To Watch this Weekend: Call the Midwife on PBS

Photo: Courtesy of Laurence Cendrowicz/© Neal Street Productions 2011

After earning the title of the highest-rated drama debut in BBC history earlier this year, the hugely successful period drama Call the Midwife is coming to the States this weekend on PBS; suffice it to say that it’s been a highly-anticipated premiere for American anglophiles. Based on Jennifer Worth’s best-selling memoirs, Call the Midwife follows a group of midwives and nuns in London’s poorest corners of the East End during the 1950s. Newly accredited nurse and midwife Jenny Lee has embarked on a career in the poverty-stricken East End partly to run away from the secret sadness of her privileged life in the country, but she expects to be entering into an esteemed medical institution – not a slightly shabby nunnery. As the realities of her circumstances become clear, Jenny also faces severe culture shock as she treats patients in deplorable conditions and delivers babies into a life of dirt, dust, and destitution. In her journey through midwifery she meets a woman pregnant with her 25th child and a fifteen year-old prostitute facing motherhood for the first time. Jenny’s struggles are helped by the kind-hearted and hard-working women of Nonnatus House, the establishment that houses the nuns and midwives. In her fellow nurses she finds camaraderie and understanding while the experienced nuns offer guidance and inspiration. Through the series Jenny experiences life, loss, and love in an ever-changing world.

Photo: Courtesy of Laurence Cendrowicz © Neal Street Productions 2011

Call the Midwife is written by Heidi Thomas, who penned one of my favorite British comedy-dramas, Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford. Her sparkle is just as bright here; her script fills the show with warmth and wit, offering a beautiful homage to the spirited dedication of the real women who inspired the characters. Jenny (played by Jessica Raine) is a charming character, marked only by her naïveté, and her hope for the future of others incites an easy fondness from the viewer. Additional cast members include Helen George, Bryony Hannah, Jenny Agutter, Pam Feris, and Cliff Parisi. Vanessa Redgrave also provides a moving narration as the voice of an older Jenny, offering reflections on her experiences that draw the viewer further into the story. Two of my particular favorite performances in the show are by Miranda Hart, who plays the awkward and delightful nurse Chummy, and Judy Parfitt as Sister Monica Joan, an elderly nun whose personality is somewhere between eccentric and perhaps senile. Both characters bring a charming comedy to the story while also presenting a profound message in their own personal struggles with life, age, work, and love.

Photo: Courtesy of Laurence Cendrowicz © Neal Street Productions 2011

The drama runs the gamut, sometimes encouraging laughter, inspiring reflection, and provoking a few tears. It’s easy to say that it evokes life itself in that way, but the beauty is also in the overall message of unity and strength among women, in history as well as now. The rock solid determination of both the midwives and the mothers as they achieve the miracle of life is spectacularly inspiring. It makes you stop and marvel at what women are capable of, and how we’ve helped each other through the ages. It’s not all candy and roses, though, and there’s an accurate counter-depiction of how women have hurt and hindered each other, but the thing you take away from the series is a sense of triumph.

Call the Midwife premieres this Sunday, September 30th, at 8:00pm EST and runs through November 4th. A second series has already been commissioned by the BBC, which should premiere sometime next year. Find out more about the cast and characters, see special previews and behind-the-scenes footage, and check your local listings at PBS.org.

While the message of the series would inspire feminism and illustrate a better understanding of midwifery for young female audiences, it’s notable that some content may not be appropriate for all ages and viewer discretion is recommended.

Disclosure: A preview screening of the program was provided for the purpose of review

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