Call the Midwife (2012– )

The story is about a group of midwives based in East London in the 1950s.

Creator:

Heidi Thomas

Stars:

Vanessa Redgrave, Jessica Raine, Bryony Hannah

7 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Mature Jenny (15 episodes, 2012-2013)
Jessica Raine	...	Jenny Lee (15 episodes, 2012-2013)
Bryony Hannah	...	Cynthia Miller (15 episodes, 2012-2013)
Helen George	...	Trixie Franklin (15 episodes, 2012-2013)
Jenny Agutter	...	Sister Julienne (15 episodes, 2012-2013)
Laura Main	...	Sister Bernadette (15 episodes, 2012-2013)
Pam Ferris	...	Sister Evangelina (15 episodes, 2012-2013)
Judy Parfitt	...	Sister Monica Joan (15 episodes, 2012-2013)
Cliff Parisi	...	Fred (15 episodes, 2012-2013)
Stephen McGann	...	Dr. Turner (14 episodes, 2012-2013)
Ben Caplan	...	PC Peter Noakes (11 episodes, 2012-2013)
Miranda Hart	...	Chummy Browne (10 episodes, 2012-2013)
George Rainsford	...	Jimmy (7 episodes, 2012-2013)

Storyline

Based on the memoirs of Jennifer Worth; the story follows twenty-two year old Jenny, who in 1957 leaves her comfortable home to become a midwife in London's East End slums. She expects to find a hospital, and is surprised to find that the clinic is a convent: Nonnatus House. Working alongside her fellow nurses and the medically-trained nuns, Jenny has her eyes opened to the harsh living conditions. But she also discovers the warm hearts and the bravery of the mothers; each one a heroine in Jenny's eyes.

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Plot Keywords:

convent | midwife | mother | clinic | east london | 

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Taglines:

In 1950s London, they delivered hope for all.

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

2012 (UK)

Also Known As:

Barnmorskan i East End

Filming Locations:

Chatham Historic Dockyard, Chatham, Kent, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Neal Street Productions, Top Talent Agency

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Long before Jennifer Worth's memoirs were filmed, she spotted Miranda Hart and knew that she would be perfect to play Chummy Browne, the six-foot-tall, ungainly, clumsy midwife who features in her books. Miranda agreed to take the role of Chummy if the books were ever filmed.

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Connections

Featured in The Wright Stuff: Episode #18.15 (2013)

User Reviews

Beautiful story for women, but with too many changes from the books

This is a wonderful television series for women of all ages! Somehow the subject of child-birth, and everything around it, never stops fascinating. Whether you are a young woman with it all in front of you, or past child-bearing age - it is forever interesting! :-) This series really have it all: humour and high drama, sorrow and happiness, love of all kinds, interesting characters, and a touch of religion. It is also educating: you learn a lot about midwifery, medicine, and modern history.

The actors are all great for their parts - I could not find fault with anyone of them! I could relate most easily to Miranda Hart/Chummy, as I am also tall for being a woman - or at least I was considered very tall when I was young. (Nowadays there are quite a few young girls the same height as I.) I can still remember the problems with people staring and having to comment on my height, with many otherwise interesting men being shorter than myself, the feeling of being ungainly, the self-doubts... In fact, I also had dreams of entering a convent from exactly the wrong reasons - just the same as Chummy (to get out of the love-searching ones and for all, and not having to think about it anymore).

The reason I am not giving this series 10 stars, though, is that I have read the books, and I think the television producers have changed too much. I can in some cases see that the revised version of an event makes better television - but as the books are supposed to be non-fiction, I think this was still wrong. There can still be real people out there who are alive, and have to watch important memories from their youth or child-hood pictured in the wrong way.