Is it time to stop calling the midwife?

The original storylines of Call the Midwife in Series 1 were true to Jennifer Worth's book of her experiences in the East End and really gritty - not at all like the twee and sugary last few series.

I had forgotten how good they were when I started to watch Series 1 recently. (all available on BBC iPlayer)

I enjoy it as gentle Sunday evening entertainment. Coming up to the 70’s will bring back more to me and I’m looking forward to it.

For a lack lustre 10th series, it really went out with a bang. Loved last night's episode. The Downs syndrome story was very believable and also non judgmental re the adoptive mum. Loved Sheila getting tipsy on liebfraumilch. Good to see Sr Hilda getting something to do. Good for Trixie marching down the stairs after Matthew and making him face up to the reality of what his family had done, and also very moved when she read out his late wife's letter. Hopefully a romance will develop there at a pace respectful to his late wife and her parents.
Miss Higgins was sublime as always.

I'm glad to see that Lucille and Cyril have set a date but nothing will match the Christmas wedding of Tom and the much missed Barbara.

Not a fan of Nancy, I'm afraid. I'm Irish and she's a bit of a stereotypes.

Hello, everyone. I thought it was a nice end to the series, although I could have done without the rat scenes. The new midwife fits in well and I’m hoping the Turners will foster her daughter. On a side note, I don’t think my family encountered courgettes until the 80s.

What a gorgeous baby wee Robert was. I am warming to this series after all and hope that the young sister is given the opportunity to fight the injustice she recognises. As for poor Nancy being advised not to tell her daughter the truth.... I know a man who found out on his wedding day that his big sister was his mother.

Calendargirl

Oh, for the halcyon days of 1967, when a chap off to medical school was given his first glass of wine by his dad.

And he was thrilled to be given a second hand pen by his dad’s spinster secretary.

Life would be so much easier if that were how it really was.

I think that's always an issue when whatever is shown is not the lived experience of the person watching. I find the same issue with the "back in time for" programs and stopped watching them because for me it was NOT what it was like. I do recognise quite a lot of fact from the show although I am a sarf Londoner, not an east ender. Its also a sunday night drama series, not a docco so the balance needs to be kept on the side of heartwarming.

Calendargirl

Oh, for the halcyon days of 1967, when a chap off to medical school was given his first glass of wine by his dad.

And he was thrilled to be given a second hand pen by his dad’s spinster secretary.

Life would be so much easier if that were how it really was.

Things do seem to be getting closer to the past with the return of rat-infested, damp riddled housing because of the housing shortage. I also think there are many families where they still have a sense of what is really important. Not as much has changed as we think - or as the media likes to paint.

I am looking forward to this years Christmas episode even though they tend to be rather contrived - and then a new series next year as they move from the late 60s, where this series started, into more of the 70s.

The baby born with Down’s syndrome last night brought me back to the 60’s when my cousin was born.

Dr Turner proclaimed that they should not use the term “mongol” and instead use the appropriate Down’s syndrome.

My distraught aunt was told by a paediatrician in 1966 that her baby was “a mongol”

I really enjoy CTM, it’s Sunday evening on the sofa comfort viewing.
A real change from violence, murders and who done its!

Oh, for the halcyon days of 1967, when a chap off to medical school was given his first glass of wine by his dad.

And he was thrilled to be given a second hand pen by his dad’s spinster secretary.

Life would be so much easier if that were how it really was.

Can’t say I do really.

The anniversary special was very good this evening - some of those storylines, particularly with the thalidomide babies, were so hard-hitting. I was very touched by tonight’s end of season episode as well, though I might just be having nightmares about the rat in the cradle.

I tried to watch it and it made me squirm. That bleached blonde with insincere expressions looks nothing like any midwife I’ve met, therefore I can’t suspend my disbelief. Do you think it’s rather patronising to the working class too?

I meant 'portrayed'!

Riggie

*Does anyone else wonder if Trixie will get together with baby Jonathan’s bereaved Dad*

Yes!!

Yes!!!

I like CTM still, because it tells the story of what things were like and it is one of the rare TV programmes that has no shouting, bawling, swearing and makes me feel good! I also love the characters, the general loveliness of it and the rock solid people who are great role models in my opinion... Caring, thoughtful... they have traits that are seldom protrayed in soaps, for example. There's been so much shouting in Eastenders and Emmerdale that I've stopped watching the former and the latter is on the verge of being switched off permanently!!

I love watching it, probably more than I did at first. I had already read the books and, very unusually for me, I enjoyed the books but didn’t like the author for some reason. I felt exactly the same when it came on tv but found I enjoyed it more when she had left. I do agree that programmes can run their course, though. At the risk of being shot down in flames, I was totally sick of Downton Abbey after about series 3!

BigBerthal... I too, hate Mrs Brown's boys with a passion. It's stupid rather than funny, and I don't find it all comical, yet I have a very good sense of humour. I think it's "too fake pantomime for me". With humour that's silly rather than funny. Very American. I think.

It’s an antidote for all the murders and distressed detectives we are viewing. It’s also a reminder of how things have changed. For example last week the way that the new student midwife was treated because she revealed she had an illegitimate baby. It was unbelievable but then I am old enough to remember those times.

I have to say I just love it - it’s simply a nice programme- easy to watch and makes for a nice relaxing evening. I’m
def not ready for it to disappear yet.

Does anyone else wonder if Trixie will get together with baby Jonathan’s bereaved Dad

Yes!!

A relaxing Sunday evening programme. Reminds me of all the things that happened when my children were young Polio, thalidomide, the London smog etc.

I love it and cry every episode! Don't mind the timeline as I'm remembering my mum wearing similar outfits.

I love it, but am particularly interested in the props and scenery, reminiscent of my childhood. I know the person who has to source all these items for the show. Must be an interesting job.

CTM isn’t supposed to be a factual documentary, it’s light entertainment, which also manages to show us some snippets of social history and attitudes of the time. I enjoy it.

Does anyone else wonder if Trixie will get together with baby Jonathan’s bereaved Dad?

'Fraid I still love it!!

I used to watch it but stopped a couple of years ago as it did start to feel representative. Probably time to put it out to pasture.