CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 2018
Please feel free to comment on my review.
At the time of watching this ‘Call the Midwife’ Christmas Special on the 25th of December 2018, I didn’t know much about ‘Call the Midwife’ as a series beforehand and I hadn’t seen the previous seasons that led up to this Christmas Special. I hoped to watch Series 7 of ‘Call the Midwife’ in 2018.
This was after watching the 2017 Christmas Special. Sadly that didn’t happen as my parents and I couldn’t find the time to catch up on what I had missed in previous ‘Call the Midwife’ seasons. Thankfully, my parents and I found a solution in which we could watch Series 8 of the series in 2019.
After watching Series 11 of ‘Doctor Who’ with Jodie Whittaker for the most part on BBC iPlayer, I was able to persuade my parents and me to watch ‘Call the Midwife’ on BBC iPlayer when it came to watching Series 8 in 2019. It was a rewarding experience and I got more into ‘Call the Midwife’ itself.
Before that happened however, we watched the 2018 Christmas Special on TV via BBC One. It was lovely to watch and my parents and I felt relaxed from watching it. I feel that’s often the case when a casual viewer watches a ‘Call the Midwife’ Christmas Special without seeing the previous seasons. 🙂
But it meant that I went into the 2018 Christmas Special without knowing what went on in Series 7 of ‘Call the Midwife’. My parents were the same as they didn’t know what happened in the interim between the 2017 and 2018 Christmas Specials. So some plot and character details were lost on me.
I had no idea that Trixie had been to Italy and had ended her relationship with Christopher Dockerill. I also had no idea that Barbara had died during Series 7 of ‘Call the Midwife’. This came as a shock to my parents who had missed out on what they had enjoyed in ‘Call the Midwife’ from Series 1 to 6 here.
I would soon catch up on what went on in ‘Call the Midwife’ in previous seasons after seeing Series 8 and 9 on BBC iPlayer n 2019 and 2020, but it would take time. I was still determined to enjoy ‘Call the Midwife’ in Series 8 and 9 regardless of having not watched the previous seasons beforehand. 🙂
Like all the ‘Call the Midwife’ Christmas Specials before it, the 2018 Christmas Special is about 90 minutes long. These Christmas Specials can often be seen as movies whenever you watch them on Christmas Day. You would need to watch on them on BBC iPlayer or on DVD to have intermissions. 🙂
Unlike the 2017 Christmas Special where it took place in the Big Freeze from 1962 into 1963, this Christmas Special takes place directly in the build-up to Christmas in the year 1963. I like how the build-up to Christmas 1963 is portrayed, especially as many people are getting ready for Christmas. 🙂
The special itself focuses on Sister Julienne and Sister Julienne being called to the Mother House where an important decision is about to be made. Sister Monica Joan refuses to go as she doesn’t want to return to a place that reminds her of her beginnings as a nun especially over Christmas time.
The important decision to be made at the Mother House involves the nuns voting for a new mother superior. Sister Julienne is reluctant to be chosen as the next mother superior at the Mother House since she wants to continue her work in Poplar. But does what she want matches to what God wants? 😐
I like how the build-up is made in whether Sister Julienne will actually be chosen to be the next mother superior or to return to her life in Poplar. She does return to Poplar of course, but I like how the build-up is handled and I liked how the reveal of the actual new mother superior gets developed.
Trixie meanwhile returns from Italy, seemingly happier and refreshed compared to the last time we saw her in Series 7. She, Valerie and Lucille soon help and care for Mavis Hollier during a difficult birth. Beforehand, Trixie is shocked to find that many mothers no longer want to give birth at home.
I really like some of the character-driven moments featured in this special. This includes some of the ‘Midwife’ characters helping to look after a group of Chinese orphans. There’s also a pregnant mother who comes from Australia who has a connection to the Mother House but is afraid to enter it.
The ‘Call the Midwife’ cast return in this Christmas Special, including Jenny Agutter as Sister Julienne, Linda Bassett as Nurse Crane, Helen George as Trixie, Judy Parfitt as Sister Monica Joan, Jennifer Kirby as Valerie, Leonie Elliot as Lucille, Stephen McGann as Dr. Turner and Laura Main as Shelagh. 🙂
There’s also Victoria Yeates as Sister Winifred, Cliff Parisi as Fred Buckle, Annabelle Apsion as Violet Buckle and Daniel Laurie as Reggie. There are also some new characters introduced here. I didn’t realise at the time that some of these new characters would return in future seasons of the show. 😀
The new characters featured in this Christmas Special include Fenella Woolgar as Sister Hilda and Ella Bruccoleri as Sister Frances. I recognised Fenella Woolgar from watching her as Agatha Christie in the ‘Doctor Who’ episode ‘The Unicorn and the Wasp’. She’s also done Big Finish audios of ‘Doctor Who’!
Sister Julienne and Sister Winifred meet Sister Hilda and Sister Frances at the Mother House. The special also features Miriam Margoyles as Sister Mildred. I’ve seen Miriam Margoyles in quite a number of things such as the 1985 BBC TV adaptation of ‘Oliver Twist’ produced by Terrance Dicks. 🙂
We’re also introduced to Georgie Glen as Miss Higgins, who is the new secretary at the medical practice where Dr. Turner works. Miss Higgins is quite strict and thorough when handling the new secretary role. Shelagh finds Miss Higgins hard work when having to show her around the place for the first time.
This special is significant for featuring the last proper appearance of Victoria Yeates as Sister Winifred. She does appear briefly in the first episode of Series 8, I believe, but this is where Sister Winifred makes the decision to stay at the Mother House in order to look after the children there. 🙂
Also appearing in this special is Jack Shalloo as Bobby Hollier with Bronwyn James as Mavis Hollier who is heavily pregnant. I saw Jack Shalloo previously in the ‘Doctor Who’ episode called ‘The Tsuranga Conundrum’. He was a pregnant man in that episode! Yeah, I know! How ironic is that?
There were some ‘Call the Midwife’ references in that ‘Doctor Who’ episode incidentally. 😀 Here, Bobby Hollier looks after his pregnant wife Mavis Hollier. I like how Mavis comes around to having the midwife Trixie, Valerie and Lucille looking after her when she initially wanted to go to the hospital. 🙂
Mavis does suffer the after-effects of giving birth when at the maternity home, but Dr. Turner and Nurse Crane help her in order to recover. I also like how Dr. Turner helped Bobby prepare for Christmas when Mavis seemed to be worrying about it, even if it meant sacrificing one of the household Christmas trees.
The pregnant woman who came from Australia happens to be Christy Sullivan as Lena Tremblay. It was interesting to hear her backstory and how she used to be happy coming to the Mother House. Sister Julienne and Shelagh help Lena with giving birth and she’s soon reunited with her lost brother.
David Hartley plays Billy Tremblay, Lena’s brother in the episode. Fred Buckle also has trouble with a donkey given to him in the Christmas Special. Thankfully, the donkey is used to perform in a Nativity play at the Mother House. I found this to be better usage of a donkey than in the ‘Nativity’ movies. 😀
It does seem like Dr. Turner and Shelagh are going to adopt another child – one of the Chinese orphans – into their family. The Turner family keeps getting bigger with having Timothy, Angela, Shelagh’s own baby boy and now having May Tang. Shelagh’s life seems to have gotten better here. 😀
I also like how the special concludes with Lucille bringing her congregation of church goers to Nonnatus House in order to keep Sister Monica Joan company and have the chance to praise God at Christmas time. Everyone else from ‘Call the Midwife’ attends to see Lucille’s congregation at Nonnatus. 🙂
The 2018 ‘Call the Midwife’ Christmas Special was very enjoyable to see when I saw it on BBC One TV at the time it was on transmitted on Christmas Day and it’s still very enjoyable to watch on DVD after all these years. Even after watching it again, I felt like wanting to be in a festive Christmas spirit.
I did wonder if I might struggle with watching the Christmas Special after having not seen Series 7 beforehand. Thankfully, ‘Call the Midwife’ is a series you can easily get into with good character drama. I liked the mentions of Patsy and Delia as well as Tom Hereward and the deceased Barbara in this special. 🙂
‘Christmas Special 2018’ rating – 8/10
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