SERIES 7, EPISODE 4
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This ‘Call the Midwife’ episode seems to see the temporary departure of Helen George as Trixie from the series for a bit. This is following on from her break-up with her boyfriend Christopher Dockerill. 😦
It also may account for the fact that Helen George was pregnant at the time of the making of this episode. So, the production team agreed to give her maternity leave before she was able to return. 🙂
It’s been argued Helen George’s pregnancy was not well-hidden during the filming for this episode. I think Roxann Dawson had a similar problem when playing B’Elanna Torres in ‘Star Trek: Voyager’. 😀
Anyway, in the episode, Jenny Agutter as Sister Julienne is drawn into the heart of a different culture. She is called upon to help a Pakistani family where a young man happens to have two wives.
Simon Rivers as Saddiq Gani is the husband whilst Balvinder Sopal as Mumtaz is his first wife and Aasiya Sha as Parveen is his second wife. Parveen’s heavily pregnant and happens to be 15 years old.
Mumtaz is childless and becomes heartbroken when her husband Saddiq brings Parveen home from a prearranged marriage by his family. Mumtaz is exceptionally bitter when interacting with Parveen.
It’s interesting how Sister Julienne and the midwives help Mumtaz to come to terms with having Parveen in her and Saddiq’s family. This is especially as the Pakistani culture’s different to Poplar’s. 😐
I like how Sister Julienne handles things in a diplomatic manner by emotionally supporting Mumtaz as well as Parveen. Mumtaz is even there to support Parveen when she’s having her baby delivered.
Sister Julienne also encourages Mumtaz to keep on supporting Parveen, especially when she’s struggling to give her new born baby her milk. It’s touching how this subplot gets handled in episode.
While that’s going on, Judy Parfitt as Sister Monica Joan is having trouble with her eyesight since she keeps using a magnifying glass to read things. She also sits up too close to the TV set in Nonnatus. 😀
Cliff Parisi as Fred reports his observations of Sister Monica Joan’s failing eye-sight to Sister Julienne. Both Sister Julienne and Stephen McGann as Dr. Turner are determined to assist Sister Monica Joan.
They are convinced that Sister Monica Joan needs cataract surgery. But she refuses to have her cataracts removed. This causes concern to many. She must acknowledge her own vision is impaired.
Thankfully, with gentle persuasion from handy-man Fred, Sister Monica Joan eventually goes through with having the first consultation in order for her vision to be improved and to have the cataracts removed.
I’m hoping Sister Monica Joan’s eyesight will be better in the rest of the series. It’s nice how her anxieties get addressed and how her friends gently persuade her to go through the cataract surgery.
At the midwifery clinic, Leonie Elliot as Lucile meets a woman with pica – Rose Wardlaw as Mrs. Campbell. But this isn’t any ordinary craving she has as Mrs. Campbell cannot stop eating coal here.
This subplot isn’t really handled much in too much depth as Mrs. Campbell has the baby delivered with help from Trixie. Billy Seymour as Mr. Campbell also gives Trixie a glass of sherry to celebrate. 😐
Trixie’s drinking problem comes back after her break-up with Christopher. Linda Bassett as Nurse Crane gets wind of Trixie drinking sherry at the Campbells and she has to tell her what she knows. 😐
It’s interesting how Trixie tries to overcome her drinking problem, even when it’s fraught. Jack Hawkins as Christopher Dockerill also tries to help Trixie, even when they’re just meant to be friends.
But in order to recover, Trixie really has to give up Christopher even when he’s in love with her and he must do the same. Trixie is soon given a leave of absence for six months by Sister Julienne here. 😦
It’s really sad how Trixie has had these misfortunes with breaking up with boyfriends in the series. I would like it if Trixie had a stable relationship with a boyfriend and that she’d live happily ever after.
Series 7, Episode 4 of ‘Call the Midwife’ is a good piece of drama. It’s sad about Trixie’s misfortunes, but hopefully when she has recovered after a leave of absence, she’ll be stronger than she ever was.
On Disc 2 of the Series 7 DVD of ‘Call the Midwife’, there’s the behind-the-scenes featurette ‘Cataracts, Demons & Jealously’ to check out with cast and crew interviews.
‘Series 7, Episode 4’ rating – 8/10
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