S03.E08: Episode 8

[maraleia]

 

Jenny is assigned to first-time mother Jeanette, who requires frequent visits during a protracted labour, and when she meets her patient's cousin, Philip, a new friendship begins to grow for the midwife. Meanwhile, Chummy worries about her mother's illness when she discovers Lady Browne has discharged herself from hospital.

Please note this episode is not listed to air on PBS as of yet. It may be aired at Christmas like last year, however, no air date has been given for US viewers.

[M. Darcy]

It's on this Sunday (tomorrow) in the Washington DC area.

[Tara Ariano]

Here in Los Angeles too. It's not the Christmas special.

[Pestilentia]

I cried like a baby.

[Tara Ariano]

Here's my post on the episode/season!

[Kohola3]

Oh, lord, I am wrung out.  Thank heavens, for Chummy's sake, that Mater mellowed before her death.  What a terrible thing it would have been if she had died without breaking down the barriers.  And Peter - what I wouldn't give for a Peter in my life!

[maraleia]

Yeah sorry I meant to edit my post about the episode. Thanks for the reminder.

[GraceTX]

And Peter - what I wouldn't give for a Peter in my life!

 

This.  The whole episode, I was thinking that I loved Peter a little more and more.

[LittleIggy]

I wanted to pick up and hug that baby standing up in the crib next to Baby Girl Turner! What a cutie,

Great episode.

[dramachick]

I started crying at the manicure.  Excellent episode.  Cheryl Campbell was great.

[DHDancer]

OMG, wow.  I haven't cared so much since I don't know when.  Jennie going to cancer hospice -- has she no idea how hard that will be on her, but how wonderful she's prescient to be aware of the need.  

 

And Chummy (no! it's really Lady Brown aka Mum!!!) reconciling in such an understated way was masterful.

 

Is this the last series????

Edited May 19, 2014 by DHDancer

[emily842752]

OMG, wow.  I haven't cared so much since I don't know when.  Jennie going to cancer hospice -- has she no idea how hard that will be on her, but how wonderful she's prescient to be aware of the need.  

 

And Chummy )no! Mum!!!) reconciling in such an understated way was masterful.

 

Is this the last series????

 

No, there will be another season!

[Cgr]

Such a circle that episode took us on a ride around.  Chummy is wonderful and Peter should be cloned.  

Loved the call out to hospice.  Our daughter is a hospice nurse.  

Can't wait to see what they do next year with it all.

[Milz]

Loved Sister Monica Joan's comment about Nurse Franklin's abundance of underclothing, lol.

[Jordan Baker]

 

I started crying at the manicure.

 

I think this is when I went from crying to full-out sobbing. Oh, my. The scene was both lovely and heartbreaking.

[Brattinella]

This started off a whole evening of bawling like a baby!  PBS was bound and determined to make me mole-eyed.  Enjoyed it tremendously!

[staveDarsky]

I wanted to pick up that standing baby too.

The manicure broke me as well. I also loved how Sister Monica Joan recovered from her troubles to be there with Chummy and her mum at the end. I understand Judy and Miranda often get cases of the giggles when they work together, so it was lovely to see them pull everything together and give us such a wonderful set of scenes.

Jennifer Worth did actually move on to working in a hospice I think. So that story is true. She wasn't with the nuns for all that long.

[Charlotte Vale]

Wept copiously, of course (the mother/daughter/dying subject matter was rather close to home). Plus, two of my favorite actresses, Miranda Hart and Cheryl Campbell.

 

If you have never seen Cheryl Campbell (Chummy's Mummy) in Testament of Youth or Pennies from Heaven, run and grab them! Both brilliant.

 

This really did look like a series finale, not a season finale, I was surprised when they said "more to come next year!"

[Ohwell]

That was a very touching episode.  I'm glad Shelagh and Dr. Turner finally got their baby.

[kb3]

The manicure bought back such memories. My friend was in hospice with brain cancer. We each unconsciously assigned ourselves a task.  Mine was hair, makeup and nails.  Painting her toes "vavoom red" gave her such joy. The hospice and the nurses - it was all about the good and dignified death. 

 

The writers, actors and production have captured that.

Edited May 20, 2014 by kb3

[Badger]

They did cut a couple of scenes from the original.  In one scene, Mater is on the couch holding Little Freddie when Chummy comes in. She tells Chummy that her husband is in the kitchen making a cup of tea and Chummy tells her that Peter does have a name.  Mater replies that they are perfectly happy with formal terms.

 

In another scene, Pete and Mater are playing cards and she tells him it would be alright for him to call her by her first name which turns out to be "Artemis."  He says it and then she tells him that her husband called her "Arthur" due to her large feet which she says she passed on to Camilla.  Peter says he loves Camilla's feet and she says "Good."

 

I don't remember if they showed this scene or not, but right after Sr. Julienne tells Jenny she won't be able to help Chummy with her mother, they show her training some new midwives from the London.  

Edited May 19, 2014 by Badger

[movingtargetgal]

The manicure scene had me crying as well.  My grandmother always had her "nails done" and when she was in hospice care (lung cancer) she could not tolerate the fumes from the nail polish and remover.  After she passed we were waiting for the funeral director, I noticed how bad her nails were and I told the nurse my grandmother would never have gone anywhere with her hands looking like that.  A few minutes later she came back with a manicure kit and I was able to do this one last thing for my grandmother. 

[PRgal]

 So we are introduced to the future Mr. Jenny in this episode...Oh, and I don't think Mater likes the idea of leftovers, Chummy (even though she doesn't know what Tupperware is).

Edited May 19, 2014 by PRgal

[Ohwell]

I like Shelagh and Dr. Turner, but I had a real sense of foreboding when he was talking to Chummy's mother about her cancer, and cancer in general.  He smokes like a chimney, and I wouldn't be surprised if next season he's diagnosed with lung cancer.  I really hope the writers don't go there.

[Straycat80]

This did feel like a series finale. I'm so happy it will be back next year.

I nuffled through the whole episode too. I for one will miss Jenny.

[AnnieBeez]

That was a pretty powerful episode. I don't know how anyone could walk into that nursery and only walk out with one baby though. I was worried that the little cutie beside the Turner baby was going to take a tumble out of that crib.

 

Chummy and her mater were just heartbreaking. 

[CindyBee]

Finally was able to watch the episode last night and I found it as good as any episode yet for this show.  Probably Miranda Hart and Ben Caplan's best work as Chummy and Peter. 

 

I'm going to miss Jenny and wish the character wasn't moving on as I'd love to see further development of her life with Philip but I guess it wasn't meant to be. 

 

I guess next season will center on the pill being introduced and the decline in midwifery during the 1960s.   

[MissT]

This show absolutely had me sobbing.  The sister telling Chummy that "a touch is a memory" made me grab another tissue.  Then when she painted her mother's nails, I was a mess, just an sobbing mess.   I am a total fan of this show and have watched each and every episode.  I can't believe I have to wait until next Spring for the new season.  Everything else on TV is just crap.  

[staveDarsky]

Shortly after I watched this via the BBC, I had to give my mum's nails a clean up. The manicure scene played through my head. It is something that my mum enjoys -- especially when I buff her nails smooth. And when Mum's sister was dying, I gave her some shiatsu massage on her forearms. It was very helpful to me in my grief to be able to do something tactile and relaxing for my aunt.

 

With regard to the smoking and lung cancer, they likely won't address it. The Surgeon General's report in the USA linking smoking to lung cancer didn't come out until 1964 and we're only going into 1960 with series 4 next year.

[Portia]

My daughter and her fiance walked in just as the episode was ending, and I literally had to excuse myself and pull myself together in the bathroom before I could speak to them. The part that absolutely slayed me was when Chummy climbed into bed with her mother. I'm dying to know Baby Turner's name and to see Timothy interacting with his new sister!

[Badger]

When the show aired in the UK, Heidi Thomas tweeted the baby's name is Angela.

[mojito]

I was sure that this was a series finale. Knowing that it came from the memoirs of Jenny Worth, I knew that with Jenny leaving the show was over. Until I came here and realized, duh, the show will still be about the midwives. I hope Shelaugh doesn't frown as much in the next season. Her face seemed nearly frozen in a distressed frown for most of this season.

[captain1]

Does anyone know whether PBS here in the states will show the Season 3 Christmas special and, if not, where we can watch it?

[Badger]

I imagine they will since they did show the Christmas specials for Seasons 1 and 2.

[captain1]

I did a search on DirecTV and came up with nothing - so I'm wondering.

[Tara Ariano]

PBS already aired it on 12/29/13.

[Kohola3]

According to this, there will be a 2014 Christmas episode as well.

 

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/call.the.midwife.season.4.premiere.date.2015.christmas.special.air.2014/37524.htm

[Badger]

Yes, that will be the Season 3 Christmas special.

[Tara Ariano]

Ah, I see.

[Badger]

I think it might be confusing since PBS has the "Downton Abbey" Christmas special as its season finale but the "Call the Midwife" Christmas special seems to be a standalone episode on PBS.

[anna0852]

I'm pretty late to the party but oh well.....

 

I was utterly delighted that Shelagh and Patrick were able to adopt. The love on both their faces was absolutely heartmelting.

 

But I couldn't forget the comment the social work made about the 16-year-old biological mom: her parents had changed their minds after the birth about letting her bring the baby home, which is why her placement was a scramble. Think about that: not only did this young mother not plan to surrender her child but it was her own parents who forced her into it. She probably had baby things waiting at home and was planning to parent her child. 

 

This culture of adoption and homes for unwed mothers is sometimes referred to as the 'baby scoop era' and for good reason. But I just can't get the image of that poor girl out of my mind.

[Badger]

It reminded me of Mary in Series 1.  She was the Irish girl who had a baby that was taken away from her and she ended up kidnapping another woman's baby some months later.

[natyxg]

Just finished series 3 on Netflix. I knew something was up when Jenny was gone for two episodes for no reason, so her leaving at the end didn't surprise me all that much, though it saddened me. I did like Jenny and I liked her as narrator, even though I know the show can survive without her. I hope the next season opens up as a new era, that it feels like a new era, so she isn't so missed. I hope they decide on another central character, either a new one or one of the vets.

 

I appreciated that they tried to come up with a plot leading up to her leaving, but even though I guess Alec's death was supposed to play a part in it, her departure felt a bit rushed. Specially considering that it was such a huge leap: going from helping people being born to helping people die. Yikes! The latter has to be so much harder, imo. 

 

I hope she pops in sometime. They certainly left the door open by having old Jenny say that she never lost contact with the other characters.

[RedbirdNelly]

I was crying during the manicure--partly because of the show and what was happening on screen and partly because it brought me back to the last time I saw my Nana. I sat with her, holding her hands and rubbing lotion on them. I had kind of forgotten but that scene brought it back.