Entertaiment

The BBC drama, Call the Midwife, has just finished its third season abroad, and will soon conclude in the U.S. This unique show based on the memoirs of nurse and midwife Jennifer Worth continues to entertain viewers around the world, and yet has not gained much traction in the U.S.

This delightful British show both inspires and educates in a way that modern Hollywood fails to do. For viewers in search of an uplifting show, with a more grown-up plot than most “clean” television provides, Call the Midwife is the answer.

Set in 1950s East End London, this BBC and PBS production shares the lives of a four young midwives, and the sisterhood of Anglican nuns of Nonnatus House with whom they both live and work. The struggles (and joys) of living with one’s co-workers, the travails of midwifery, and the realities of poverty are the common themes the show is set against.

Call the Midwife sets itself apart as a unique and remarkable show because it does not shy away from topics regarding religion and social change. And it does so without belittling the nuns or morality. In fact, the show portrays religious beliefs with great honor and respect, unlike nearly every network television show produced in Hollywood today.

The show strives to be as accurate as possible in the births, medical knowledge, set dressings, social cues, and religious leanings of the era. The current (third) season is set at the very end of the 1950s – a world on the brink of immense social change. While nuns pedal about the Poplar neighborhood of London on their motorbikes, carrying packs of enemas, and “gas and air” for the deliveries, women begin to wear pants in public. Meanwhile some of the Caucasian patients refuse to be seen by the same midwife that has treated a black patient. Scientific and medical developments occurred at rapid pace, transforming the lives and livelihoods of everyone. But in this period of increased social change, not all were quick to embrace it, especially not in a convent.

One of the show’s charms comes through the narrated voice of Vanessa Redgrave, as she relates the memoirs of nurse Jenny Lee (played on screen by the younger actress Jessica Raine). The narration helps distinguish what prejudices were known and not known in the 1950s, versus the decisions she would make as a nurse and midwife in today’s world.

Call the Midwife doesn’t cheapen the show by changing the historic story line to accommodate today’s views on immorality, poverty, or racism. The show instead chooses to confront the issues head-on, in a realistic, era-appropriate way, sharing multiple sides of an issue. For instance, in a recent episode, a young wife had cheated on her husband with a man of another race, and a pregnancy ensued. (Sex is never shown on-screen. We see the mothers at the end of their pregnancies, not the conception.) During the 1950’s a bi-racial child in the East End would have been banished as an outcast, as would the mother. The mother feared for her own life and that of the child if her husband discovered her infidelity. In today’s Hollywood, such a storyline would be changed to her husband and the neighborhood opening their minds and accepting the child, probably set to a musical montage. But it wouldn’t be realistic of the actual time period, no matter how regrettable or unenlightened the decade.

Some of the most fascinating moments regarding liberal and forward-thinking methods are championed by the nuns themselves in a truly thoughtful way. It tends to be the nurses and midwives who fear the change, or even discussion of it with the nuns.

Don’t just watch the show for the witty repartee, beautiful dresses, and charming soundtrack. Watch it for the heart-warming births, gut-wrenching deaths, belly laughs, and soulful tears. The show puts great efforts in realistic and medically accurate births, which just may change the viewer’s opinions on home births versus hospital births. And no matter your views on either subject, you will come away with a greater respect for the midwives and the heroic and valiant mothers they serve.

In the U.K. the show attracts more than 10 million viewers, almost as many as the other current BBC favorite, Downton Abbey. The two shows may be compared for being set in historic London, and discuss real events, but that’s where the similarities end.

This ensemble drama stars Jenny Lee (Jessica Raine), Beatrix “Trixie” Franklin (Helen George), Camilla “Chummy” Fortescue-Cholmondeley-Browne (Miranda Hart), and Cynthia Miller (Bryony Hannah), as they deliver babies and sip Babycham out of view of the nuns.

It is available on Netflix, Amazon Prime, PBS, and iTunes. You can also enjoy the original memoirs in paperback or on Kindle.