Call the midwife
For heaven’s sake, Trixie, don’t hang around. Swallow a handful of those caffeine tablets and hop on the first flight to New York – your husband thinks he’s in Call The Mad Men.
Nonnatus House’s longest-serving nurse has been devastated since smoothie husband Matthew announced he was heading to the United States to rebuild his fortune, taking young son Jonty with him.
Trixie (Helen George) was left at home on Call The Midwife (BBC1), swallowing sleeping tablets to knock herself out and her top to wake herself up again. That’s a recipe for disaster, and sure enough, she spilled methylated spirits all over her apron before accidentally setting herself on fire.
Luckily, sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter) was on hand to put it out, and brother Geoffrey (Christopher Harper) was available for a pep talk. That girl is high maintenance.
Trixie played by Helen George (pictured) was left at home in Call The Midwife (BBC1)
As this series ends, it’s a delight to know that the show has been renewed for another two seasons, until at least 2026
But when Trixie called Matthew (Olly Rix) to fix their wedding, he was already sitting in his shirtsleeves behind a typewriter, the Manhattan skyline outside his window. “It’s not forever,” he promised. But a swivel lamp, modular furniture, abstract wall art… we’ve seen these telltale signs before.
With his sleek black hair, Matthew always had a hint of Don Drapers about him. At any moment, a copy girl in a sweater is going to burst into the room, pour them both a triple whiskey and park herself on his lap.
As Trixie rushed to the Big Apple, another character burst into the storyline and burst out just as quickly. Nurse Crane and Miss Higgins (Linda Bassett and Georgie Glen) were darning the Cub Scouts’ garters when there was a knock on the door and Miss H’s backstory was announced.
She never said this – well, people didn’t like it at the time – but when she was a young woman in India, part of the ‘fishing fleet’ hoping for a husband, she had an affair with an Indian guy and she became pregnant. .
Now there was Victor, the son she hadn’t seen since he was a baby, and his wife and their own teenage son. It’s a daunting task to find out you have a grandson and he’s studying dentistry while you’re repairing sock elastic.
Unfortunately, Nurse Crane had only just met the Higgins offspring when she noticed he had swollen ankles. That means one of two things in Call The Midwife: pregnancy or impending death. Poor Victor fell over during his very first outing with his birth mother. They were eating whelks along the Thames, if that’s any consolation.
As this series ends, it’s a delight to know that the show has been renewed for another two seasons, until at least 2026, even if it looks like Trixie will only be involved via a transatlantic phone call for a while.
No other drama has such a mix of sentimentality, soap opera and historical awareness. When we mock, it is with genuine affection: the main characters are lovable, and their sorrows and trials have the power to make us better.
All this, and a baby was born on the No. 23 bus. What more could you want on a Sunday night?
