Call The Midwife – Season 10

By: Ellie Yates

Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt) is back on her feet, with the aid of a walking stick, after her accident in the 2020 Christmas Special. Shelagh (Laura Main) has brought some biscuits that her and the girls have been baking and Sister Hilda (Fenella Woolgar) mistakes them for gingerbread monsters, but they’re actually shortbread nurses. They were for Mother Mildred, but she’s no longer visiting. Instead, they will be having a phone call in which Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter) suggests that the Order send midwives to a private maternity hospital in Mayfair. Her argument to Sister Hilda is that the finances raised will go back into Nonnatus House so that they can continue to help the poor. Trixie (Helen George) agrees to work at the private hospital to help out Nonnatus.

Friends Glenys (Sarah Twomey) and Audrey (Kathryn Wilder) are in the clinic for a check-up and Audrey explains to Sister Frances (Ella Bruccoleri) that when Glenys gave birth to twins she had to hide her sadness due to her and her husband, Derek (Jack Colgrave Hirst), trying for five years with no luck…until now. After finishing his check-ups on the friends, Dr Turner (Stephen McGann) is fuming about the private clinic, but Shelagh says that they need to be inventive to give the people of Poplar what they deserve. Dr Turner says they deserve the National Health Service keeping their promise to help people. When Sister Julienne asks Dr Turner to check up on a patient, he agrees and quips that there will be no charge. Sister Julienne says that is a state of affairs that she hopes won’t have to change. This is the first falling out Dr Turner and Sister Julienne have had in over twenty years.

Trixie is having her new uniform for Mayfair fitted. I say uniform as she looks more like she is about to deliver a Queen’s speech than babies. Sister Hilda tells Sister Julienne that they also need to freshen up their medieval uniforms if they are going to be visiting the Mayfair clinic. Sister Julienne agrees and Violet (Annabelle Apsion) is tasked with making them. Sister Frances isn’t overly keen as Violet’s design means you can see her knees, which she doesn’t like showing off as it’s one of the reasons she became a nun.

Audrey rings Nonnatus House thinking that she’s gone into labor and Derek is out meeting up with his old army friends. It was a false alarm and Derek comes home drunk, wearing someone else’s coat. The next morning Derek throws up and Audrey says she has no sympathy for him, until she realizes he’s vomiting blood. Dr Turner advises Derek to see a specialist as he thinks it might be a stomach ulcer and Derek is kept in the hospital. Lucille (Leonie Elliot) and Sister Frances visit Audrey as she actually goes into labor and Derek escapes hospital to be at the birth. Audrey kicks him out because she wants it to be like in the films, when the father holds the baby all washed.

Meanwhile, Glenys goes into labor next door and Sister Julienne attends. Whilst Glenys gives birth to a healthy baby girl, Audrey’s son is born with no legs below the knees and isn’t breathing. Sister Frances calls for Dr Turner who arrives with oxygen for the baby. However, Dr Turner says that the parents need to hold the baby as he’s too weak to make it. Audrey says that they were going to call him Christopher. As Sister Julienne leaves Glenys’ house, she hears Audrey’s screams and stays with them. As they sleep Audrey hears Glenys’ baby cry and wakes thinking it was Christopher. Sister Julienne explains that Glenys had a little girl, which upsets Audrey even more.

After saying goodbye to Christopher, Des (Kieran Hill), Derek’s friend from the army, visits him with his coat. They go to the pub to talk about Christopher and Des tells Derek it wasn’t his fault. He explains that his daughter came out with three fingers missing. At the clinic Derek explains to Dr Turner that when he was on Operation Grapple in the South Pacific and after eating some dodgy fish he and his comrades were throwing up and have had upset stomachs ever since. He explains what Des told him about his daughter. The Ministry of Defense won’t release Derek’s medical records, but after looking at films that Des brought back from the war, Dr Turner realizes that the radiation from a Hiroshima is what is causing Derek’s stomach problems and is the reason for Christopher’s missing limbs and stillbirth.

Whilst most of the Sisters of Nonnatus house have been dealing with the tragic events, Trixie was promoted to Sister as soon as she arrived at the private Maternity Hospital in Mayfair, which looks more like a posh hotel. After assisting Mr Scarisbrick (Richard Dillane) with expectant mother Fiona (Jo Herbert), Trixie tells him that he forgets to ask his patients what they want as women. She explains that expectant mothers don’t trust themselves and he scarcely lets midwives in to be with them, yet midwives can help expectant mothers help themselves. Mr Scarisbrick tells Trixie she can manage Fiona’s labor and says that they will all learn something from this. For what seems like a first at the Mayfair hospital, Trixie lets the father (Olly Rix) in for the birth and hold the baby not long after. When the couple leave, Mr Scarisbrick gives Trixie an approving smile.

Returning from registering Christopher’s birth and death, Audrey and Derek notice that Glenys crosses the road to avoid them. Audrey tells her not to and that she wants to see Glenys’ baby. Despite her heartbreak over Christopher, she is happy for Glenys. Later that day Derek is rushed to hospital with a hemorrhage after vomiting pints of blood. Dr Turner tells Audrey that he thinks Derek was exposed to radiation and that some of his medical records are missing. Audrey vows to fight for justice.

Throughout the episode Sister Monica Joan has been struggling with what the other Sisters believed to be her lack of mobility. However, as Fred (Cliff Parisi) tries to get her to participate in a bit of gardening, she explains that it’s not her body that has failed her, but her faith. She says she’s been trained to hide her feelings of fault from others, but the more she hides her faults, the more they scream in her ears and once there is doubt, seeking God only emphasizes the void. Monica Joan tells Fred that he can’t tell anyone, only God can help and if he doesn’t exist then no-one can help.

There was some light in the episode as the church bought the flat above Violet and Fred’s shop on the basis that a newly homeless Cyril (Zephryn Taitte) could live there. This came after a word between Lucille and Mrs Wallace (Linda Hargreaves). Mrs Wallace visited Fred to tell him that the church would pay the rent, as long as he helps them get the piano upstairs for the church and Cyril can live there. Cyril and Lucille dance around his new living room, before being interrupted by members of the church brining ornaments. Something tell me they won’t get much time to themselves.