S08.E06: Episode 6

[elle]

1 hour ago, tinderbox said:

A bit off topic but...  I think granny is the actress who played the female part of the “bad guy” couple in Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much.  

That would be the lovely Brenda de Banzie  (1909-1981) who also played the wonderful socialite Angela in The Pink Panther.

Edited May 9, 2019 by elle

[tinderbox]

20 hours ago, elle said:

That would be the lovely Brenda de Banzie  (1909-1981) who also played the wonderful socialite Angela in The Pink Panther.

Thank you for the information.  She died in 1981 so....I'm wrong. 

[elle]

2 hours ago, tinderbox said:

Thank you for the information.  She died in 1981 so....I'm wrong. 

I could see how you thought it might be the same actress.  Ann Mitchell who plays Elsie bears a strong resemblance too Brenda de Banzie.

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 5/5/2019 at 11:38 PM, LittleIggy said:

Miriam Margolyes is awesome. It’s a hoot that she lobbied to be on CTM. Great addition to the cast.

I know her only from her bawdy appearances on the Graham Norton Show. 

.

On 5/6/2019 at 3:51 PM, Rap541 said:

I think the social service lady was being cold because she was trying to be firm - the adoptive family had done nothing wrong and the Turners were never made any promises, May was always a foster child to the Turners.  I assume she will go to her new family and it's a lovely home.

Besides, Angela is the cutest child in the history of the earth, so I have no problem with making the Turners spread the wealth a little.  They already hit one jackpot.

[dcalley]

On 5/6/2019 at 4:51 PM, Rap541 said:

I'm gonna be the cold pragmatist on this one. May was always meant to be adopted by the couple in question but one parent took seriously ill. They didn't have second thoughts about having a child - I believe it was tuberculous

Yes, it was TB, but the father was in a sanatorium and the wife *could have* but didn't want to take in May by herself. I'm mad about it! 

[doodlebug]

29 minutes ago, dcalley said:

Yes, it was TB, but the father was in a sanatorium and the wife *could have* but didn't want to take in May by herself. I'm mad about it! 

It makes a little more sense in the historical context though.  TB had a pretty high mortality rate in England until the introduction of antibiotics after WWII.  It was certainly much lower by 1964, but I am sure the couple planning to adopt Mei remembered when TB killed about half of its victims.  Having a small child in the household would also probably factor into how long the husband would have to stay in a sanitorium since little kids are more susceptible to the infection and so he wouldn't be able to be around her.  TB takes a long, long time to be eliminated and he might conceivably have had to be separated from her for years.  So, perhaps they felt it would be better if Mei wasn't kept in limbo indefinitely and instead placed permanently now rather than waiting on the couple to be able to take her.  Financially, it might also be that, with the husband in a sanitorium and unable to work for months or even years; the wife didn't feel she could support another child at that point.

Then, there's the fact that there were many, many more kids available for adoption back in that era and people weren't waiting years and years to get a child.  Even newborns could be adopted with waits that were no longer than an actual pregnancy would take.  So, perhaps this couple had a little more cavalier attitude about adoption than we do today simply because they knew that if they didn't take Mei, they could easily get another child in the future should they decide to adopt then.

[dcalley]

I'm a little mad at the TB family, but I'm mostly mad that the orphanage seems to have set May aside for that particular couple like she was an item on layaway when perhaps another family could have permanently adopted her sooner. (I haven't seen the finale yet.)

[Ceindreadh]

5 hours ago, dcalley said:

I'm a little mad at the TB family, but I'm mostly mad that the orphanage seems to have set May aside for that particular couple like she was an item on layaway when perhaps another family could have permanently adopted her sooner. (I haven't seen the finale yet.)

This wasn’t a typical adoption though. Mother Mildred brought the orphans all the way from Hong Kong and probably couldn’t have done so without a commitment from a specific family. 

While it might indeed have been easy to find a home for an English child, finding a home for a Chinese one might not have been so easy. 

[izabella]

On 5/7/2019 at 1:00 PM, Popples said:

This bothered me so much. Especially when she said she had nine months to think about things (meaning attempting the typing correspondence), but she didn't try to find a part-time job in a shop or as a waitress or something to get money before the baby came. If Lucille and Mrs. Higgins hadn't put the effort into finding the unwed mothers' assistance programs, she would have been super screwed. I was surprised it all worked out so well for her.

Her parents were cold and harsh, but they had a point.

This whole plot bothered me so much because of the previous plot a little while back with the teacher who was fired when she was pregnant, and it seemed like her whole life went to shit.  I don't recall any of this assistance and finding jobs for her then.

Edited June 2, 2019 by izabella

[femmefan1946]

" --and  the unmarried births rose from about 5% to almost 50%."

Less that unmarried births rose than that couples, even long term ones, just don't get married.

In Quebec there are more children born to unmarried, but stable and long term, couples than there are to married couples. In that case it's a specific reaction to the overbearing presence of the Church. Our former PM, Jean Cretien (age 85), was one of 17 children. Which was not an unusually large family.

So not all out of wedlock children have single mothers.

And, even in the 60s adoption was an unusual and odd way to form a family. Most babies would grow up in institutions, unless they were lucky enough to be blonde and blue-eyed and in perfect health.

Even newborns could be adopted with waits that were no longer than an actual pregnancy would take. 

By coincidence, the day DH and I sent our letter asking to be considered as adoptive parents, was the same day our daughter was born.

The CSA was a little worried, however, because by the time our paperwork and training was completed, she was already six months old and was considered to old to be adoptable.

Edited June 22, 2019 by femmefan1946

[JoSnowden]

On 5/6/2019 at 12:38 AM, LittleIggy said:

Miriam Margolyes is awesome. It’s a hoot that she lobbied to be on CTM. Great addition to the cast.

I want May to stay with the Turners, too. Find another orphan for that other family to adopt. It’s not as if they have an attachment to May.

I could have gone my whole life without seeing the pus filled boil on Granny’s butt! 🤢

I kind of wonder about these adoptive parents for Mei.  They wanted her then there was a delay so the Turners took her in.  It’s been months.  It seems like the adoptive parents really don’t want her.  Wonder if it will end up a failed adoption and the Turners will get her back.

[doodlebug]

13 hours ago, JoSnowden said:

I kind of wonder about these adoptive parents for Mei.  They wanted her then there was a delay so the Turners took her in.  It’s been months.  It seems like the adoptive parents really don’t want her.  Wonder if it will end up a failed adoption and the Turners will get her back.

As I recall, the story was that the adoptive father had active TB.  In that case, I would expect that they were advised that he couldn't have any contact with the child for a period of months, even years, until he was no longer contagious.  Even if he went to a sanitorium as people did in those days, that would have left the wife having to care for any other children by herself and probably go to work to support the family while he was unable to work.  Taking on an orphan who doesn't speak the language would be daunting even in perfect circumstances.

That being said, I expect we will hear the husband has had a relapse of his TB or some other major medical crisis and the adoption is terminated and Mei will go back to the Turners.

[apollonia666]

On 5/6/2019 at 12:38 AM, LittleIggy said:

Miriam Margolyes is awesome. It’s a hoot that she lobbied to be on CTM. Great addition to the cast.

I wasn't familiar with her before -- or at least I thought I wasn't, but then I looked her up on Wikipedia and read that she was Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter movies. And she's just fascinating. She was the first person to say "fuck" on British television! 

It appears that she'll probably be headed back to the Mother House as soon as Nurse Crane's back is better, but I do hope they bring her back.

Edited September 22, 2019 by apollonia666

[AZChristian]

21 hours ago, apollonia666 said:

I wasn't familiar with her before -- or at least I thought I wasn't, but then I looked her up on Wikipedia and read that she was Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter movies. And she's just fascinating. She was the first person to say "fuck" on British television! 

It appears that she'll probably be headed back to the Mother House as soon as Nurse Crane's back is better, but I do hope they bring her back.

Once you've created a potion from Mandrake root to restore those who have been petrified . . . birthing babies is a piece of cake.  LOL.

Edited September 23, 2019 by AZChristian

[MissLucas]

On 9/22/2019 at 6:11 PM, apollonia666 said:

She was the first person to say "fuck" on British television! 

Of course she was LOL! Anyone who's ever seen her on the Graham Norton Show will not be surprised by that info. As I've first 'met' her as uptight aunt Prudence on the Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries the disconnect between character and actor was quite amazing.

[khyber]

On 9/23/2019 at 1:00 PM, MissLucas said:

 As I've first 'met' her as uptight aunt Prudence on the Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries the disconnect between character and actor was quite amazing.

That's why I recognized her. Thanks.

[RedbirdNelly]

I enjoyed the imperfect Mother Mildred. She was fun. Although I miss Phyllis. 

I enjoyed Violet sticking up for Fred but also doing it behind his back. Cracked me up when she told the nuns not to tell him.

[LilJen]

Mother Mildred has annoyed me to no end in both episodes she’s appeared in. She appears to have zero ability to read the room, even if she can apologize later.

[Quof]

Oh, that's just Miriam Margolyes.  She's not acting.