Midwife’s final delivery first class
A birth, a wedding, a death and a reunion were all packed into Call The Midwife as the sixth series drew to a close last night. The BBC One show has been a ratings success, so much so that three more series have been confirmed...
MY nine-year-old son’s verdict on Call The Midwife? “I’m glad men don’t have babies.”
It is a show that never stints on authentic detail, not least the authentic details of childbirth.
And as the final episode in series six proved it always delivers so much more than babies.
As we watched pregnant Shelagh rubbing her swollen ankles, we knew what would happen later.
The same was true when Barbara discovered that her missionary father was passing through on his way to convert the heathens of New Guinea, and would not be able to marry her, unless…
At the family planning clinic a woman called Wilma revealed that her husband would not approve of her taking the Pill – but then again he would not find out as she would keep them in her handbag.
Wilma did take the Pill as she juggled a job, three kids and that one giant baby of a husband.
The medical detail that followed was treated honestly. For Wilma, like some women in the early days of the Pill, got a blood clot and died. Amid the excited wedding and baby preparations, this rang a sombre note.
However, among the sugar and the confetti was a surprising amount of comedy. Well brought-up Barbara had moments of pure slapstick with the contraception device she was given prior to her wedding night.
And as Shelagh went into labour, Sister Julienne tried to keep a concerned Doctor Turner away. “She’s fine,” she told the doctor on the phone, as Sheila vomited – and I thought nuns never fibbed.
The ending, though, felt slightly unlikely. Patsy blew in from Hong Kong just in time for the party.
Tasty Tom the Vicar conveniently won a huge wedge on his stag night, and managed to hire a merry-goround in time for the celebrations.
Then again, the merry-go-round of birth, marriage, death and a reunion was just about right.
Watched by an estimated nine million viewers, the final episode, along with all the others in the series, was a wheel of life and birth and death.
It sometimes makes us queasy, sometimes makes us laugh, and never stops – at least for another three series anyway.