This moving, intimate, funny and true-to-life series, based on the best-selling memoirs of the late Jennifer Worth, tells colorful stories of midwifery and families in London’s East End in the 1950s. Jenny Lee, a young woman raised in the wealthy English countryside, has chosen to become a nurse and now, as a newly qualified midwife, has gone to work in the poorest area of the city.
Attached to an order of nursing nuns at Nonnatus House, Jenny is part of a team of women who minister to expectant mothers, many of whom give birth at home in appalling conditions. The drama follows Jenny as she meets her patients and learns to love the people who live in the East End.
CALL THE MIDWIFE, a six-part series, stars Jessica Raine as Jenny Lee, along with Jenny Agutter ("The Railway Children," “Spooks”) as Sister Julienne, Pam Ferris (“Little Dorrit,” “Darling Buds of May”) as Sister Evangelina, Miranda Hart (“Miranda”) as Chummy, Judy Parfitt (“Little Dorrit,” "Girl with a Pearl Earring") as Sister Monica Joan, Helen George (“Hollyoaks,” “Doctors”) as Trixie Franklin, Bryony Hannah ("Cemetery Junction") as Cynthia Miller, Laura Main (“Monarch of the Glen”) as Sister Bernadette and Cliff Parisi (“East Enders”) as Fred. Vanessa Redgrave provides the voice of the mature Jennifer.
Episode One repeats on Sunday, March 17, 2013 at 6:30 p.m. - In the spring of 1957, newly minted midwife Jenny Lee arrives in the East End of London to begin her career. After overcoming the initial shock that her new home, Nonnatus House, is a convent and not a private hospital, she quickly becomes immersed in her new life.
Living with nuns and working in a community of colorful characters are different from anything Jenny has previously encountered. Through her, experience the sorrows and joys that come with being a midwife.
Episode Two repeats on Sunday, March 17, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. - As Jenny Lee settles into her role, there is a new arrival at Nonnatus House — Chummy. A welcome pair of extra hands, Chummy sets about showing her worth, but her overwhelming desire to please and her inability to ride a bike prove obstacles in gaining the respect of Sister Evangelina.
Meanwhile, a chance encounter with Mary, a pregnant young runaway, forces Jenny to see an unfamiliar, darker side of life.
Episode Three repeats on Sunday, March 17, 2013 at 8:30 p.m. - Jenny is placed on the district nursing roster for a few weeks, to extend her experience of community practice. During her rounds, she attends to Joe, a gentle old soldier, and a friendship forms.
At the antenatal clinic, Trixie and Cynthia enroll Winnie as a new patient. In her 40s, Winnie, who thought her days of diapers and babies were long gone, seems upset by her pregnancy. By contrast, her husband, Ted, is overjoyed. However, at the baby's birth, everyone gets a little surprise.
Episode Four aired Tuesday, Dec. 25 at 2 p.m. (not scheduled to air at this time) - A baby girl, recently delivered by Jenny, is snatched from her baby carriage, causing great anguish to her family and uniting the local community as they search for the missing child.
Meanwhile, Cynthia witnesses another type of loss as she assists in the case of soon-to-be parents David and Margaret. Newly married and excited about their future, everything is put in jeopardy when Margaret develops eclampsia.
Episode Five aired Tuesday, Dec. 25 at 3 p.m. (not scheduled to air at this time) - Jenny finds herself for once not involved in the beginning of life, but at its end. When Nonnatus House cleaner Peggy’s brother Frank is diagnosed with cancer, Jenny and the nuns are called upon to care for him. In doing so, Jenny comes to know the siblings better, learning of their upbringing in a workhouse and the profound effect it had on their relationship.
As Jenny tends to Frank, the other residents of Nonnatus House become involved in helping Fred with his latest money-making venture — a pig named Evie. Fred's plan had been to make his fortune from bacon, but this unravels when they realize the pig is pregnant. The nuns and nurses help out Fred and Evie in the manner they know best.
Episode Six aired Tuesday, Dec. 25 at 4 p.m. (not scheduled to air at this time) - Sister Monica Joan is found wandering near the docks and returned to Nonnatus House by the police. Her adventure takes its toll on her health and she develops pneumonia.
When she eventually recovers she returns to the community, only to find herself in trouble with the law when she is accused of theft. As Sister Monica Joan's case progresses to trial, the Nonnatus House community fears that the elderly nun could go to jail. Chummy is worried when her mother decides to make a trip to “inspect” her new beau.
This series was originally broadcast Sundays, September 30 - November 4, 2012. The first episode of Season Two premieires on Sunday, March 31, 2013 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV. Watch a preview of Season Two below!
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