Call the Midwife – Season 9, Episode 2

By starrymag | April 12, 2020

By: Ellie Dolan-Yates

 

 

Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt) is scrubbing the floor of the chapel with a toothbrush. It’s Lent and everyone is trying their best to give up their pleasures. Violet (Annabelle Aspion) catches Fred (Cliff Parisi) trying to sneak an eclair and Lucille (Leonie Elliott) has Trixie (Helen George) and Valerie (Jennifer Kirby) put their cigarettes in the bin.

 

Violet and Fred’s milk delivery has gone missing again. At Nonnatus House Fred finds that they too have fallen prey to the mystery milk snatcher. At dawn Fred hangs around Nonnatus House and he and Sister Monica Joan catch a blonde lady, Tina (Georgia Henshaw), taking the milk. She apologizes and says she doesn’t even like milk, but she knows it’s good for the baby. Realizing that Tina is pregnant, Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter) invites her in. Once inside, Tina removes her wig to reveal long, curly dark hair. Sister Julienne advises her to register at the antenatal clinic.

 

Florrie (Amanda Root) is looking after her granddaughter Gillian as her pregnant daughter, Laverne (Carly Bawden), has to work. Later  Laverne is having a check up and Valerie asks her if she’s still working at the factory. Laverne explains that she is as her and her husband are saving for a house. Valerie tells Laverne that her blood pressure is too high and she needs to rest. At Laverne’s house Florrie wakes in an armchair, seemingly confused as to where she is. She checks her watch as she unsteadily gets to her feet. She takes a shopping list and heads out leaving Gillian playing under the table.

 

At the clinic Dr. Turner (Stephen McGann) tells Tina that she’ll need to make an appointment for her test results. Tina doesn’t mind if it means she gets to see Dr Turner again. She tells him he has eyes like Paul McCartney, who happens to be her third favorite Beatle. On the other side of the clinic Miss Higgins (Georgie Glenn) is fawning over a plant Sergeant Woolf (Trevor Cooper) has given her. He has also invited her to Kent with him to see his sister.

 

Valerie finds police outside Laverne’s house. Aubrey explains that a little girl has been left inside and the door is locked. Peeking through the letterbox, Valerie sees Gillian sat in the hallway calling for her mum. Valerie tells her it will be okay and Sergeant Woolf asks Gillian to move back before another policeman barges the door open. Laverne arrives and quickly becomes distressed. Valerie explains that Florrie isn’t there. Meanwhile, Sergeant Woolf has a heart attack and Valerie tells the other police to call for an ambulance as she helps him.

 

Florrie sees the ambulance outside Laverne’s house and drops her shopping in shock. Laverne asks her mum what would’ve happened if Gillian had got out into the road. Florrie says that she can’t remember what happened. Laverne’s husband, Ken (Harry Neale), returns home and asks if they’ve been burgled. When Ken asks what happened to the door, Laverne tells him to ask Florrie.

 

At Nonnatus House Nurse Crane (Linda Bassett) tells Valerie that Sergeant Woolf is lucky she acted so quickly. Valerie wishes she could have gone with him in the ambulance, but felt she needed to be with Laverne. Lucille says it sounds like Florrie is developing dementia. Nurse Crane says it’s hard for the child to become the parent, but Sister Monica Joan notes that the child owes it to the parent for all the sacrifices the parent has made through their life. Nurse Crane agrees, but notes that it doesn’t make it any easier. Trixie takes a seat at the table and apologizes for being late. She explains that the clinic has been very busy as more women are taking advice about contraception. Sister Julienne warns her that her voluntary commitments shouldn’t affect her work.

 

Florrie is explaining to Dr Turner how tired she’s been and that she’s been having joint pain. Laverne mentions that Florrie has also been forgetting things. Dr Turner explains that Florrie may have developed early onset diabetes, but he wants her to get a blood test just in case.

 

Sister Julienne goes to Daventry House and passes a sailor with a massive grin on his face. In one of the rooms she spots another sailor handing a woman money. Sister Julienne finds Tina and tells her that she’s missed her appointment at the clinic and she needs to attend on a regular basis. Tina promises she will as she wants the best for the baby. She says she’s going to love the baby so much and keeps imagining what it will be like. Tina mentions that she’s noticed some discharge and it burns when she wees. She tells Sister Julienne that she can look if she likes. Embarrassed, Sister Julienne says it’s best that Dr Turner takes a look. Tina says as long as it won’t be long, she’s got an interview with a music producer. As Sister Julienne leaves, another sailor arrives at Tina’s door.

 

Tina is at the surgery but Dr Turner has been called away. Shelagh (Laura Main) offers to examine Tina herself.  After noticing Tina’s episiotomy scar, Shelagh asks Tina about her first child, throwing her off guard. Tina says that she was just a kid and her parent’s didn’t want to know. She explains the boy lives in America with his dad now in “one of those big white houses with a view of the sea.” Shelagh explains that Tina has an infection and she needs to send a sample for testing.

 

Dr Turner is examining Florrie. The whites of her eyes have turned yellow and Dr Turner says that rather than diabetes, it must be liver problems. He wants to run some tests though to get to the bottom of it. That evening Laverne is worried that her mum might die. Ken tries to calm her down, but Florrie is listening in the hallway. Ken suggests that Florrie could easily be hiding the fact that she drinks. Laverne has a go at him for this and tells him if he ever says anything like that again she’ll kick him out.

 

Trixie asks Valerie how Laverne and Florrie are doing. Valerie explains that Laverne is worried, but Florrie doesn’t seem like a drinker. Trixie says that if someone’s determined enough, they can hide anything and with that said she plans to have a cigarette after dinner – Lent or not! At the shop Violet is ready with her rolling pin in the middle of the night to tackle whoever is rummaging around in the shop. It turns out it’s just Fred rummaging around in the cake tin! He couldn’t resist the fruit cake that Violet’s aunt had sent. He apologizes and Violet tells him he could have at least used a knife, before taking some cake herself.

 

Dr Turner seems to have got to the bottom of Florrie’s illness. He’s noticed that her symptoms started when she stopped having her periods, symptoms that indicate toxic levels of iron in her tissues. He explains to Florrie that it can be managed by bloodletting, but it can take a few months to get under control. Florrie is just relieved that she’s not going to die. Laverne tells Ken that they will have to forget about saving for a house for now. Florrie needs to get better and she needs to be ready for the new baby. Ken understands and says all that matters is that Florrie gets better. I think he’s redeemed himself from calling his mother-in-law an alcoholic.

 

When inspecting for lice at the school, Sister Hilda (Fenella Woolgar) asks Miss Graham (Emilia Williams) what happened to the Atkins’ siblings mother. Miss Graham explains that they have been back to their mother, Tina’s, more than once but she never sticks around. Miss Graham mentions that their mother is a prostitute at the docks and Sister Hilda realizes who the mother is.

 

Shelagh is speaking with Sister Julienne about Tina’s gonorrhea. They decide that if Tina has an allocated bathroom then she can stay at the maternity home. Shelagh tells Sister Julienne that she is concerned about what Tina said about her son, surprising sister Julienne. Later, Sister Hilda explains to Julienne that she is sure the lice ridden Atkins children belong to Tina.. They realize that Tina is worried if people find out she may not be able to keep the baby.

 

Tina is having trouble settling in at the maternity ward. She tells Sister Frances (Ella Bruccoleri) that she looks very young to be a nun. Sister Frances explains that she joined when she was seventeen years old and Tina asks her, “What about boys and parties and stuff?” She realizes this means that Frances has never…”y’know.” Later, Sister Julienne visits with a few job ideas and tells Tina that she’ll be in a more secure position to keep the baby if she has a job. Sister Julienne says if she lets them help that Tina may be able to contact her other children. Tina says they’re better off without her.

 

Miss Higgins is visiting Aubrey in hospital and says he needs a day at the seaside when he’s recovered. Aubrey says he will be staying with his sister when he is out of hospital and Miss Higgins gets excited about going to Kent. However, Aubrey explains he needs to be signed off work for the foreseeable future and he may not be able to work again. He then breaks things off with Miss Higgins saying he doesn’t want them to get happy and then something happen to him. Clearly upset, Miss Higgins tells him he must do what he thinks best.

 

Lucille notices that Tina has a pain in her shoulder and offers to take a look, but Tina says it’s just the uncomfortable bed. However, we later see Tina collapsed outside next to the bins. Meanwhile, Sister Hilda tells Sister Julienne that an adoption is about to go ahead for Tina’s children. After looking everywhere, Sister Julienne finds Tina. Dr Turner rushes her to St Cuthbert’s with a suspected ectopic pregnancy. As Tina sadly loses her baby, Laverne (with the help of Florrie and Valerie) gives birth to another baby girl.

 

After waking with Sister Julienne by her side, Tina says that it was the best thing for her children that she gave them up. Sister Julienne tells her that they are going to be adopted. Tina says she knows, but she doesn’t want to oppose the adoption. She wants them to have a decent life. After later confiding with Sister Monica Joan, Sister Julienne reconsiders her stance on contraception and asks Trixie to see that Tina gets looked after at the clinic.

 

In a lovely end to the episode, The Turner children hand bunches of Daffodils to everyone at Nonnatus House.