Christmas Special 2017 Call the Midwife

We unwrap so much at Christmas.

We uncover and expose such a great deal to the light.

We examine our heart's desires.

We unfold the year gone by,

seeking all that is perfect,

striving to offer up a bright, clean sheet.

The festival brings sparkle

to our ordinary days,

peeling away each layer of experience,

revealing the heart of all that counts,

year by year by year.

I'm never quite sure about Jack And The Beanstalk as a pantomime

cos I think the kiddies get scared of the giant.

Still, you've certainly got the legs for Principal Boy.

That's what my Aunt Edie said when the other girl dropped out.

I remember you in Madam Edith's shows when you were a little girl.

Always tapping away in the back row, cos you were tall even then.

Where've you been?

Helping out Father Christmas on his busiest night of the year.

Well, you're in the wrong costume.

Right, Dame Buckle!

I've done your high heels in Lady Esquire -

they're drying by the bread bin.

I can't see you getting much wear out of these bronze patent

slingbacks in Switzerland.

Are you sure you don't want me to lend you my thermal-lined galoshes?

Christopher and I aren't just going skiing, Phyllis!

We're going apres-skiing too!

And what does that entail?

My accessories coming under quite a lot of scrutiny.

Besides, Christopher likes me in those slingbacks -

I was going to wear them on the aeroplane!

And would that be with the mink hat, the musquash capelet,

or the jacket with the fox fur trim?

You won't be wearing them with anything,

if the weather forecast for Boxing Day turns out to be correct.

They don't just close airports because of an inch of snow, Barbara!

Let's hope not!

Or quite a lot of blameless animals will have died in vain.

CHRISTMAS MUSIC PLAYS

Oh, thank you!

What's in there?

Oh!

BABY CRIES

# That's how it goes Whenever it snows

# The world is your snowball

# Just for a song

# Get out and roll it along

# It's a yum-yummy world made for sweethearts

# Take a walk with your favourite girl

# It's a sugar date

# What if spring is late?

# In winter it's a marshmallow world... #

Everybody, there's a surprise in the parlour. Come on!

Ta-daaa!

Ah!!!

The Seaman's Mission were offered a new and rather superior model,

so I seized the chance to reclaim this.

Unless my perusal of the Radio Times deceives me,

Bronco will be broadcast at half past noon.

THEY EXCLAIM

Hurry up, lass! You nearly missed the line-up!

Sorry!

I've just had my third turkey dinner in two days,

round at my Auntie Edie's!

Careful! The paint's wet! Angela and I only just finished it!

Thank you.

Timer's on!

CAMERA WHIRS

Good grief!

Ooh!

Fred! It's a long time since we've seen anything like this!

Morning, Nurse Crane!

Or should I say, er, Baby, It's Cold Outside!

It's minus five degrees.

That's right. Minus five. Two foot of snow.

And three quarters of the country at a standstill.

Oh!

No milk!

A tincture apiece for your tea, and that's your lot.

The deliverers of milk are not formed of the substance that

once they were.

One saw them struggling with their crates through smoking rubble,

in the Blitz.

You've got a long face this morning, Reggie?

I don't like this hat. Violet made me wear it.

Fred's in the same sort of get-up.

I know he is.

Morning!

I like her hat.

Thank you, Reggie. My sister knitted it.

Nurse Hereward, is that a new addition to the uniform?

Oh, no, I only put it on to cross over the road.

I'm afraid Tom's had a call about the community centre.

There's been a burst pipe, flooding,

and terrible damage to the electrics.

Will Clinic have to be postponed?

It can't possibly be postponed!

It's already two days late because of the Christmas holidays!

The Fire Brigade were called out to the flood,

and they think the building will have to close completely.

But...what's going to happen to the pantomime?

May I second that sentiment?

I've got three stripy frocks, size 11 stilettos,

and a great big wig going to waste if that has to be cancelled!

Fred, the beanstalk is floating in a foot of water.

And the children from the dancing school will be so disappointed.

I am going to my office

to locate an alternative venue for our clinic this afternoon.

The fate of Jack And The Beanstalk, I entrust to the Almighty.

We were always led to understand that the Iris Knight Institute hall

would be on offer to Clinic in the event of an emergency.

But others have first call on it during natural or other disasters.

Bit of snow isn't a disaster!

The boxes of abandoned medical equipment in a flooded hall are!

And so are improperly monitored mothers.

Leave everything to us, Shelagh.

You've waited a long time for Baby Teddy. Enjoy him.

Oh, I'm not quite ready to get back in my girdle yet!

Oh, begging your pardon,

but I don't suppose I'm in with a chance of a consultation?

I'm afraid surgery's finished for this morning.

I was off to a clinic.

Only I've had a bit of an argument with a paraffin heater.

I might have burned my leg.

It will be the first time I've ever conducted Clinic in a public house.

It's rather irregular.

-I'm just grateful Nurse Dyer's aunt was so accommodating.

-Hm.

Afternoon, ladies.

Good afternoon, Sergeant. Are we impeding the flow of the traffic?

We're advising non-essential vehicles to avoid turning left

and heading down toward the wharf.

Conditions are considered to be unsafe for vehicles

of a domestic nature, and the less skilled driver.

In which case you may move to one side with confidence,

and kindly permit us to pass.

I am a member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists,

and the wheels of this car have been fully winterised,

thanks to the timely application of a set of snow chains.

I wouldn't've troubled you, only I couldn't get to the hospital.

All the buses are off.

The trouble with this is that the leg of your trousers has melted

and made the blisters worse.

Are they Crimplene?

I don't know, Doctor. My wife buys all my clothes.

So does mine. Fortunately.

My Mabel, she, erm, don't get down the shops much.

Been lame since she was a girl.

But she's been turning me out like Burlington Bertie

since she discovered those, er, small advertisements.

You'll need regular dressing changes.

We'll a send a nurse out to you.

Oh, no, no. I'll come to the surgery.

You've all got enough to do.

I tell you what - I take my hat off to these stay-pressed slacks.

Still got a lovely sharp crease above the knee.

If we set this table here,

we can put the scales over there under the dartboard.

Auntie Florrie! I'm going through to the back to clear some space for the urine testing.

Well, I hope it's clean urine.

I've got a gross of pies arriving.

All my regulars are back at work today.

You'll have to feed them through the tap room window.

Women and children first.

They said that on the Titanic.

Good afternoon, ladies! Please take a seat.

I'm afraid we don't have any magazines for you to read today,

but we do have shove ha'penny and dominoes.

Is this is where we're supposed to come, Nurse?

Only my wife's not been seen by a London doctor yet.

Oh!

Gangway!

Time and the weighing queue wait for no man.

Believe me, you're in highly expert hands.

Might even get a packet of pork scratchings.

How long have you been in these parts, Mrs Openshaw?

Only a week.

My bloke's a roofer, and we came down because of his job.

And can I have your maiden name?

I'm not married.

Oh. Your fella said you were his wife!

He keeps asking me to be.

But he's not the baby's father.

Here.

I keep this one for show and sharing.

I haven't blown my nose in it or anything.

Listen, it's bedlam in here today, and you're as likely to get

a pickled egg and a pint of mild as a urine test.

Why don't I come out and see you at home?

We live in a caravan.

We haven't been able to find a flat yet.

So, where are you parked?

THEY GROAN

Wait! Let me help you, Nurse Crane!

Such a very personable young man.

I thought you two would be making merry in the land of goats

and superior milk chocolate by now!

London Airport's closed!

-There's no flights to Zurich until further notice.

-Oh.

I'm not sure I can even get back to my flat.

You're very welcome to avail yourself of our guest room,

if conditions remain trying, Mr Dockerill.

WHISTLE

I want that car off the road now,

where it's not causing an obstruction,

winterised tyres or no winterised tyres!

MUSIC PLAYS

It is as well we had not yet packed away the accoutrements

required for revelry.

For, as St Paul advised the Hebrews,

be not forgetful of hospitality,

for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

There are 12 days of Christmas, after all.

-MUSIC STOPS

-Ah!

Why is it always me?

Bad luck, Val.

Right, let me get this out the way.

MUSIC STARTS

Have we prepared the end room for our guest, Nurse Crane?

I've treated him to the electric blanket.

I had thought that Sister Evangelina's old dressing gown would be appropriately masculine,

but it would seem it's been donated to the poor.

I am poised to offer Mr Dockerill a slice of sherry log

when his exertions are completed.

Look out.

Help me!

Oh, your feet!

Sorry!

Oh. Have you been with that poor sailor all day?

No-one should have to die alone,

especially not in the back room of a Seamen's Mission.

It's not often the corpse is the warmest thing in the room.

Tom!

I've had some news.

What sort of news?

I've been asked to go to Birmingham,

to take over a church called St Dionysus.

As vicar?

As curate, while the vicar takes a leave of absence due to illness.

But that's exactly what you've been doing here for the past two years.

Quite. And I love this parish.

If I'm going to struggle and starve, I want to do that here.

That's the second mildly distasteful thing you've said since you got into bed.

We don't struggle much,

and we can't begin to know the meaning of starvation.

Especially when I have a Penguin biscuit underneath my pillow.

Has it melted?

Strangely enough, no.

HE SIGHS

I know I'm supposed to go where God calls me.

I just don't know why he would call me away from here.

And if I don't know why, how can I be sure I'm being called at all?

Please tell me it's melted.

The reverse. We've even got ice on the inside of the windows.

I'm not surprised. I was shivering all night.

Serves you right for not wearing a vest.

I don't possess a vest!

I had to hope that two satin camisoles had the same effect.

Good morning.

Oh!

Christopher just saw me in my rollers!

Dentists have scientific training, Trixie.

He can't think your hair looks the way it does naturally.

Stop! Mr Dockerill, stop! Whatever you do, please don't go in there!

Why? What's happened?

Erm... The, er, the drop in temperature has led to unforeseen

circumstances involving the facilities.

I see.

The lavatory is frozen. Emergency measures are required.

Is there anything I can do to help?

No!

SHATTERING

Oh! Not now! Oh!

TOILET FLUSHES

All now appears to be in order!

I recommend the application of boiling water hourly, to the

cistern and to the S bend.

Your ministrations are appreciated, Mr Dockerill.

I will make sure it is taken care of.

Does anyone mind if I go in first? I'm absolutely bursting!

Shelagh, you don't need to make us Scotch pancakes for breakfast.

We'd be perfectly happy with toast and jam.

Teddy's been as good as gold!

I'm glad I stuck with the Truby King method of feeding

and wasn't seduced by that American Spock.

15 minutes on each breast every four hours is absolutely the only way.

Excuse me.

I'm going out to the patio to have a look at the thermometer.

Good morning, ladies. Two points of note before we commence.

Firstly, the London Meteorological Office are of the view

that these conditions will persist for the next ten days at least.

Secondly, with the continued closure of London Aerodrome,

Nurse Franklin has kindly offered to postpone her sporting holiday

until further notice.

Oh! Would you like a pair of thermal drawers, Nurse Franklin?

Sister Julienne ordered a job lot from Damart.

There's a choice of buff or navy blue.

Thank you, Sister Winifred, but I think I've sacrificed enough.

I had a proper boyfriend for a while,

but it never came to anything.

Apart from this.

I had to move lodgings once I couldn't hide it any more,

and my new place was as good as falling down.

Selwyn was one of the builders that came to fix some slates.

And there he was...smiling.

It felt like such a long time since anyone had smiled at me.

Perfect.

Not if I don't love him.

No - I was talking about your blood pressure.

Selwyn says he doesn't care if it isn't his,

that he wants to take care of us both,

that he'll love the baby regardless, no questions asked.

But how can he?

I don't know, Linda.

But he thinks he can.

And sometimes if you think you can, you're halfway there.

Sister Monica Joan? I have a task for you.

I have a task assigned to me already,

by Nurse Franklin's Titian-haired suitor.

I am charged with preventing the lavatory from freezing.

You can be knitting young Reggie a bobble hat while you're at it.

He'll look a lot more a la mode than he does with that cap

and scarf combination on his head.

Well, you have commenced its manufacture already.

I thought it might help if I got the ribbing off the starting blocks.

I will attend to it when matters are less pressing.

First blade going in.

Just breathe in some air now, Dilys.

What a way to spend a New Year's bloody Eve!

I'm sure we'd all rather be dancing the bossa nova and eating vol au

vents, but Mother Nature has scant regard for the social calendar.

Don't take the gas away! Please, please don't take it away.

It's all right, sweetie. This gas is going nowhere.

And neither am I, until we've got this little rascal into the world.

Which is going to be 1962, and not 1963, I promise you.

Ooh!

Come on, Dilys! Push!

Don't waste a moment of this contraction!

You can do it! Keep pushing!

Come on, Dilys!

-BABY CRIES

-Well done!

Look, Dilys! You did it.

A gorgeous little girl.

Who will always have a party to go to on her birthday.

BELLS CHIME

Do you reckon them bells are Big Ben?

I don't know. But they've woken the baby up.

It's kicking like mad.

Can I feel it?

It's like he's wishing us a happy new year!

# We'll take a cup of kindness yet

# For the sake of Auld Lang Syne. #

-RADIO:

-11 people are now known to have died as a direct

result of Arctic conditions engulfing Great Britain.

Looks like we'll be drinking our breakfast tea black this morning.

I'm sure it will have arrived in time for our elevenses!

I expect the milkman's been detained by grateful housewives

strewing roses at his feet.

It's like the liberation of Paris every time

he gets through with the gold-top.

-RADIO:

-Meanwhile, the Milk Marketing Board has announced that after

almost two weeks of battling to deliver the nations' milk,

a large proportion of its operators are suffering from exhaustion.

All milkman are therefore to be given a day's holiday,

with immediate effect.

Oh!

It looks like half of Poplar's without water.

Your mother was right.

Maybe you should've stayed at home today.

What's the trouble, Fred?

Burst sewer, Dr Turner.

There's all sorts bubbling up through this tarmac!

I'd better take a look.

I need to telephone Environmental Health.

We'll also have to get that standpipe shut down -

it's too close to the burst.

Leave it to me, Doc. There's a phone box just up there.

Let me poke it.

Ere, lads - what you doing?

All the schools are open today. You've no excuse for running wild!

Oh, my gosh! It looks like a hand.

It's all right. No-one's in trouble.

Run!

I think your ministrations are required in the outhouse, Sister.

I have been distracted from vital work by this pettifogging

and inessential task.

Go and put the kettle on. You leave that to me.

There's no sign of any injury or trauma.

He'll have become disoriented in the blizzard, sought shelter.

Hypothermia will have eased seamlessly into rigor mortis.

Tillerson, Percival.

He's one of my patients. I treated him for leg burns.

PHONE RINGS

Turner residence?

That woman hasn't come in to work again!

Do you mean Miss Plympton?

The one with the glasses you put in charge.

The poor woman might feel more inclined to put in an appearance

if you remembered her name.

I've got enough to do, Shelagh.

Especially today. Th... There's been a fatality.

Oh, no.

I've found the records... I've found the records of his next of kin,

but I have got a full list in the surgery - mainly bronchial cases.

And I never like sending the police to break bad news.

You need someone there to take care of these things.

Oh, I'll manage.

Oh. Sister Julienne's arrived.

And I shouldn't have bothered you.

I'm sorry.

Sister, may I beg a kindness from you?

Ooh!

Potty, Mummy!

Potty, Mummy, now!

Poor Linda Openshaw. She's only just eight months.

Sounds more like a reassurance visit than anything.

And pound to a penny,

the father needs more reassurance than she does.

Ooh!

That'll teach you to snub complimentary thermals.

Do you happen to know where Mrs Tillerson might be?

Mrs Tillerson?

I was told she was housebound.

I ain't never seen them since they moved in.

I'm afraid we need to break the door down.

SCREAMING

KNOCKING

Midwife!

Oh! What's going on, Linda?

There's no room in here for a piggy back race.

This bed's soaking wet.

Oh, look at you, you poor chick.

Have you got a couple of towels we can put over the damp bit?

Then we'll get you comfy, have a look at you.

Mrs Tillerson? Mrs Tillerson?

Mabel?

I did what you said!

Don't be afraid, Mrs Tillerson.

I'll light the heater, and make you tea, and you'll soon be warm.

Close the door!

You have to go.

Percy won't have it.

Won't have what?

People coming in.

It's all right, it's all right.

Just let it wash over you, like a wave at the seaside.

The seaside?

I could have phrased it better, I grant you.

Not much chance of a 99 and a kiss me quick hat in this weather.

Linda...

it does look as though you're going to be having this baby very soon.

It's four weeks early, but nothing we can't handle.

Sip this, Mrs Tillerson. It will warm you.

You really were very, very cold.

But I felt warm. That's the last thing I remember thinking,

how warm it was.

Hypothermia has that effect when it takes hold.

I think perhaps you became confused and took your cardigan off.

Percy doesn't like me showing my arms.

He doesn't like any women showing flesh.

When's he coming back?

He's been a long time fetching the paraffin.

SHE MOANS

Warmth always eases pain.

I'm going to tuck one on each side of your back and see if that helps.

Right, you! Fill that kettle again, and put some towels to warm.

That'll free me up to stay down the business end.

Do you want me to go and phone for help?

Selwyn! I am the help.

And so are you.

I'm sorry.

I know the news is a great deal to take in, Mrs Tillerson.

I have taken it in.

Percy liked to be the one who said what happened when,

what was what, who did what...

Sounds like he had no say at all in how he met his end.

And I'm glad.

FOOTSTEPS APPROACH

Shelagh? Uh, where are the children?

Teddy's asleep in his pram in the corridor

and the nursery took Angela for an extra afternoon.

I left her drinking Ribena and doing Plasticine.

Show me that pie.

I bought it fresh today.

From a shop that was under a contamination warning

from the meat inspectors last October!

Oh, Patrick!

We'll be bringing sandwiches in with us every morning

until further notice.

What do you mean, every morning until further notice?

We've a practice to run, and a crisis to survive.

I can't pretend this girdle isn't pinching,

but - for now - I'm back at work.

MOANING

I want it out. I WANT IT OUT.

That's just your body telling you to push, Linda.

Baby's quite small, it's going to come quickly.

You hold on. Dig your nails in if you need to.

I'm scared I'll hurt your hand.

Only thing that can ever hurt me is what hurts you.

SHE SHOUTS OUT

The children will need to be told what has happened, Mrs Tillerson.

Edwin joined up as a boy soldier, when he was 16.

Percy had given him one black eye too many.

In the war, when he was took

prisoner by the Japanese, I thought...

"..Nah...

"..he'll be able to bear it."

After VE day, the Red Cross wrote to me

and said Edwin had died of cholera.

I hadn't thought disease might get him,

I just thought how good he was at standing up to blows.

He was hard-faced.

Hard-nosed.

Just hard, really.

I was never brave.

I just learned to do what Percy said.

He used to say, "You can't argue with what God wants."

Your husband wasn't God, Mrs Tillerson.

Maybe not.

But they was as thick as thieves.

Is this your daughter?

A pretty little thing.

Anthea?

I wish she wasn't.

I used to think, if she was plain...

..would Percy have done what he did to her?

I don't expect you to answer that, Sister.

I never could, in all the years of asking myself.

Even after she ran away.

Would you like me to tell your daughter - Anthea - the news?

Anthea ran away...

..and I was glad.

-Ooh!

-Ten dozen mince pies.

Puff or shortcrust, Reverend?

I'm afraid I don't know.

They're also factory seconds, and I worry it might be a bit

unlucky eating them now that all the Christmas trees are down.

They'll fall on them like wolves, Mr Hereward.

Half these old folk didn't even get a Christmas dinner.

They were just sat there staring at four walls!

They're still just sat there, really.

Well, at least they're not alone.

You wonder how it happens, families breaking up,

people cut adrift from their neighbours.

I see it all the time. Perhaps a feud, an unresolved quarrel,

a death. Ties fray so quickly, and once they fray, they snap.

People just stop belonging.

I think people get carried away with notions of belonging.

It shouldn't matter where you're from, or where you're headed.

What it boils down to in my book is,

do we all look out for each other, or not?

Ooh, shortcrust.

These are the records for patients who are on the old books

prior to National Health reorganisation,

but never registered under the new system.

I found Anthea Tillerson quite easily,

but we last saw her in 1941, when she was only 15.

Do you know where she is now?

There's a letter with an address dating from 1954.

It relates to references required

when she applied to be a council foster parent.

She's now known as Anthea Sweeting, so she must have married.

At the very least, she needs to be informed that her father has died.

At her last appointment, Anthea had contusions across her back

and upper arms that were indicative of being thrashed by a belt

with a metal buckle.

She was also three months pregnant.

Aged 15?

And the notes say, "Mother present at examination."

Mrs Tillerson made no reference to that at all!

And I may be surmising,

but I cross-checked Mabel Tillerson's notes.

The very day after that consultation,

the doctor was summoned by a neighbour from the same tenement

block, who had seen Mrs Tillerson crawling to the communal lavatory.

He found her to have a black eye, and several broken ribs.

From a fall downstairs?

It's always "a fall downstairs"

when the ribs are broken, or the spleen is damaged.

And they say, "I walked into a door"

when the bruises are just to their face.

Anthea was never seen by this practice again.

That's it, Linda! That is absolutely fantastic!

Come on, you can do it!

I wish all my first-timers were like you. Baby's almost here!

You did it, Linda!

You did it!

What is it?

A little boy! Little, but absolutely gorgeous!

Come on, dozy drawers.

You're keeping your mummy waiting for her cuddle.

Can I see him? Can I hold him?

Just give us two ticks!

Come on, little 'un, come on.

Show us what you can do.

Please!

Well, can't you slap him or something?

Will that not make him cry?

Come on, little man!

-Could you pass me a towel, please?

-Yeah.

No!

Don't cover his face.

He's beautiful, Linda.

Do you want to see him?

No! No! No, I don't!

Will you take it away?

I'll take care of everything. It's what midwives do.

Come on, back to your post.

In a few minutes, you can go and make a phone call for me.

Argh!

KNOCKING

I decided you were gone too long for this to be a visit of reassurance.

Placenta's delivered.

Do you want a cigarette?

It's too cold out here, too small in there.

A hug?

No.

If you say so much as one kind word to me, I'll go to pieces.

Valerie, this is the worst thing that could happen to a midwife.

It hasn't happened to me. It's happened to them.

What happens now?

To the little one?

We have an arrangement with a family firm of undertakers.

We'll talk to you about the details tomorrow.

Put that in with him.

It doesn't seem right, sending a baby out into the cold.

If you want me to arrange a transfer to hospital

or our maternity home, you only have to say.

I don't want to be anywhere I might see other babies.

That's probably wise.

I didn't even want to see him.

I was too scared.

And it's like it makes me not his mother.

Selwyn looked at him.

He looked at him, and he saw his face.

And you knew your baby when he was inside of you, Linda.

You knew his smallest movements, every single, little kick...

..and he knew every beat of your heart.

But we both loved him.

Selwyn and me.

Yes. You did.

SHE SIGHS

CRYING

Help! Help! Quickly!

He's alive! I thought he was stillborn!

You really are going to have to give the Birmingham parish an answer,

-Tom.

-I know.

If you don't grab this chance, I don't know when you'll get another.

-KNOCKING

-Mr Hereward, come quickly, please!

Oh, Valerie! What happened?

I don't know. I don't know!

Is he still crying?

Yes, Valerie. Yes, he is.

BABY CRYING

His breathing must have been very shallow

and his heartbeat slow and hard to detect.

That hot water bottle did the trick. Temperature's normal.

Thank you, Mr Hereward.

There is no need for you to baptise this baby.

The parents can have the joy of deciding when

and by whom the christening is performed.

First, we must give them the news.

And we must talk to Nurse Dyer.

She must have expanded his lungs. She simply didn't realise.

Linda. And Selwyn.

I know you're grieving.

And I know you're grieving because a-a terrible thing has happened.

But sometimes, when a terrible thing happens, and we survive it,

we find something beautiful waiting for us on the other side.

Here's your baby, Linda.

He's warm, and he's pink, and he's breathing beautifully.

He's yours.

He's alive.

The trouble is Tom simply won't say yes!

I never had him down as the prevaricating sort.

Give that handle a waggle for me, Barbara.

The shank looks slightly suspect.

You could just try repeating yourself, over and over.

Persistent drops of water can pit solid rock in the end.

Hello, Reggie! Nice hat.

Nurse Crane knitted it.

Ooh.

Two more!

What are you doing with those?

Collecting them.

Well, they're a rare enough sight at the moment, I grant you.

Put them in the corner of the porch for now,

and then let's concentrate on rounding up these Cubs.

BLOWS WHISTLE

Pack, pack, pack!

I want everybody to take a shovel,

or a spade or a World War I entrenching tool.

This is an exciting enterprise

that's going to help you towards your second star.

This is Reggie...

-Hello.

-..who's our designated helper for the day.

Reggie's a gardener,

so he knows a lot about the kind of implements we're going to be using.

And Reggie is going to be in charge of the entrenching tool.

So anyone who doesn't make him welcome isn't going to get a go.

So who wants a go?

-Me!

-Me!

-Me!

-Me!

Excuse the knife!

I've got ten pounds of spuds to peel by tea-time.

Is this to do with one of the children?

No. It's to do with your parents.

Save!

How many children have you fostered now, Mrs Sweeting?

The one I'm having is my fourth.

And I've looked after more than 30.

Every time the council have approached me, I've said yes.

LOUD MUSIC

I'm sorry. They're having a discotheque!

Lyle! Anthony! Turn that down!

Sorry, Ma!

I've never ever had to raise a hand to a single one of them.

Only my voice.

You should be very proud of that.

I am. And I'm not proud of much.

Everything I did, for years, I did because I hated him.

I know from your mother that your father's attachment to you

was...unnatural.

If beyond that I can only speculate, I ask you to forgive me.

Me forgive you?

I didn't ask you to come here.

And I don't like what you stand for.

But as far as I'm aware, you never raped me once a week

while my mother went to Evensong.

Did she tell you I ran away?

Yes, she did.

She was lying.

He threw me out, after we came home from the doctors.

He threw me out, and she didn't stop him.

I ran back and banged on the door.

And nobody came to open it.

Keep it tight! Keep it tight! That's it!

Now the important thing to remember is that the

top layers of snow are dry and powdery. They won't be

strong enough to support the walls or the dome of our igloo.

Eskimos always compress the snow into hard, square bricks,

and we need to follow their example.

We're going to be like Eskimos.

Thank you, Clinton. That's not what we do with our shovels!

Oh! Splendid, Reggie! That's perfect!

I know you wanted your mother to protect you.

I know you wanted her to fight for you.

But your father's treatment of her beat her - froze her - into submission.

And it is now in your gift to break that ice.

To let her into your life again.

Go behind the clock.

Go on.

Look inside.

I found it in my pocket when I was banging on the door.

My mother must've put it there without him seeing.

But you never spent it.

Not even when I got rid of that baby.

I'm not proud of that.

But I am proud I kept the one thing that she gave me.

Because somewhere inside,

somewhere where I never go,

I might not be as angry as I think.

It really would mean the most enormous amount to her...

If I went to the funeral?

Put it back. Those notes aren't even legal tender any more.

I want to call him after you.

Selwyn?

It's not ideal, is it? Do you have a middle name?

In all these months, I've never asked you that.

John.

John.

We like that, don't we, John?

I was told you'd like to see me.

Is the little chap doing well?

We don't need him christened or nothing. Not yet.

But we would like him blessed.

Because if you bless him, you bless the three of us.

Smile!

Yay!

Ooh, in a bit please, Jasvinder.

And can we have two hands on the entrenching tool, Aidan. We want

it brandished aloft in triumph, not accidently buried in someone's head.

Evacuate that treacherous edifice this minute, the lot of you!

And when I say this minute, I mean now!

Oh!

Good morning, Sergeant.

I think you'd have found a simple, "Get out of the igloo!"

more effective.

Small boys respond better to instructions

when they're given in plain English.

And in plain English the instructions

continue as follows - knock that thing down.

I shall do no such thing.

The boys have spent several hours constructing it,

and it forms a principal component of their Second Star badge.

Namely, the manufacture of a "satisfactory model or article

"in wood, metal, cardboard, clay, Plasticine or similar substance."

But it's not made of wood, metal, cardboard, clay or Plasticine!

It's made of snow.

Which in my book - namely, Tracks And Tracking by H Mortimer Batten -

comes under the heading of "similar substance".

You needn't think you can blind me with Scouting science.

I was Baloo to the 19th Stepney for 14 years.

And that is a death trap! Knock it down.

Boooooo!

Pack!

You should have them doing something useful.

Tom, what is the beanstalk doing in our kitchen?

I rescued it from the community centre.

I'm asking small businesses in Poplar to provide

the wherewithal for a Christmas dinner for the elderly,

and Madam Edith has agreed to resurrect the pantomime.

I think the foliage has gone a bit mouldy.

Barbara, I saw such an image of love today.

A hand inside a hand, inside a hand.

And it was a timely reminder of how it doesn't matter where any

of us are from, or where we go, as long as we hold on to one another.

You're going to accept the post in Birmingham, aren't you?

It's only for six months, and wherever I go,

the work I do will have the same meaning.

I just want to leave Poplar with a smile on its face.

Or possibly anthrax.

These need oiling.

Perhaps you can see to them with Fred, tomorrow.

The policeman said to do something useful.

And then he made us knock our igloo down.

Yes.

I must say when you both asked to see me together,

I was expecting news of a slightly different kind.

Oh, no, nothing like that.

Will you still need me, when I come back?

Nonnatus House will always need good midwives.

And we will always need each other.

Little matters more in such a fractured world.

Which is why I like your idea of the dinner and the pantomime so much.

Morning, Sister Monica Joan.

I surmise you rose long before cock-crow,

and have since been forced to pass the time in self-examination.

And the consumption of rapidly cooling tea.

As you have these several mornings past.

It's not quite the same without milk in.

You have witnessed much. And much, I think, beyond your understanding.

I keep going over and over it in my mind.

What I did right, what I must have done wrong,

what I missed... and I can't pin one thing down.

"And the Lord, it was he that did go before thee, he was with thee,

"he did not fail thee, neither forsook thee."

I really don't want you to think I'm being impolite,

but I don't believe in God, Sister Monica Joan.

That matters not one mote, nor one iota.

You carried out your work,

and one much wiser brought your labours to fruition.

Where did that come from?

I should like to say it descended from the heavens,

like manna in the wilderness.

But I have had it secreted in the woodshed.

The hands of the Almighty are so often to be

found at the ends of our own arms.

Water. Water on cornflakes! I'm sorry, Reggie.

They ate better than this in Stalingrad!

I'm surprised that you can sit there in that uniform, Fred Buckle.

The Civil Defence Corps is responsible for the

maintenance of public services and order during the time of crisis,

not for the provision of groceries.

Well, I look forward to you maintaining

order down the rescue centre,

when we can't even offer those poor people a proper cup of tea!

And don't keep telling me that the milkmen are still exhausted,

or that the roads are blocked.

It might be minus five out there.

Minus nine last night.

Well, either way, it hasn't snowed for days,

and the roads are as clear as they've been for two weeks!

Milk has to come from the countryside, Vi,

and-and you know what that's like - it's miles away from anywhere!

And they've got to get the milk out the cow, into the churns,

got to get the churns on the train, and then they send the churns

all over London where they have to be bottled.

Then where is it?

I would mind less if I hadn't put the shop on short hours again

so that I can help down the Institute!

I reckon this must be the worst-run borough in London.

That looks most appropriate.

Thank you for the loan of it.

Percy was always so careful with money,

I almost felt like splashing out on a great big black titfer,

just to show him who's boss now.

But old habits die hard.

You can make changes, in time.

I used to carry a ten bob note inside my corset.

Just ten bob.

But it was my escape route.

My bus fare, or my train ticket. It could've got me out.

When Anthea went, I put it in her pocket.

It was everything I was never brave enough to do.

I think the cortege will be arriving.

Let's go and wait for the lift.

You pop round for a cup of tea, once the dust is settled, eh?

Thank you.

-I'm so sorry for your loss, love.

-Thank you.

We'll be thinking of you.

Corned beef, and the last of that Christmas chutney.

What's all this?

It's Angela's Magic Bean costume.

I never finished it, and now the pantomime's back on,

Madam Edith wants every sequin in apple pie order by dress rehearsal.

You're doing too much, Shelagh.

If I don't do too much, not enough gets done.

Ladies and gentlemen! Ladies, please!

Mr Bentley is not a criminal,

he's a hard-pressed citizen trying to do a job of work.

He's got churns full of milk!

And you heard his explanation!

He hasn't got any bottles to put it in!

They were stolen from abandoned floats,

they were dumped in rubbish chutes,

and those are the ones that didn't go AWOL into the snowdrift!

I've brought two jugs and a billycan.

And I've brought a bloomin' bucket!

Those churns are the property of the Milk Marketing Board

and anyone making an advance on them is liable to charges!

Charges of what?

Looting, and riotous behaviour.

And bodily harm,

if those ladies come any nearer to Mr Bentley with their prams.

Mothers can become quite agitated if their children are deprived.

Nevertheless, I would counsel against decanting

milk from farmyard churns into unsterilized receptacles.

We have hygiene to consider, as well as diet.

Is there anything you need assistance with, Nurse Crane?

Always good to have the support of the Civil Defence Corps, Mr Buckle.

Next stop, the Gurkhas.

I heard that. If you would follow me, please, Mr Buckle.

What plan are you hatching now?

Since you ask, Sergeant Woolf, I'm off to do something useful.

LAUGHTER

All right, all right, that's no excuse for you to start up again.

Now remember, anybody who wants to touch her has to

wash their hands first!

KNOCKING

It's like Battersea Dogs Home in here!

That's a lovely thought, Sister. Thank you.

Would you like me to tell your mother about the baby?

He dragged up too much stuff by dying. I want everything buried.

Not just him.

Anthea, if you think it might help to meet your mother in a more

relaxed setting,

we're giving a Christmas dinner for the elderly in our neighbourhood.

I'm sorry, Sister. But I've just given birth to my last baby.

And it's made me think about my first one.

And I'm just going to get on with doing what I've been

doing for as long as I've been able,

which is making sure nobody ever gets a door shut in their face.

Can you understand that?

Yes. Because it's what we do, too.

I'm going to leave you with your family,

to enjoy the happiness you made with them, and make for them.

And which you so richly deserve.

One, two, three, four.

-How many are there?

-Yes!

I've got one more, yes!

I've found another one, I've found another one.

Yes, one more in the bag.

Now, be careful with those bottles, lads. Don't break any.

Give us a hand.

Unbelievable, there's so many.

Whoever gets the most is going to get a humbug. What d'ya reckon?

MUSIC DROWNS SPEECH

I like a man who gives credit when it's due.

-Welcome.

-Thank you.

Welcome. Enjoy!

MURMUR OF CONVERSATION

-Hello! How are you?

-I'm very well, thank you, dear.

-Hope you enjoy it.

-Thank you.

Thanks.

Mabel! I'm so glad you're joining us for dinner.

Let me show you to your seat.

We're running out of hessian sacks.

The Beanshoot Babes are going to be in their knickers and vests!

Make sure you put the dots of lipstick in the corner of their eyes, Valerie.

Their features simply won't stand out otherwise.

Well, you might want to do that for me.

These false eyelashes are a bit of a disappointment.

Fred, you're supposed to be a poor, widowed subsistence farmer,

not Sophia Loren!

When it's my turn I'm putting in a bid for cupid bow lips

and periwinkle eye shadow.

Be a bit of a waste on the rear end of a pantomime cow!

I, meanwhile, will be playing the front end.

And in case nobody's noticed, I've had a full manicure and a professional shampoo and set.

Well, there's never any excuse for a lady to look less than her best, as Fred well knows!

Ah. There's no call for frivolity.

I bear the weight of an ancient tradition on my shoulders.

Christopher and I are aware that our combined role is a lowly one,

and we bear it nobly for the greater good of the community.

It's perked me up good and proper, this has.

I hadn't pulled a cracker in 32 years.

And I'm telling you, the jokes in them don't get any better.

Hello, Mum.

Hello, Anthea, love!

I thought you might like to meet your newest grandchild.

We've called her Helen.

The rest of them, some of them are mine,

and some of them aren't mine for long.

I'm sure your mother will want to meet all of your children.

I brought you these.

I don't know how they managed to survive this weather,

but they did.

They must be tough little things.

I wanted to buy the flowers for you with it,

but the bank won't accept those notes any more.

They belong in the past.

I can't believe you'll be leaving before the end!

Another blizzard forecast is another blizzard forecast.

Even if our finale does rival that of The London Palladium!

There won't be a train to be had in the morning.

I'll be back before you know it.

Oh!

Sorry. One of the Magic Beans has trapped her finger in the door.

Oh!

Take care of her.

MUSIC

HE MOUTHS

# Though we gotta say goodbye for the summer

# Darling I promise you this

# I'll send you all my love

# Every day in a letter... #

Hold each other close. Keep each other safe.

For there is imperfection everywhere.

There are always wounds that weep.

# I'll run to tenderly hold you

# But darling you won't be there

# I don't want to say goodbye for the summer

# Knowing the love we'll miss

# Oh let us make a pledge to meet in September... #

Year by year by year, we share the season and move on.

-Barbara?

-# Yes, it's going to be a cold lonely summer

# But I'll fill the emptiness

# I'll send you all my love

# Every day in a letter... #

There will always be

another Christmas and all will be well.

All will be well.

# Sealed with a kiss. #