BBC delivers a medical hit
Just when you think you couldn’t possibly fall for another medical drama, enter Call the Midwife.
The BBC import based on the memoirs of late nurse Jennifer Worth has been picking up speed on our side of the sea since it hit the airwaves on PBS in September. And rightly so; its sentimental storylines revolving around the challenging work of newbie 1950s midwife Jenny Lee (Jessica Raine) and her fellow midwives and nuns from the nursing convent Nonnatus House in the troubled East London area are more gripping than any trip to Seattle Grace on Grey’s Anatomy (and Izzie’s petty romantic woes would have undoubtedly triggered eyerolls galore from Jenny).
While midwifery and its hospital-free practices are a topic of controversy today, Call the Midwife traces back to its era as a saviour for East London’s impoverished women and babies. In Sunday’s special holiday episode, the nurses and nuns tend to an abandoned newborn while searching for its mother, while Jenny searches for the children of an elderly beggar. There’s no place like Nonnatus House for the holidays. London legend Vanessa Redgrave voices the part of a grown-up Jenny. Call the Midwife returns for Season 2 on March 31. (PBS — 5:30 p.m.)
Marathon watch continues Sunday with Moonshiners, Lost Girl and Million Dollar Rooms. Let’s face it; there isn’t much else on these days. Here are the specs:
Moonshiners: A group of Appalachian folk make booze illegally just like their daddies and their daddies before and their daddies before that did back in the day. About as real as The Hills. Or is it real? Who knows. Either way, Discovery Channel is banking. And Virginia authorities insist there’s no illegal activity taking place on the show. Really. Seven hours. (Discovery, 3 p.m.)
Lost Girl: Seductress Bo (Anna Silk), known for her dangerous sexual powers, goes undercover as a high-school teacher, gets into trouble with Fae and must be saved from a hot and heavy night that turns ugly — the latter in an episode called Fae-nted Love. Hey, they might not know how to name ’em, but Showcase has otherwise nailed it with this supernatural Succubus series that has been picked up in Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. Catch Episodes 16 to 18 of Season 2. A third season kicks off Jan. 6. Three hours. (Showcase — 5 p.m.)
Million Dollar Rooms: Some people have houses with kitchens and bathrooms, and other people have houses with entire ’50s-style diners and indoor waterfalls. No big deal. Six hours. (HGTV — 10 a.m.)