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Call The Midwife Christmas special 2016 |
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#51 |
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I've no doubt some of them will eventually go to the 1966 World Cup Final. |
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#52 |
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As WAGs, perhaps? Or watching? Or working in case a spectator is so overcome that she has it there and then?
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#53 |
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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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#54 |
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I am surprised to see some negative comments
For me the whole episode was excellent and beautifully acted It took the series to another dimension Some appeared to have not liked it just because it was not in Poplar To me, the transference to Africa was totally believable, and the conditions at the time realistically portrayed There is plenty more to come in CTM , it has not had its day |
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#55 |
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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?
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#56 |
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It was nice enough and some great moments and I liked the move abroad.
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#57 |
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I didn't like it at all.
I found the "white (wo)man as saviour of the awfully poor black people " tone patronising and unpleasant. I absolutely loved the early series of CTM. It played a part in me deciding to retrain as a midwife, but it's strayed too far from the originals now. It always seemed odd how they glossed over some of the really good stories in Jenny Worth's books and ran out of original material ages before they would have if they'd have used them to the full. Trixie performing the caeasarean section was signposted with the subtlety of a sledgehammer and was utterly unbelievable. I agree with previous posters tht it's signalling her retraining as a Dr, which she'll no doubt be able to do in the space of a single series, without leaving Nonnatus House! |
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#58 |
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Agreed, although some on Twitter are complaining that the storyline showed white people saving black people.
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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..
I thought it was a good one off even though it was a little predictable and too neatly sewn up (including a midwife performing a c-section) |
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#59 |
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I didn't like it at all.
I found the "white (wo)man as saviour of the awfully poor black people " tone patronising and unpleasant. I absolutely loved the early series of CTM. It played a part in me deciding to retrain as a midwife, but it's strayed too far from the originals now. It always seemed odd how they glossed over some of the really good stories in Jenny Worth's books and ran out of original material ages before they would have if they'd have used them to the full. Trixie performing the caeasarean section was signposted with the subtlety of a sledgehammer and was utterly unbelievable. I agree with previous posters tht it's signalling her retraining as a Dr, which she'll no doubt be able to do in the space of a single series, without leaving Nonnatus House! They do need to do something with her character, though. This is the sixties and it is highly unlikely that someone like Trixie would be happy to live for years in a convent, sharing a bedroom, and eating all her meals with the nuns. All her contemporaries have long moved on; Jenny and Chummy to other areas of nursing and marriage and children, and Cynthia to discovering her vocation and staying in Nonatus House as a full member of the Sisterhood. Trixie seems to be stuck in a kind of no man's land, and her remaining in Nonatus House is becoming less credible with each series. As, incidentally, is the storyline involving Patsy and her girlfriend living in the midst of nuns and carrying on an affair to which they are obviously turning a blind eye. That just wouldn't have happened in the sixties. |
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#60 |
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The premise of the show being midwives in London. That wasn't what the special was about and it suffered for it. South Africa has absolutely nothing to do with London midwives and it was stretching things just to find a way to include it.
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#61 |
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Yes, I thought that whole scene looked ridiculous. As did Trixie swanning around looking gorgeous and beautifully groomed despite the deprivation all around her, including a severe water shortage.
They do need to do something with her character, though. This is the sixties and it is highly unlikely that someone like Trixie would be happy to live for years in a convent, sharing a bedroom, and eating all her meals with the nuns. All her contemporaries have long moved on; Jenny and Chummy to other areas of nursing and marriage and children, and Cynthia to discovering her vocation and staying in Nonatus House as a full member of the Sisterhood. Trixie seems to be stuck in a kind of no man's land, and her remaining in Nonatus House is becoming less credible with each series. As, incidentally, is the storyline involving Patsy and her girlfriend living in the midst of nuns and carrying on an affair to which they are obviously turning a blind eye. That just wouldn't have happened in the sixties. Trixie's a lonely and vulnerable young woman suffering alcoholism in the 60's. It's not surprising she needs their support, the sense of security they provide and it wasn't uncommon. |
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#62 |
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I was born in 1948 and a teenager in the 60's. It's absolutely believable of the time and a lot of it is based on facts from Jenny Worth's books.
Trixie's a lonely and vulnerable young woman suffering alcoholism in the 60's. It's not surprising she needs their support and some sense of security. |
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#63 |
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The earlier episodes were based on Jenny Worth's books. But Trixie is a made up character and the recent series have not been based on fact. I agree that Trixie is vulnerable, but she's also sparky, brave and curious about life. I just don't find it believable that she would live for years and years in a convent, instead of moving out and living a bit more independently.
Women's rights were unheard of and we didn't even have equal pay. A nurse would find it very difficult to self support on their income alone. We can only agree to disagree about the rest
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#64 |
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I am surprised to see some negative comments
For me the whole episode was excellent and beautifully acted It took the series to another dimension Expect to see an Inside No.9 parody of it in a few years. |
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#65 |
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I thought the acting was at about the same level as Crossroads, although it wasn't helped by the patronising tone of the script.
Expect to see an Inside No.9 parody of it in a few years. And if you really think the acting was in any way comparable to Crossroads, I can only assume that you are looking at the past through (very) rose-tinted spectacles … |
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#66 |
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Trixie isn't a "made up" character, they've made up how her life developed after the first two series. She was already living and working from the convent when Jenny first arrived there and she's been in the series since the start.
Women's rights were unheard of and we didn't even have equal pay. A nurse would find it very difficult to self support on their income alone. We can only agree to disagree about the rest ![]() |
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#67 |
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This order of Nuns are still in existence and have now relocated to the Midlands. They live near by and confirmed that there were quite a few that went out to South Africa to help with Polo vaccinations at this time.
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#68 |
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Cynthia is a real character and remained a lifelong friend of Jennifer Worth. Trixie is an amalgam of various characters Jennifer Worth knew during her nursing years. There is debate about whether Chummy is real or not. But Trixie never actually existed.
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#69 |
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I found it nauseating, so cut out quickly - but why was Chummy's husband there? How did they explain her disappearance? And why did Pam Ferris leave? And why is Jessica Raine's character still narrating, if she isn't there?
Beating a dead horse, this show. |
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#70 |
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Sorry, I was going by Jennifer's account in her book, Call the Midwife. I thought it was based on fact. Is it not?
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#71 |
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Sorry, I was going by Jennifer's account in her book, Call the Midwife. I thought it was based on fact. Is it not?
The TV series then made further modifications to the book. Trixie was barely mentioned in Jennifer Worth's account, and some of the real life Cynthia's characteristics seem to have been given to Trixie in the TV series eg the alluring, sexy voice. Jennifer Worth said Trixie was a mix of various nurses she had known., but was not an actual real life person. Cynthia, on the other hand, was real. She was Godmother to one of Jennifer's children, left the convent eventually and married a vicar, suffered from mental health problems, and died about a year before Jennifer. |
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#72 |
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Agreed, although some on Twitter are complaining that the storyline showed white people saving black people.
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#73 |
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Perhaps some of the events were. According to the Daily Mail here are the real nuns who inspired the books etc.
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The book was based on fact, but wasn't a totally factual account of what happened.
The TV series then made further modifications to the book. Trixie was barely mentioned in Jennifer Worth's account, and some of the real life Cynthia's characteristics seem to have been given to Trixie in the TV series eg the alluring, sexy voice. Jennifer Worth said Trixie was a mix of various nurses she had known., but was not an actual real life person. Cynthia, on the other hand, was real. She was Godmother to one of Jennifer's children, left the convent eventually and married a vicar, suffered from mental health problems, and died about a year before Jennifer. I know the storyline, especially after the first two (or three?) series, isn't correct, but I understood that the people at the start were all real and apart from Cynthia, Jennifer gave them pseudonyms. I know Trixie is barely mentioned in the book and I didn't mean the portrayal of her was accurate. I hope this makes some sense ![]() Quote:
I wasn't talking about the nuns, I was talking about the midwife aspect of the show. They're needed and employed by London, so most of them wouldn't be swanning off to South Africa.
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#74 |
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Nuns and midwives attached to a convent were called on to give missionary help in times of emergency. It was only a one month secondment and by that time the birth rate had fallen because of the advent of the contraceptive pill. In other words more responsible, long suffering the consequences, women were at last thankfully given some much needed effective control.
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#75 |
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a way to write Trixie out of the show for a while.
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