording. I can't find it anywhere. 

I had this problem too. I was out of the country over the holidays so I don't know if it ever aired, but my DVR didn't pick it up if it did. And when I went to PBS to try to stream it, it said it wasn't available in my area. And it's not on Hulu or Netflix either. In fact, I didn't even realize I'd missed an episode until I started to watch this one, and realized that the stuff they were talking about in the "previouslies" was unfamiliar to me.

So I immediately switched it off and Googled around for a while; finally found a streamable which had French subtitles!

[Chewy101]

I don't know why Shelagh's pregnancy was so great. He has already had a breakdown twice before, with just two kids and a passion for his career and its responsibilities. I know this show is all about breeding all of the time, but God forbid, can an adoption be an adoption that doesn't have to be overridden? I LOVED that they got their daughter how they did, and then were blessed with two children. And I think that is all they can handle, these two kids, since they both have very full careers. There was just no need to add this pregnancy. 

Edited April 4, 2017 by Chewy101

[Fireball]

8 hours ago, Chewy101 said:

NO CHEMISTRY. Barbara is one of those characters that I have no complaints about, but somehow no praises for either. She is just there. Like a blank little Stepford, ready to be a dutiful insert wherever needed. I haven't seen anything between her and Tom that looks promising or healthy in the long run. I think when he was so stringent with Trixie in one season, and then groping Barbra's butt in another, he proved how inconsistent he is, and I don't know if either woman feels truly respected or known by him. They just haven't done much for Tom's character for me. 

I started a Barbara thread since I felt my reply didn't really fit in this thread.

Edited April 4, 2017 by Fireball

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

After Birth: I've Had A Long Eight Months

A convict's wife wishes her kids' father had stayed behind bars.

[StatisticalOutlier]

22 hours ago, Calamity Jane said:

My favorite moment was when one of the girls was trying to dial in Radio Luxembourg.  It was the only station for rock & roll when I was a teenager in Paris, besides a few hours a week on AFN (Armed Forces Network), and sometimes terribly hard to find for some reason.  Later on, there was Pirate Radio from a platform out in the Channel, so at least you had two sources for listening to popular music.  Nostalgia!

Thank you for posting this.  Maybe London had rock & roll stations, like another poster suggested, but regardless, it's little tidbits like this that make me enjoy forums like this so much, where people who were/are boots on the ground can provide perspective.

 

13 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Wonder if Lester worked for the Kray brothers.

And this, too.  I already know who the Kray brothers were but if I didn't, this mention would at least make me look them up.

 

12 hours ago, movingtargetgal said:

Poor Mickey being so afraid of his father that he started wetting the bed as the time of his father's release grew near.  

And this, double-too.  I didn't make the connection between the bed wetting and his father's return.  But I almost always miss things like that and appreciate it when they're brought to my attention. 

 

21 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

I can't believe the 180 I did on Phyllis.  The first time she showed up I was "lord, no".  But now I absolutely adore her.  A non-nun Sr. E!

I said upthread that Phyllis is my favorite, but even I didn't realize the context.  I'm like you--it's been a 180.  I can't remember why she grated so much when she first showed up, but I do love her now.

[proserpina65]

Harriet Walter doesn't always play tight-assed bitches, but when she does, she's so good at it.  Poor Sister Julienne, being shunted aside.  And for no good reason that we can see.

And poor Sister Mary Cynthia!  She really needs proper psychiatric treatment, and she's not going to get it through the Mother House.  I wanted Dr. Turner to take off in his car and rescue her.  (Speaking of Dr. Turner, I desperately wanted him to punch Trudy's awful husband, but that would've been disastrous for so many reasons.)

And Shelagh is pregnant!  I knew it the moment Tim said she'd been sick.  I'm not sure how they're going to explain it in terms of the tuberculosis-caused infertility, a miracle, I guess.  Which under other circumstances would bug the heck out of me, but since Patrick and Shelagh are such wonderful parents and such good people, I'm not going to nit-pick.

On ‎01‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 10:14 AM, allonsyalice said:

1) they always tackle such real issues and this episode was mo different. She was a young mother, with the sweetest boy, and I was so scared for her. When he locked her in the bedroom I thought he was legit gonna kill her. And it was sad and it was scary and it was real. 

All I could think was that he worked for the Krays or for one of their rivals, and I was afraid something even more awful would happen to her as a result.  Those were pretty nasty people, even for gangsters.

[proserpina65]

On ‎04‎/‎02‎/‎2017 at 11:43 PM, Fireball said:

While I also thought Trudy's husband was a nasty piece of work; I was actually more bothered by Trudy's own mother! Her total lack of concern that her son-in-law was hurting her daughter was chilling.  

She seemed like one of these "knows where her bread is buttered, and to hell with everyone else" kind of people.  She was appalling.

 

Quote

What boxing gym would put a big boy boxing a tiny boy?

One run by the gangsters for whom his father worked.

Edited April 4, 2017 by proserpina65

[movingtargetgal]

I loved watching Phyllis making the evenings cocktail, Brandy Alexanders.  She was so angry and frustrated with the police not protecting the mother and her children.  Her attitude was less "yeah it's happy hour" and most definitely "I can't believe this bullshit".  As she listed off each ingredient the angrier and more determined she got.  The battle was lost that day but she was not going to lose the war, she will find a way to help her patient.

 

Quote

All I could think was that he worked for the Krays or for one of their rivals, and I was afraid something even more awful would happen to her as a result.  Those were pretty nasty people, even for gangsters.

I hope the mom and her children went underground so they could not be found by her abusers, her husband AND her mother.

Edited April 4, 2017 by movingtargetgal

[proserpina65]

17 hours ago, MissLucas said:

Because her accent is Scottish? At least that's what it sounds like to me but I'm not a native speaker.

She called herself a ginger in the Christmas special.  And her hair is a goldish-red.  Or a reddish-gold.  At least in pictures I've seen of her out of costume.

 

Someone above asked about radio in Britain in the early sixties (this is from Radio London): "By the time Top Forty radio arrived in the UK, the Golden Age of American radio was practically over. We didn't have much to listen to before the advent of the offshore 'pirates'. The BBC did have a few pop programmes on what was called 'The Light Programme'. Besides the Light Programme, the BBC (later christened 'the Beeb' by Kenny Everett), had 'The Home Service' (news and speech-based), 'The Third Programme' (highbrow classical music and avant-garde drama) and 'The World Service' [which oddly enough was barely audible in Britain, but was in the rest of the world! – Chris]. In the early Sixties, teenagers were a relatively new concept and catering for their musical tastes was not considered a top priority by Beeb management. Pop music was regarded as merely a passing fad. However, one of the Beeb's greatest difficulties with regard to playing records was 'needle-time', a regulation whereby only a certain number of minutes of recorded music was permitted to be played weekly. This was due to Musicians' Union agreements and the fact that the BBC employed its own orchestras; playing recordings off vinyl would have cut down on the need for BBC-employed musicians."

So no, there wasn't much rock & roll available outside of Radio Luxemburg, if you could get it.  Not when this episode was set.

Edited April 4, 2017 by proserpina65

[Kohola3]

Quote

  She really needs proper psychiatric treatment, and she's not going to get it through the Mother House. 

Having been raised a Catholic and having attended a Catholic grade school from 1957-63,  a big AMEN to that.  The Mother House would essentially tell her to pray a lot,  do endless menial tasks, suck it up and accept it at "God's will".  No compassion or humanity among the nuns I grew up around. (Full disclosure, haven't darkened the door in a Catholic Church in decades.  Those horrible women drove me away forever.)

[PradaKitty]

Glad that Shelagh is pregnant! My mother became pregnant with me while my parents were in the process of adopting (twins, no less!) so I know it can happen. To top it off, my mother was 40 which was pretty old in the late 1950's... 

[movingtargetgal]

I am afraid that Sister Mary Cynthia may have been raped on the night of her attack and she is too ashamed to tell.  So many victims still are afraid to disclose that they are victims of sexual violence.  Surviving any type of vicious assault would cause a person to suffer PTSD.  When you add the further trauma of having been sexually assaulted and keeping it a secret because of being ashamed, well it can break even the strongest of souls.                                                                                                                

[MaryHedwig]

Quote

I am afraid that Sister Mary Cynthia may have been raped on the night of her attack and she is too ashamed to tell.

Could that be? Didn't we witness the entire attack? Does anyone remember exactly what we saw, and if they cut away before the end?

[ItCouldBeWorse]

3 minutes ago, MaryHedwig said:

Quote

I am afraid that Sister Mary Cynthia may have been raped on the night of her attack and she is too ashamed to tell.

Could that be? Didn't we witness the entire attack? Does anyone remember exactly what we saw, and if they cut away before the end?

I believe she said that she had not been raped, but she might not have been telling the truth.

[Ceindreadh]

4 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

Having been raised a Catholic and having attended a Catholic grade school from 1957-63,  a big AMEN to that.  The Mother House would essentially tell her to pray a lot,  do endless menial tasks, suck it up and accept it at "God's will".  No compassion or humanity among the nuns I grew up around. (Full disclosure, haven't darkened the door in a Catholic Church in decades.  Those horrible women drove me away forever.)

The nuns of Nonatus house are Church of England not Catholic.  Not saying they'd be any better though. 

[Kohola3]

3 minutes ago, Ceindreadh said:

Not saying they'd be any better though. 

Yeah, Sister Mary TakeOverNonnatus isn't exactly a ray of sunshine.  And forcing Mary Cynthia to study is just the kind of thing that makes you wonder about any empathy although she was nice to that poor little tyke.

[Popples]

17 hours ago, J-Man said:

I had this problem too. I was out of the country over the holidays so I don't know if it ever aired, but my DVR didn't pick it up if it did. And when I went to PBS to try to stream it, it said it wasn't available in my area. And it's not on Hulu or Netflix either. In fact, I didn't even realize I'd missed an episode until I started to watch this one, and realized that the stuff they were talking about in the "previouslies" was unfamiliar to me.

So I immediately switched it off and Googled around for a while; finally found a streamable which had French subtitles!

My TV listings called it "Call the Midwife Holiday Special"; since it's not the exact same title it didn't record, even though I have the show set for the series. So I had to set a recording just for that one episode. I found out Christmas 2015 when I noticed this and was lucky enough to catch an encore showing a couple of days later.

[latetotheparty]

On 4/2/2017 at 8:03 PM, PreviouslyTV said:

A convict's wife wishes her kids' father had stayed behind bars.

View the full article

Not being able to read the recap is a real disappointment.  A transcript would be nice. 

[wonderwoman]

Echoing all of those who miss the written recaps and comment. Just don't have 30 minutes to listen to a podcast when it only takes a few minutes to read.

[Calamity Jane]

On 4/3/2017 at 7:49 PM, LittleIggy said:

British stations didn't play rock and roll? 

 

I think at the time, radio was all state-owned in the UK same as TV was, and I seem to remember a big deal post-Beatles with BBC playing popular music.  Almost positive that was the case in France as well, which was why Radio Luxembourg was such a big deal to me and my friends, and obviously to the Nonnatus House crew as well.  We spent a lot of time in music stores where you could listen to the records in little booths so you could find out what you really liked, and then you bought the record!  When we moved to California after my sophomore year, all the music stations on the radio were such a revelation!  KHJ!  KFWB!  Plus all the FM available.  

[buttercupia]

I also missed the holiday special.  guess i'll have to wait until it turns up on netflix.

also, no love for the podcast recaps.

[Clanstarling]

On 4/3/2017 at 10:20 AM, Calamity Jane said:

My favorite moment was when one of the girls was trying to dial in Radio Luxembourg.  It was the only station for rock & roll when I was a teenager in Paris, besides a few hours a week on AFN (Armed Forces Network), and sometimes terribly hard to find for some reason.  Later on, there was Pirate Radio from a platform out in the Channel, so at least you had two sources for listening to popular music.  Nostalgia!

Memories! As a military brat in Germany, I listed to AFN all the time. They had a different format each hour, as I recall. Which is why, I think, I have fairly eclectic tastes in music.

I think Sister Julienne asking the doctor to make a note is her way of starting a campaign to get rid of Ursula - documenting her bad decisions using an "objective" source (and she couldn't be accused of disobedience).

[Mumbles]

On 4/3/2017 at 8:52 PM, SomethingIsMe said:

I want to adopt 10,000 Mickeys, he might be the most adorable child I've ever seen. I'm so bummed there are no more (written) re-caps for this show, I loved reading them after every episode.

I was just thinking that while watching this episode, that Mickey had to be the cutest little tyke this show ever had on. I think he resonated with me because the kid playing the role didn't seem like a "child actor", more like a real little kid. Of course the eye patch just made me wanna hug him.

And can I say, the times this show quotes religious texts, it slays me. Like when Sisters Monica Joan and Julienne quoted the saint's memoir about not being overcome when trying to help Cynthia. The other time I remember is last season when Sister Julienne prayed over the severely handicapped  baby left to die in the cold ("I have called you by name, and you are mine.") Gawd, it just wrecks me every time. Even to nonreligious people, there is a lot of beauty in these writings.

Edited April 5, 2017 by Mumbles

[txhorns79]

Quote

Yeah, Sister Mary TakeOverNonnatus isn't exactly a ray of sunshine.  And forcing Mary Cynthia to study is just the kind of thing that makes you wonder about any empathy although she was nice to that poor little tyke.

I didn't get what her deal was.  I get that this is a religious order, and it's not meant to be a sorority house, but jeez lady.  I mean, she took away the cookies that people could snack on while waiting to see the doctor.  At some point, it's just about control and being petty for the sake of being petty. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

29 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

I didn't get what her deal was.  I get that this is a religious order, and it's not meant to be a sorority house, but jeez lady.  I mean, she took away the cookies that people could snack on while waiting to see the doctor.  At some point, it's just about control and being petty for the sake of being petty. 

Or she is abstemious and believes that is a desirable quality for everyone.

[Brattinella]

30 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Or she is abstemious and believes that is a desirable quality for everyone.

Well, that would be bullshit.

[Chewy101]

Poor sweet little boy being taught by his dad to defend himself against bullies.... When his dad is the biggest one.

His mum endlessly trying to protect the boy is so touching. 

Edited April 6, 2017 by Chewy101

[txhorns79]

Quote

Or she is abstemious and believes that is a desirable quality for everyone.

Wouldn't that go back to what I said about being controlling?  I mean, it's one thing to say: "This is a quality I'd like to see people emulate."  It's another to take things away from people to try to force them to behave in the way you want.            

[JudyObscure]

On ‎4‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 6:23 PM, Kohola3 said:

 Sister Mary TakeOverNonnatus

Hehehehehhee.

[movingtargetgal]

16 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

Quote

Yeah, Sister Mary TakeOverNonnatus isn't exactly a ray of sunshine.  And forcing Mary Cynthia to study is just the kind of thing that makes you wonder about any empathy although she was nice to that poor little tyke.

I didn't get what her deal was.  I get that this is a religious order, and it's not meant to be a sorority house, but jeez lady.  I mean, she took away the cookies that people could snack on while waiting to see the doctor.  At some point, it's just about control and being petty for the sake of being petty. 

Taking cookies away from a bunch of pregnant women.  Sister Mary TakeOverNonnatus likes to live dangerously.  Because she lacks empathy she can not grasp the fact that the clinics are not just medical appointments, they are an opportunity for the moms to bond with each other and with the midwives.  She may be a "religious" and god fearing nun but she hasn't an ounce of spirituality and human kindness in her soul.  

[Driad]

Sister Ursula's rigid attitude reminded me of when, as a child, I asked a Catholic friend why they did not eat meat on Fridays. She said it was a sacrifice, to remember Good Friday. I asked what would happen if they did eat meat on Friday. She said they would be punished. I asked why they called it a sacrifice, if they would be punished for not obeying the rule. She wouldn't speak to me for weeks.

[Clanstarling]

3 hours ago, movingtargetgal said:

Taking cookies away from a bunch of pregnant women.  Sister Mary TakeOverNonnatus likes to live dangerously.  Because she lacks empathy she can not grasp the fact that the clinics are not just medical appointments, they are an opportunity for the moms to bond with each other and with the midwives.  She may be a "religious" and god fearing nun but she hasn't an ounce of spirituality and human kindness in her soul.  

Not only that, but her methods seem to have made the wait longer, given what the mother of the week (sorry, forgot her name) had to say at the first appointment. So her streamlining is anything but.

[TVForever]

On 4/4/2017 at 4:56 PM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I believe she said that she had not been raped, but she might not have been telling the truth.

Yikes. This being "Call the Midwife", what if our little nun wound up pregnant?

[latetotheparty]

1 hour ago, TVForever said:

Yikes. This being "Call the Midwife", what if our little nun wound up pregnant?

Oh please no. That's just a little too soap opera for me. 

[Kohola3]

1 hour ago, TVForever said:

This being "Call the Midwife", what if our little nun wound up pregnant?

I doubt it.  Too much time has passed.

[ChelleGame]

On 4/5/2017 at 8:14 AM, Mumbles said:

I was just thinking that while watching this episode, that Mickey had to be the cutest little tyke this show ever had on. I think he resonated with me because the kid playing the role didn't seem like a "child actor", more like a real little kid. Of course the eye patch just made me wanna hug him.

That was the cutest little boy I've almost ever seen. Just adorable. His little eye patch and glasses and then they way he crossed those boxing gloves across his body in the ring. Just about died. Precious.

The actor playing the gangster husband was a straight-up ham sandwich. Jeez.

I hope Sister Julienne gets her position back. She has the kindest face  and I love her gentle demeanor. Does anyone remember her from "American Werewolf in London"?

Poor Cynthia.  Ursula needs to go.

[AZChristian]

6 minutes ago, ChelleGame said:

Does anyone remember her from "American Werewolf in London"?

Yep . . . but THAT character was NOTHING like Sister J.  LOL.

[Spunkygal]

Ok, it's been YEARS since I've seen that movie, so off to IMDb!

[Brattinella]

I've always loved Jenny Agutter! 

[ChelleGame]

24 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

Yep . . . but THAT character was NOTHING like Sister J.  LOL.

Soooo different.  I might rewatch that movie. As crazy as this sounds, despite it being scary it's also kind of cozy. Maybe because I saw it with my dad and he loved it too. This show always brings out the warm fuzzies. Very glad it's back.

[Spunkygal]

I remember the guys on the British show Coupling drooling over Jenny Agutter.  Loved that show, BTW.

[Clanstarling]

1 hour ago, ChelleGame said:

Soooo different.  I might rewatch that movie. As crazy as this sounds, despite it being scary it's also kind of cozy. Maybe because I saw it with my dad and he loved it too. This show always brings out the warm fuzzies. Very glad it's back.

What I remember most about seeing it is that a father and his boys, 10 and 12 thereabouts, watched all the gore (albeit tame by today's standards), but then he stormed out during the shower scene with Jenny and David. American values, man.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

2 hours ago, ChelleGame said:

I hope Sister Julienne gets her position back. She has the kindest face  and I love her gentle demeanor. Does anyone remember her from "American Werewolf in London"?

Logan's Run!

[Guest]

The thread announcing the podcast was locked for a reason; it was not a cue to take your complaints to another thread to repeat what you said in the podcast thread.  Please focus on discussing the episode.