Call the Midwife

Everyone knows that birds migrate...

...but not which country they believe to be their home -

the hard, hot, cloudless climate of the south,

or the fragile, grey-white warmth of our own climes?

But perhaps the birds are simply lucky

they have the best of both worlds.

I spy with my little eye, something beginning with I, Nancy.

Ladder?

SHE GROANS

These were the best of the bunch.

I thought if the hole was round the back, the patients wouldn't see it.

You know perfectly well that that is not acceptable, Nurse Corrigan.

Does anyone have a spare pair?

I always have a spare pair, as Nurse Corrigan knows.

Sister!

What's the matter?

I...

I just feel so dreadfully...

...dizzy, as though I might be sick.

Don't worry, don't worry, I'll get you home. You can lean on me.

Oh!

Oh, Miss Higgins,

we've had overnight guests at the back of the building.

It was meths drinkers, I'm afraid.

I asked them to take their leave when I arrived,

and they did so with surprising courtesy.

They've been using the stairwell as a lavatory.

Reparations are in hand

and hygiene will be restored before patients arrive.

Thank you, Miss Higgins.

I hope they don't make a habit of it, Patrick.

We seem to be seeing more of them round here recently.

It's this new wave of demolitions.

The men tended to gather in the cellars of the old houses

up around Albany Square,

but with those gone, they'll be looking for new quarters.

Homelessness is all relative.

I know, but they're so unsavoury and people are afraid of them.

PHONE RINGS

Good morning, Dr Turner's surgery.

I spoke to the surgery.

Dr Turner's going to come see Sister Julienne at 11:30am.

Thank you, Nurse Corrigan.

Meanwhile, we have a change of tack for you this week.

Your debut on the district roster beckons.

I usually just do midwifery.

That's because you needed to consolidate your skills.

Now you need to expand them.

You're to go with Sister Frances on the district round.

That means you can help me do the sputum tests

at the Hostel for Tuberculous Men.

See? It's non-stop glamour.

Midwife calling.

You here to see Maureen? Mm.

She's gone down the launderette.

It's just a routine call. I shall leave a note.

It's Thelma Haig, isn't it?

I bet you never forget a face...

...or a varicose ulcer.

I thought we'd never see the back of that one.

I must have been dressing it for nigh on three months.

Right as ninepence now, thanks to you, Nurse.

Is she ready, Mrs Haig?

Julie, your manager's here!

I'm off, Mum.

Don't wait up.

I'll always wait up. You're my daughter.

He's her manager.

I gathered that.

She's blossomed since I last saw her.

Yeah, she never used to look like anything much

but she could always sing.

I used to say to her all the time,

"You keep up that singing and it'll bring you opportunities.”

A girl with a gift is a woman with potential.

Mr Lewin spotted her in a talent show,

and now she sings in clubs all over town, yeah.

She's got a contract to record a single

and he reckons she's in with a chance of being on the telly,

and if he can make that happen, well, the sky's the limit.

It's always been just you and her, hasn't it?

I brought her up on my own, yeah.

You look after each other, now.

We will.

I never heard of a TB hostel before.

I thought everyone with TB went to a country sanatorium.

It's quite a new idea.

Cheaper probably, but...

...it keeps all the men under one roof, so we know where they are,

and it's clean, they can be monitored

and we can help them with nutrition.

Where are you?

Eh...

Your blood pressure's normal.

No sign of any swollen glands or fever.

I'm putting my money on labyrinthitis.

Is that the inner ear?

A mild infection or...

...possibly a bubble in the vestibular fluid.

The best treatment is rest.

You can draw the curtains if you feel very dizzy.

Resting and drawing the curtains is not going to help...

...Nonnatus House run smoothly.

I can see to all of that.

There's even more to do than usual.

I still haven't managed to arrange the anniversary event.

This month marks 100 years since the Order came to Poplar.

I specialize in celebrations.

I know you do.

Sister, we've been here before.

You work yourself to a thread time and time again,

and then what happens?

Threads snap.

One day, we won't be able to mend you.

I will rest...

...for three days.

You will rest for as long as I tell you to.

And in the meantime, I don't care who helps you, but someone must.

And you must accept that with good grace.

I think we need to get the doctor out to see you, Mr Huntley.

I'm worried about your weight loss and your weakness.

Nurse Corrigan...

- ...have you collected those samples? - Al done and dusted.

Nothing like decanting some phlegm to brighten up a morning.

I need your help turning Mr Huntley and getting him more comfortable.

He's not doing so well all of a sudden.

Right. One, two, three.

There you go. All done.

You're good girls.

It's all part of the service.

My name's Avis.

Joan Avis, Cotton Field Tower.

Our rubbish chute has been blocked for two weeks

and there's no light bulb in the stairwell.

Well, I have an evening surgery.

You're welcome to attend, if you'd like to make a formal complaint.

This is a formal complaint. I've got my smart coat on.

And please be advised, I shall be suspending payment of my rates

if matters don't improve.

I'm not quite sure where you think you are, Mrs Avis, but...

...this isn't the rates office.

Oh, it's not a dressmaker's either.

That hem looks like it was done with a knife and fork.

We need to go straight to the phone box and call the surgery.

Mr Huntley's pulse is weak and he's so debilitated.

Shouldn't he be in a hospital?

Well, if he is dying, and I think he might be dying,

we'll take care of him here in his own bed.

His own bed?

This is no better than a dosshouse.

The men in here used to be sailors and labourers, Nancy.

They're too old and too sick to work now,

and they've no families to turn to or to take them in.

They've been in and out of actual dosshouses their whole lives,

and I promise you, this is better.

I'm sorry, I just don't see how.

And it's an emphatic no to strawberries and evap

from Sister Julienne.

That bodes ill.

The strawberry is a fruit of which she has always been extremely fond.

I don't think she fancies trying to eat them lying down.

She goes dizzy the minute she tries to lift her head up off the pillow.

I shall be heading upstairs in short order

to make sure she passes all responsibilities on to me,

including the centenary celebration.

I think you'll find she refers to the event as a "commemoration".

Be that as it may,

she can't be setting events in train from her couch of anguish,

and I am content to step into the breach.

I think, after this, I shall be a shoo-in for next year's Olympics.

Mexico City, here I come.

Do the Olympics have a medal for catching and throwing?

Of course, and I'd get a gold medal with moves like this.

Mummy!

Excuse me, mister, can I have my ball back, please?

Yeah, you'll have to come fetch it if you want it,

cos I've got a bad leg.

All right.

Colette.

Come away!

She's all right.

Don't panic, I had her in my sights.

The likes of him shouldn't even be around here.

He looks harmless enough.

There is a school over there!

Meths drinkers are like rats,

except the council does something about rats.

Why does that man smell so horrible?

He's in the habit of drinking stuff that's very bad for him.

It has an effect on his blood and his insides.

So, why does he do it?

I don't know.

He might not know himself.

But you keep away from him and men like him, do you hear me?

OK, come on. Let's get you a piece of cake

before I take you back to Auntie Vera's.

APPLAUSE

Wow!

Wow, girl, they love you!

DOOR OPENS