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Call The Midwife Christmas special 2016 |
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#26 |
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 8,038
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Didn't enjoy it at all, in fact eventually switched it off. Nothing like the original series which works very, very well based in Poplar and specials never work well. Everyone trying too hard.
I prefer it set in Poplar too. |
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#27 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Suffolk
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Just catching up, enjoying it so far, " I havn't done sanitary engineering since El Alamein "
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#28 |
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 5,066
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I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought the spirit and essence of the show was present despite the fact that the show as moved halfway across the world. The only thing that was different was the location, but other than that, it kept true to the ethos of Call the Midwife.
I've a feeling that Trixie might retrain as a doctor as that seems the indication that the show was pointing towards. |
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#29 |
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Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 795
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I think the lack of posts about it is a big sign that it didn't go down well with most viewers. It also wasn't popular on Twitter.
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#30 |
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Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Greater Manchester
Posts: 3,783
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I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought the spirit and essence of the show was present despite the fact that the show as moved halfway across the world. The only thing that was different was the location, but other than that, it kept true to the ethos of Call the Midwife.
I've a feeling that Trixie might retrain as a doctor as that seems the indication that the show was pointing towards. They do this brilliantly every time. My sister commented 'A bit Enid Blyton, isn' it?' and I knew what she meant but that's the culture of the whole thing and always has been. Unless Jenny Worth exaggerated with how all the people in Nonatus actually were, then how they communicated was the way of the times, the people, the profession and the place. Everything was done with a sense of order and structure with hierarchies, roles and positions respected. I took a while to get over 2 things; How Nonatus carried on its operational side whilst all its staff were off abroad and similarly, how the clinic ran before and when they'd all gone with one doctor and a secretary, seeing that all the Nonatus staff seemed as if they had their hands full all day and every day out there. That aside, it was as good as ever, I reckon. The programme informs, educates and entertains every time. But yes, back to Polar please for the upcoming series (presuming there is one). PS Yes, my sister cried - I gulped numerous times ![]() PPS Loved the scene when Helen George was talking to Tom. Whilst he looked like he'd had a tad too much soy sauce rubbed over him to make him look brown, she looked breathtaking not only through her looks and the style they have crated for her but her acting in that scene but throughout - it was outstanding and totally believable.. |
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#31 |
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: South of England
Posts: 421
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Quote:
I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought the spirit and essence of the show was present despite the fact that the show as moved halfway across the world. The only thing that was different was the location, but other than that, it kept true to the ethos of Call the Midwife.
I've a feeling that Trixie might retrain as a doctor as that seems the indication that the show was pointing towards. |
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#32 |
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Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 11,685
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My sister commented 'A bit Enid Blyton, isn' it?' and I knew what she meant but that's the culture of the whole thing and always has been.
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#33 |
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Norway
Posts: 1,003
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I see the Daily Mail correspondent's in.
![]() Everyone on DS can speak their mind, if they keep a nice tone, without being labeled as this or that. I have no interest in South Africa either. However, I liked it. A bonus was that there was no Delia. I cant stand the character. |
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#34 |
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 5,066
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I wasn't so sure initially but by the end,as usual I was in awe of how the writers (Heidi Thomas?? etc) construct the whole thing to an ending which pulls everything together.
They do this brilliantly every time. My sister commented 'A bit Enid Blyton, isn' it?' and I knew what she meant but that's the culture of the whole thing and always has been. Unless Jenny Worth exaggerated with how all the people in Nonatus actually were, then how they communicated was the way of the times, the people, the profession and the place. Everything was done with a sense of order and structure with hierarchies, roles and positions respected. I took a while to get over 2 things; How Nonatus carried on its operational side whilst all its staff were off abroad and similarly, how the clinic ran before and when they'd all gone with one doctor and a secretary, seeing that all the Nonatus staff seemed as if they had their hands full all day and every day out there. That aside, it was as good as ever, I reckon. The programme informs, educates and entertains every time. But yes, back to Polar please for the upcoming series (presuming there is one). PS Yes, my sister cried - I gulped numerous times ![]() PPS Loved the scene when Helen George was talking to Tom. Whilst he looked like he'd had a tad too much soy sauce rubbed over him to make him look brown, she looked breathtaking not only through her looks and the style they have crated for her but her acting in that scene but throughout - it was outstanding and totally believable.. I did wonder how Nonattus was functioning without most of the staff. I know that Patsy, Cynthia and Delia are competent midwives, but it does stretch credulity that half the staff were over in South Africa. Maybe they got some locums in or else there are hidden midwives living in the attics of Nonattus! Helen George is fantastic. I'm so pleased she is sticking around. I don't miss Jessica Raine or Jenny, but I do think that Helen leaving would sound the death knell for the programme. Not only is she beautiful, but she is a wonderful actress. |
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#35 |
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Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: I'm a she not a he.
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I enjoyed it more than I expected to, given that it wasn't set in Poplar which is half the charm of the series.
I was also wondering if Trixie would train as a doctor. She needs a new direction. She must be in her thirties by now and has been living in Nonatus House for about ten years. For someone as sophisticated and worldly wise as Trixie, that would surely feel very limiting and dead end after a while, no matter how much she loved being a midwife. It would also be a nice twist to see her happy ending involving an interesting career, instead of a knight in shining armour. |
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#36 |
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Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 7,471
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That aspect made me feel a little uncomfortable too. While I very much enjoy CTM the tone can be quite patronising at the best of times so tonight's ep felt particularly jarring..
All the apartheid references were accurate, as was the whole concept of overseas white medics helping the black population. It wasn't about being patronising or anything like that: it's what it was like then, and I'm sure the black population - oppressed in their own country - were grateful for all the help they could get. Given how far in advance that episode must have been conceived, written and filmed, I thought it contained some very prescient subtext for what is going on in the world today, where we have a new US president ushering in cronies with racist views who I'm sure would be quite happy with something resembling apartheid. |
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#37 |
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 12,020
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I wasn't so sure initially but by the end,as usual I was in awe of how the writers (Heidi Thomas?? etc) construct the whole thing to an ending which pulls everything together.
They do this brilliantly every time. My sister commented 'A bit Enid Blyton, isn' it?' and I knew what she meant but that's the culture of the whole thing and always has been. Unless Jenny Worth exaggerated with how all the people in Nonatus actually were, then how they communicated was the way of the times, the people, the profession and the place. Everything was done with a sense of order and structure with hierarchies, roles and positions respected. I took a while to get over 2 things; How Nonatus carried on its operational side whilst all its staff were off abroad and similarly, how the clinic ran before and when they'd all gone with one doctor and a secretary, seeing that all the Nonatus staff seemed as if they had their hands full all day and every day out there. That aside, it was as good as ever, I reckon. The programme informs, educates and entertains every time. But yes, back to Polar please for the upcoming series (presuming there is one). PS Yes, my sister cried - I gulped numerous times ![]() PPS Loved the scene when Helen George was talking to Tom. Whilst he looked like he'd had a tad too much soy sauce rubbed over him to make him look brown, she looked breathtaking not only through her looks and the style they have crated for her but her acting in that scene but throughout - it was outstanding and totally believable.. |
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#38 |
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: woking
Posts: 21,660
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Well I'm glad to say we all enjoyed it and even caught a tear in a couple of the boys eyes at times, it was lovely the proposal scene, and Trixie was fantastic. Yes I'm looking forward to them coming home but that was a lovely Christmas special, really seemed to hit on the head how life was back then.
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#39 |
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Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 795
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I'm glad it's over and they'll all be back in Poplar in the new series. I didn't particularly like the Christmas special and I spent the whole thing missing the absent characters and Poplar. It was too removed from the premise of the show and I hate the history of South Africa so I didn't need to spend 90 minutes reliving their disgusting racism.
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#40 |
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Join Date: Jun 2014
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It was too removed from the premise of the show and I hate the history of South Africa so I didn't need to spend 90 minutes reliving their disgusting racism.
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#41 |
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Join Date: Nov 2015
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Another show that has no place being on the Xmas Day schedule.
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#42 |
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Join Date: Jun 2014
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Another show that has no place being on the Xmas Day schedule.
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#43 |
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Join Date: Aug 2010
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The relative slowness of this thread says it all about Call the Midwife. It has had it's time.
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#44 |
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Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 7,471
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The relative slowness of this thread says it all about Call the Midwife. It has had it's time.
I wouldn't necessarily expect DS to go into meltdown over a CTM Xmas special. That viewing figure is strong enough for an overnight and the show will certainly consolidate. So it hasn't had its time … but nothing will last forever, and the BBC needs to be working on new shows for 8pm on Sundays. |
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#45 |
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Join Date: May 2005
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Another show that has no place being on the Xmas Day schedule.
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#46 |
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Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Greater Manchester
Posts: 3,783
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Thank you. I thought it was absolutely ridiculous but was trying to find the right words to express the silliness of it. With a few jokes thrown in it could have been an episode of The Comic Strip Presents.
My first thought would be to emphasise how it is a snapshot of its time though. Having read all of Jenny Worth's books, the moment the very first episode aired, I felt they'd got the feel of it just right (at least as far as my perceptions went). The fact that there is a structure to how things are done and how they all communicate is / was a function of many things including the way the nuns operated and how the nurses were all quite young, respectful of the nuns who, in many, although not all cases, were far more experienced than they were, leading to a polite, almost deferential and what looks very formal way of talking to each other. I think much of the conversational style might well have been spawned by the hierarchical structure of their situation. The Comic Strip style was indeed to take the mickey out of such cultural and social modus operandi, focusing on Enid Blyton and the like as a starting point, but the point for me is that such methods, ways and means existed. They weren't imagined and they have no less a value historically or dramatically, in fact, they have just as much value, as that was how it was and this series is depicting it. Just because they seemed out of date / time, may well have made them easy pickings for comedic purposes, especially in the early to mid 1980's when comedy's new wave pulled down everything that went before both in content and presentation. But as I watch the depiction of that 1950's style, I try to set my appreciation / consumption of it in the context of the times then, not now. My other thought is that considering Jenny Worth was still alive for the early series, we know that she had input into many aspects of the programmes construction including creative processes and production values and styles. I imagine that if it was off whack in any way, then Jenny would have told them. Of course, that doesn't mean that CTM will be everyone's cuppa. Jenny Worth said that she wrote the books due to there being a dearth of information written down about midwifery in that period so even if in such a dramatisation, the communication veers into a false reality, for me, I can put up with it as its the spirit of what they were doing that's as important than anything, even if aspects of the story-lines and script are a bit off or extreme. |
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#47 |
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Join Date: Aug 2008
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The relative slowness of this thread says it all about Call the Midwife. It has had it's time.
I see CTM as quite a niche subject but nontheless, the programme has a huge following. But let's see what the ratings are after the next series? I think Heidi Thomas and the other writers have done an amazing job of extending the series past the content of Jenny Worth's books for a few more series after the first 2. Also, I suppose that all dramas have a sort of life cycle. It may well be that CTM has already surpassed what most others achieve (would be interesting to see an analysis, if any existed deep in the corridors of the BBC!) |
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#48 |
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Join Date: Jun 2014
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Also, I suppose that all dramas have a sort of life cycle. It may well be that CTM has already surpassed what most others achieve (would be interesting to see an analysis, if any existed deep in the corridors of the BBC!)
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#49 |
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Join Date: Aug 2008
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As three more series including Christmas specials have already been commissioned I think you can judge exactly what the BBC's analysis is!
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#50 |
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Join Date: Aug 2005
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The premise of the show being what exactly? It's a community of nuns. Nuns vow obedience and therefore may be plucked out of their nice cosy existence at the drop of a hat. What's not true to the premise is that so many of the nuns at St. Donatus have been there as long as they have and have not previously been decamped temporarily or permanently to assist other houses. That you find a particular party of history distasteful is no excuse for ignoring it in a period drama. Would you have expected them to pretend that thalidomide had never happened also?
I've no doubt some of them will eventually go to the 1966 World Cup Final. |
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