Tag: Call the Midwife

SHOW OF THE WEEK: Call the Midwife Holiday Special (Dec. 25, 9 p.m., PBS)

If you want to feel good about the human race at this time of year I can think of few things more likely to engender that sentiment than the annual “Call the Midwife Holiday Special.”

Is it unbashedly sentimental? In spades, but that doesn’t mean it’s Pollyanna-ish.

Truth be told, I resisted watching the show for some years, despite it being a favourite of my late mother-in-law’s. Alas, by the time I had succumbed to its charms, it was too late to share that appreciation with her. But I shall share it with you.

Essentially, the British series is about a group of midwives — both nuns and laywomen — working out of a convent in an impoverished area of East London. It begins in 1957. Season 11, released earlier this year on PBS, advanced the time period to 1967.

(In Canada, you can catch up on previous seasons on BritBox and CBC Gem, which starts streaming Season 11 on Dec. 22.)

Obviously the show deals with subjects historically pigeonholed as women’s issues, including pregnancy and childbirth, infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, birth defects, maternal mortality, birth control, sexual assault and lack of access to safe abortions. But it also deals with general social ills: poverty, mental illness, spousal violence, alcoholism, racism, homophobia, gentrification, and medical ignorance and prejudice, to name just some. (A quibble: I suspect in real 1960s London, Jamaican nurse Lucille would have been subject to a lot more racism than the show portrays.)

This year’s Christmas special reintroduces Rhoda and Bernie Mullucks (Liz White and Chris Reilly), who had a thalidomide baby in Season 5 (thalidomide was prescribed to pregnant women to fight nausea in the 1950s and early ’60s, and was found to cause birth defects).

Rhoda is pregnant with her fourth child, fearful that her new baby will also have disabilities, and dreading having to divide her attention between an infant and daughter Susan, who was born with deformed arms and legs. Susan is being discriminated against at school because of her disability, and Bernie is spending his free time at the pub rather than deal with his worries for the new baby and his guilt over Susan’s condition.

Another plot line involves a young, pregnant woman just released from jail who’s subjected to total indifference by the welfare official supposedly there to help her and is kicked out of her rooming house when she goes into labour.

If you’re familiar with past iterations of the “Call the Midwife Holiday Special,” you probably suspect both these situations will be resolved with happy endings, although that’s not always the case in the series.

The episode’s feel-good plot involves a Christmas talent show organized by handyman Fred (Cliff Parisi) and wife Violet (Annabelle Apsion) to help mitigate the after-effects of Season 11’s fatal train crash.

Besides Day 1 character Fred, the special also checks in with originals Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter), Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt), Dr. Turner (Stephen McGann, the real-life husband of series creator Heidi Thomas), Shelagh Turner (Laura Main) and Nurse Trixie (Helen George).

Trixie and Sister Frances (Ella Bruccoleri) undergo some significant plot developments, but Nurse Lucille (Leonie Elliott) and husband Cyril (Zephryn Taitte), Nurse Nancy (Megan Cusack), Nurse Crane (Linda Bassett), receptionist Millicent (Georgie Glen), Fred’s cousin Reggie (Daniel Laurie), the Turners’ son Timothy (Max Macmillan) and Trixie’s rich boyfriend, Matthew (Olly Rix), also figure in the action.

One of the beauties of “Call the Midwife” is that its revolving cast of characters doesn’t lessen enjoyment of the show. Sure, you miss people who have left the series, but the new characters fit easily into the ebb and flow of life in Poplar, and it seems we’re in for more additions when Season 12 debuts in 2023.

In the meantime, there’s this holiday special with the show’s usual mix of comedy and drama, sorrow and joy, and an abundance of kindness. Enjoy and keep the tissues handy.

Short Takes

The Flagmakers (Dec. 21, Disney+)

For the immigrants and refugees who work at Eder Flag in Oak Park, Wisconsin, sewing and shipping five million American flags a year is part of their American dream. They’ve come from countries like Serbia, Iraq, Bosnia, Puerto Rico, Tanzania, Mexico, fleeing war and other hardships, or just seeking better lives for themselves and their families. They toil alongside native-born Americans like SugarRay and Barb, a Trump supporter who nonetheless forms seemingly genuine connections with her diverse co-workers. Sewing manager Radica, who left Serbia with her husband after her house was bombed, believes every flag created at Eder has a soul, but she also feels betrayed when the Stars and Stripes are brandished during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, even used as a weapon against a police officer. SugarRay, meanwhile, is trying to reconcile the country he loves with the country where fellow Black man George Floyd was murdered. “When you start to learn more about how this country was built for Black and brown people it really doesn’t kind of include you,” he says. And Ali, who fled war in Iraq with his wife and children, initially believes life in America is beautiful, a belief that is challenged when he’s hit and knocked unconscious while shopping at Walmart with his family. Radica theorizes that while America isn’t perfect, that’s its beauty, but she also ends up moving back to Serbia. The work at Eder, meanwhile, goes on. This doc, which runs just 36 minutes, was co-directed by Sharon Liese and Oscar winner Cynthia Wade.

Disney also has the streaming debut of “Strange World” (Dec. 23), the animated film starring the voices of Jake Gyllenhaal, Gabrielle Union and Dennis Quaid.

Letterkenny (Dec. 25, Crave)

On the surface, “Letterkenny” would seem to be merely a clever and sometimes strange comedy in which the jokes fly at the speed of light. However, there are decidedly serious things going on under the surface, which is how a group discussion about the merits of various types of potato chips in the Season 11 premiere is really about topics like loneliness, racism, familial love and friendship. And underneath all of that, always, is a love of Canada. Only one episode of the new season was made available for review, but the synopsis put out by Crave says the new episodes will also encompass “lost dogs, an influencer invasion, Skid business, a mystery at the church bake sale, unwanted guests at beer league and the Degens stirring up trouble.” Bottom line, if you’re already a fan of Jared Keeso’s ode to his small-town Ontario upbringing, expect more of what you love.

Odds and Ends

I apologize to all the “Emily in Paris” fans, but I was unable to get through the first episode of the first season when it debuted, such was my revulsion. And while I have considered going back for a reassessment given its continuing popularity I just haven’t had the time, so I’m no use to you at all as Season 3 debuts on Netflix on Dec. 21. Also dropping on Netflix this week: drama series “Trolley” (Dec. 19), about a congressman’s wife and family secrets; Season 4 of the docuseries “I Am a Killer” (Dec. 21); Season 2 of Japanese sci-fi drama “Alice in Borderland”; the streaming debut of “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Dec. 23); the streaming debut of “Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical” (Dec. 25); Brazilian comedy series “Time Hustler” (Dec. 25), in which a man is hit on the head and wakes up in 1927, where he’s mistaken for a famous bandit; and prequel series “The Witcher: Blood Origin” (Dec. 25), starring Michelle Yeoh and Lenny Henry (“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”).

This just in: if you’re Team William and Kate or you just want to study their faces for signs of how they really feel about “Harry & Meghan,” BritBox will have “Royal Carols: Together at Christmas,” the special hosted by the new Princess of Wales, on Dec. 24. It’s dedicated to the late Queen Elizabeth II and, naturally, William, King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla were in attendance.

Anybody who has Paramount+ will no doubt want to watch box office megahit “Top Gun: Maverick” when it starts streaming Dec. 22.

Prime Video’s big debut this week is the third season of “Jack Ryan” (Dec. 21), starring John Krasinski as the titular action hero.

Apple TV+ has the animated short film “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” (Dec. 25), based on the Charlie Mackesy book. And Apple is also making the classic “A Charlie Brown Christmas” available free between Dec. 22 and 25.

NOTE: The listings here are in Eastern Standard Time and I’ve verified the times where possible, but it’s always best to check listings for your own area. The selection of programs reviewed reflects what I’m given access to by networks and streamers, whether reviews are embargoed, how many shows I have time to watch and my own personal taste. The Odds and Ends section includes shows that I have not watched.