SERIES 6, EPISODE 3
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This ‘Call the Midwife’ episode features the return of Helen George as Trixie, who’s spent quite a bit of time in South Africa since the 2016 Christmas Special. It is great to see Trixie back again in Poplar.
The episode also features the final appearance of Harriet Walter as Sister Ursula. Even though I’m glad she’s gone from this series, it’s very intriguing how she departed and saw the error of her ways.
In the episode, the winds of change are in the air again as a new government paper calls for the closure of small hospitals in favour of large general hospital. This is something that unsettles Poplar.
Stephen McGann as Dr. Turner and Laura Main as Shelagh do everything they can to keep the maternity home going. They’re soon about to receive an inspection that will decide the home’s fate.
The inspector comes along and it seems that he’s already decided about its future before making a judgement. But then two devastating incidents occur that may change the inspector’s mind about it.
It’s fascinating how the inspector reacts to how Dr. Turner handles the first incident (we’ll talk about it in a moment). Linda Bassett as Nurse Crane takes Dr. Turner’s place to attend the second incident.
The first of these devastating incidents involves a first-time mother from the Chinese community. This is caused by a new 20-minute rule for midwives to attend to their patients to speed up services.
Personally, a 20-minute rule shouldn’t apply here as expectant mothers should deserve the time they can get. The 20-minute rule of course is made by Sister Ursula to improve midwives’ efficiency.
This is because Sister Ursula has her own anxieties about the efficiency of Nonnatus House. She has also brought in this new rule fuelled by her past experiences at nursing/maternity establishments. 😐
The rule backfires when Charlotte Ritchie as Barbara struggles and is drawn in to helping the mother from the Chinese community – Alice Connor as Lucy Chen with her husband Chris Lew Kum Hoi as Cyril.
She also has her mother Lucy Sheen as Oilen Chen who has strong opinions about Lucy looking after her baby. A serious oversight occurs when Barbara attends to Lucy and her baby in a shortened visit.
Thankfully the baby is brought into the maternity home before being taken away to the hospital. The baby manages to survive at the end of the episode, but Sister Ursula’s leadership becomes in doubt.
Upset at how she handled things, Sister Ursula leaves Nonntaus House, allowing Jenny Agutter as Sister Julienne back in charge. I liked those scenes between Sister Ursula and Sister Julienne in this. 🙂
The second devastating incident involves Shelagh who, after much strenuous work caused by Sister Ursula’s handling of things, might have injured herself, causing the baby within her to get harmed. 😦
It’s saddening how that’s turned out as there seemed to be promise that Shelagh was about to have her baby. But by doing too much work on herself; it has complicated matters rather severely here. 😦
Elsewhere in the episode, Judy Parfitt as Sister Monica Joan has started disappearing for long periods of time. The nuns like Sister Julienne and Victoria Yeates as Sister Winifred are so concerned.
Thankfully, it turns out that Sister Monica Joan was going to watch TV programmes outside somebody’s house. The TV programme shown when Sister Julienne finds her is…‘Steptoe and Son’!!!
I’m not sure Sister Monica Joan should be watching that kind of TV programme. 😀 I liked that scene between Trixie and Barbara when they reunite. Barbara is upset about the Chinese mother business.
Trixie goes in to see Sister Julienne back in her office and tells her about Sister Mary Cynthia’s whereabouts. Apparently Sister Mary Cynthia was not in the mother house as Trixie tried to find her.
This is a little worrying. Where can she be? Where did she end up if she wasn’t sent to the mother house? Did she run away from the mother house? Will Sister Mary Cynthia ever return to the series?
Series 6, Episode 3 of ‘Call the Midwife’ has been a very good, compelling drama of an episode. I like that Trixie is back and it’s interesting how Sister Ursula’s exit was handled and it was done delicately.
‘Series 6, Episode 3’ rating – 8/10
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