There are challenges that are eternal.
How do we stand
and face our fears and how do we let go?
We forge on because we must,
with weapons as fragile as courage,
as simple as work,
or as precious as compassion for our fellow human beings.
These are the threads that bind
the very warp and weft of days,
the things we think we will remember
then move on from and forget.
Oh, you poor child.
I'm pretty sure that's it for now.
Go and get ready. I'll cover for you.
Mum, what's going to happen
when they close the maternity home?
I wish there was a simple answer, May.
The truth is, nobody knows.
Will we have to move house?
No. This is our home. And that's not going to change,
because Daddy will still have his surgery.
I promise you, sweetheart, everything will be all right.
Angela and me used to do everything together.
Now we don't even get the same bus.
She'll be home tonight, just as she always is.
And Timothy's back in London, living at St Cuthbert's.
So that's good, isn't it?
I know.
New things are always hard.
Nurse Crane's been held up at the maternity home.
She's asked me to give out morning orders.
Sister Catherine,
are you happy to be on first call this afternoon?
Of course.
I was top of the call board myself,
but I now have a meeting halfway across London.
Good morning, all.
Rosalind laddered her tights.
She's just sorting out a fresh pair.
Well, I hope she's eaten a hearty breakfast.
She's going to be cycling all over Poplar today.
- See you later! - Six o'clock!
And don't be late!
KNOCK AT DOOR Come in.
DOOR OPENS
HE CHUCKLES Oh.
And it is wakey, wakey, rise and shine
for my favourite slugabed!
I bring grapefruit tea and a French toast chaser.
Have I overslept again?
You're keeping not dissimilar hours to Princess Margaret.
Although I am told her calling tray has nothing on it
but black coffee and an orange juice.
She probably wakes up with a hangover.
I've never had a hangover. HE GROANS
Are you getting a bad back sleeping on the sofa?
I did think of sending for an osteopath.
Then I remembered I am one.
Well, I've slept like a log every night since I came here.
It's like I'm getting over an illness.
You look to me as though you are recuperating nicely.
Apart from the faintest suggestion of a few split ends.
Dare I make you a little appointmentette
at the salon on the corner?
The hairdresser's?
Oh, no. I really don't think I can go to the hairdresser's.
Not with my hair in this state.
In a moment, we'll be inviting
the ladies and gentlemen of the press inside
to view the magnificent ground-floor extension
funded by the bathroom grant scheme.
But first, I'd like to ask Mrs Rhoda Mullucks,
who's here today with her daughter Susan and son Paddy,
to say a few words about
how she and her family have benefited
from this council initiative.
This has been a really fortunate development for us.
As many of you know,
Susan was affected by thalidomide
and we were struggling a bit more than most
with the old outside toilet and tin bath.
- Hello, Mum. - For those of you who don't know,
this is my second eldest, Perry.
He's at technical college.
My grandma was actually born in this house,
and the addition of the bathroom
has brought us bang into the middle of the 20th century.
What do you have to say, Susan?
It's fantastic.
LAUGHTER
In you go, members of the press,
straight through to the back of the house.
Oh, and Mrs Mullucks' sanitaryware
is in a new colour called pampas beige.
So you might want to caption your photographs accordingly.
Oh!
Come on, love. Let's bump you up.
Oh.
Oh...
SHE GASPS
I can't believe we're under notice of closure,
yet we've still got a cohort
of junior doctors coming in for district obstetrics.
And all the more unsettling
because my own son's one of the doctors.
Oh, he was such a little boy when he came into my life.
You were younger than he is now
when your path first crossed with mine.
And look at us now,
shutting up shop, to all intents and purposes.
Where do you think we'll be this time next year?
Possibly in a better place than this.
Possibly in a worse one.
- But not here? - Shelagh...
The council are not going to give
Nonnatus House any more money.
We'll have to see what God thinks
and what the order proposes.
Hurry up, please, gentlemen.
The mother is feeling the urge to push,
and Mr Parry wants all junior doctors to be in gowns.
I'm sorry, Dr Turner, but I have begged
for an extraordinary meeting of the Board of Health.
And Dr Threapwood says we have to wait
until the next one is scheduled on Friday.
They might announce more closures at that one.
There are half a dozen other maternity homes
just waiting for the axe to fall.
Which doesn't give the board the right to treat you,
or Nonnatus House, like a canary down the mine!
Meanwhile, I fear
the fact that our GP practice is remaining open
has confused matters,
and I'd expected some degree of local uproar,
but no-one has so much as started a petition.
The system we're heading into is going to be so big
it dwarfs people's comprehension.
Then, by the time they realise what's afoot,
their voices will seem too tiny to be heard.
Well, my voice isn't too tiny to be heard.
SHE CRIES OUT
Now, Mother, let's concentrate on the task in hand.
Less noise equals more effective bearing down.
I'd do better without a ruddy audience!
Come, come. Just keep reminding yourself
you're making very satisfactory progress.
SHE CRIES OUT
Now, once this contraction ends
and Mother has ceased her exertions,
would one of the gentlemen present like
to step up and describe what he can see?
Ah, Dr Turner Junior.
Rule one of obstetrics.
There is often something liquid on the floor.
The foetal scalp is not visible at the introitus
during the pause between contractions, sir.
The presenting part is the vertex
in a cephalic presentation.
The head is beginning to distend the perineum,
but the crowning has not yet occurred.
And?
Boy or girl?
It's reassuring to know your expertise knows its limits.
LAUGHTER
PATIENT PANTS
SHE CRIES OUT
Now, Lady Aylward.
Matron of the Lady Emily Clinic for Women and Babies
does have rather a ring to it.
Yes, it does.
And I'd like to accept - with caveats.
You know I'll grant you any caveat you desire.
I can't commence until the New Year.
I have to give in my notice to Nonnatus House.
They're not in the best shape at the present time.
BELL JANGLES
Had I to peal this bell much longer,
I would have been in need of embrocation for my elbow
as well as assistance to the lavatory!
This means the diuretics are working.
Oh...
And helping to cleanse your body of all the excess fluid.
Ha. I am not in want of a biology lesson,
merely your aid!
It might be more convenient if we set up a commode for you.
I have always prided dignity above convenience.
I've spent the whole of my career in the East End...
...which equates to almost all of my adult life.
You would have served less time for murder!
I don't see it that way, Mr Scarisbrick.
It wasn't a sentence.
It was, and still is, a privilege.
And now our maternity home is closing down.
And the domestic delivery of babies
could end up virtually outlawed.
Thank you, Peel Report.
I don't want to work in hospitals.
I want to get to know the women I'm caring for.
I want them to feel safe,
as though birth is a miraculous but normal part of life.
Soon I won't be able to provide that.
And... in my view, that's a...
...terrible loss.
I'm simply grateful we're able to offer an alternative.
To those who can afford to pay.
Nevertheless, we have new adventures to look forward to.
In due course, I'll have something else to put to you,
but not today.
We have quite enough to celebrate.
Perhaps you'll allow me to take you out to dinner.
Perhaps...
...in a week or two.
Oh. Good evening. Is that the Gazette?
Oh, Miss Leverett. Glad I caught you.
Could you put me through to Mr Reynolds on Features?
Paddy, what noise does a sheep make?
DOOR OPENS Baa!
Baaa!
THEY GIGGLE
I'm gonna have to take Susan to the surgery tomorrow, Bernie.
That blister looks like it's become infected.
We can't have that, can we? Hey?
What's the matter, my beautiful? Hey?
It hurts when I put the legs on.
Does it?
If I take her first thing, can you drop Paddy at nursery?
Well, no, I can't. I've got a funeral
at ten o'clock out in East Ham.
Mr Albion wants us lined up at the hearse by nine.
I sometimes rue the day you took that undertaking job.
Well, it's a steady line of work.
You're drinking more of that milk of magnesia
than you ever did when you were pregnant.
You're not trying to tell me we got some news, are you?
Chance'd be a fine thing!
God, our Almighty Father,
we ask today for a blessing
to add to all the blessings you have given us.
And as we thank you for leading us to one another
and for letting us love one another,
enfold us, as my hands enfold hers,
and protect us, as her body protects our child.
Amen.
Oh, gosh...
It is beautiful, isn't it?
I've always loved pearls -
the idea that, inside all that sheen,
there's a tiny speck of sand.
The heart of a pearl is so much stronger than we think.
I didn't even know we kept sherry on the premises.
When a house is a home to a lot of young women,
it's always wise to be prepared for a celebration.
I managed to grab some Twiglets and smoky bacon crisps.
Fred sends his congratulations.
This is turning into quite the shindig!
Have you given any consideration to a date yet?
I went to the register office this morning
and filled in all the forms.
It's going to be in three weeks' time.
Three weeks?
And what of your parents? Are they as delighted as we?
They don't know yet. Um...
They've been away on the school trip to Bruges,
so I'm going to call them tomorrow night.
They are educated
and they are inhabitants of the modern world.
Congratulations.
- Congratulations. - Congratulations.
I've stopped short of going the full Vidal Sassoon
in giving you a geometric bob, but...
...I think that's taken the curse off.
Farewell, split ends.
I've never had eggs rubbed in my hair before.
- It felt quite nice. - Trixie put me on to the protein rinse
when I decided to go long.
But... Beryl...
...now that you've had a rest,
we need to talk about the future.
The order want my answer in three weeks.
And what are you going to do with those three weeks?
Are you just going to sit them out indoors in the hope that
clarity will come floating through the window?
Or are you going to try to live a little?
I think I'm living quite a lot just being here.
Beryl, you know that's not true.
Today...
...whilst I'm out
manipulating the vertebrae of London's jet set...
...I want you to make a list
of every single thing you wish to do
before you tell the sisters
whether you're going to leave or stay.
To what end, Geoffrey?
It may help you decide...
...which sacrifice is bearable.
What do you mean, "Mayor turns midwife"?
You can't deliver babies, Mrs Buckle.
You're not qualified.
I'm not intending to deliver them.
The idea is that I follow you
and the other ladies round Poplar
as you go about your work,
lending a hand, you know, as and when appropriate.
And getting photographed by the Gazette?
The Gazette feels that it will draw attention
to the destruction of midwifery services as we know it.
That I can't deny.
But so far, we've left the news to seep out slowly
so we don't cause alarm.
Nurse Crane, in my opinion,
we need to cause alarm to save the maternity home.
If people protest, it might make a difference.
Mm.
SHE WINCES
How often do you wear the artificial legs?
Every day. They make them wear them at school.
There's three other thalidomide kids,
and the teacher says they all have to set an example
to each other.
What do you think about it all, Susan?
I don't really like them very much.
The other kids?
CHUCKLING The legs.
They're heavy and they hurt
and they don't look like proper legs.
You're probably ready for a bigger set.
She's growing like a weed.
Um, while I'm here, Dr Turner,
I wouldn't mind some more milk of magnesia.
Rhoda, you really need to get that gall bladder removed.
You've been at the top of the waiting list twice
and cancelled the operation both times.
I'm too busy, Doctor.
Belinda's away at university,
and I'm busier than ever, with Paddy and Susan to look after.
I can look after myself.
Susan, you know that's not true.
And the campaign for compensation
has had so many ups and downs.
I'll write you a prescription.
It's cheaper than buying it over the counter.
But promise me, the next time your name comes up,
you'll get the operation done.
BABIES CRY
They don't complain like this in male surgical.
BABY SCREAMS
He's hungry.
Oh. Sorry, mate, we don't run to bar snacks.
BABY QUIETENS
The infant stomach is a small fusiform organ
situated in the upper abdomen...
...with a capacity of approximately 30ml.
HE LAUGHS
Anatomically, it's comprised of the cardia,
the fundus, the body and the pylorus.
And the gastric mucosa
is capable of secreting hydrochloric acid...
What do you think you are doing with that infant?!
I was comforting him.
His cry was quite high-pitched, as though he might have colic.
SHE SIGHS
And he stopped the moment you picked him up?
Yes, Sister.
He just didn't seem very happy.
A well-managed baby is a contented baby.
Doctors do not care for babies.
They diagnose them and they treat them.
And junior doctors are on this ward to learn.
Sorry, Sister.
SHE SNIFFS Ooh!
I don't know what's gone on here. This one's covered
in lipstick and there's a whiff of whisky! Oh!
SHE CHUCKLES
SHE SIGHS
Now, you don't get a belt or badges,
because you're not a nurse.
Your hair must be off your collar.
There's to be no coloured eye shadow,
and I shall be inspecting your fingernails.
Not that we'd let you too near the business end.
SHE CHUCKLES
I'm just so used to seeing you do everything - the caring
and the medicine all mixed up.
FIREWORKS NEARBY
In a perfect world, the caring and the medicine
would always be mixed up,
and in obstetrics most of all.
Obstetrics in hospital
just seems like another branch of surgery.
There are so many rules and protocols.
You'll be doing your rotation on the district soon enough.
You'll probably wish there were more rules then.
I just wish the maternity home wasn't closing.
The maternity home was an innovation once.
Practice evolves all the time,
and as a doctor, you have to lean into it
or medicine won't grow.
Sometimes change is for the better.
I mean, look at us tonight.
Putting on fireworks for the children,
just like we always have,
but timing them so Angela and May don't miss
- their pop music programme. - If you're talking about The Partridge Family,
that is not a change for the better.
THEY CHUCKLE
Looks like the Sunday Times has come out on our side again -
about the manufacturers' latest compensation offer.
Them manufacturers, they want the book throwing at 'em.
3 million quid for 400 children?
Arms missing, legs missing, some deaf, blind.
I've heard the campaign leaders say the kids deserve 20.
Million.
I'd never seen numbers that big until we started this campaign.
And they'll never be big enough.
Money can't buy what that girl will never have.
SUSAN SCREAMS
HE CHUCKLES
SUSAN SCREAMS Susan, what's the matter?
She's screaming at David Cassidy.
Oh!
He's a pop star. You have to scream when you see his picture!
SHE SCREAMS
LAUGHTER
David Cassidy!
I want to scream every time I see his haircut.
It's better than that T. Rex fella Belinda likes.
SUSAN SCREAMS
Our Susan's going to grow up soon.
- In't she? - Well, I think it's happening already.
Right, Nurse Clifford, I'm assigning you
to juice and milk tokens.
That way you can show off your engagement ring.
Thank you, Nurse Crane!
Are you ready with the petitions, Miss Higgins?
I have personally typed up four copies
to be presented to the board, and they will be circulated
- while clinic is in progress. - Oh, I'll...
Mrs Buckle!
And a gentleman of the press, unless I'm mistaken.
You are most welcome.
Oh! SHELAGH LAUGHS
I've drawn up a list of suitable poses,
but first, you'll need to help me with the hat.
I'm telling you now,
you'll not last long in a slingback court shoe.
KNOCK AT DOOR
You may enter.
I brought you some chrysanths, Sister.
They're still coming up lovely on the allotment.
There was an earwig in the last bouquet.
I watched him climb from petal to petal for an hour.
It was so like being out in nature
that I almost fancied I felt sunlight on my face.
Would you like us to get you into the garden, Sister?
I could light the brazier. You could have a blanket
- on your knees. - I think you mistake me for one...
...elderly and frail.
Never.
I'm sorry to confess it...
...but I do not think my feet will carry me.
Sit with me for a while.
- - That's right. Give me the joy.
Give me the excitement.
Trouble with this is...
...we do our most important work
when people aren't smiling.
FOOTSTEPS
Um...
Do you reckon Sister Monica Joan's fading, Sister?
She's certainly weakening.
And the worst thing is... she knows it.
She must be getting scared.
Not of death,
but...
...letting go of life.
And life means so much more than breath and a heartbeat.
It's...
...independence and company...
...and joy.
Even nuns take pleasure in things.
And with every day that passes,
she's denied a little more.
Maybe it's time to move the telly to her bedroom.
That said, I don't even think the TV will perk her up.
It's only the test card half the time.
We need to get her outside.
Why aren't you and Cyril making this call together?
Cos, in case you've forgotten,
my parents haven't spoken to him
since the day I introduced them,
which was also the day they said he wasn't the man for me.
I think I need to break the ice.
Honey, you're going to need a pickaxe.
My mother and father aren't bad people, Joyce.
They're just very... blinkered.
And my marriage is their chance to see things a different way.
You're a good child, child.
SHE SIGHS
My name's Bernie. I'm an alcoholic.
I used to be a warehouseman...
...before they closed the docks. I was good at it.
Things... on shelves,
things in boxes.
Lists to tick.
I was in control.
And then I lost my job.
And I have to have a reason to get up every morning,
to get dressed, go out,
or else the drink comes creeping in.
So, when Mr Albion offered me a job...
...I thought, "Yeah. Things in boxes.
"That feels familiar."
I didn't know that I would find my calling.
That it would make me more human.
That it could make me feel so much.
And you don't feel much of anything at all,
apart from safe, in a warehouse.
SHE SOBS
Rosalind!
A little while back...
...we had to take care of a family
who'd come to grief in their own home.
Carbon monoxide.
It took a mum. It took a dad. It took a little girl.
And the little girl was the same age
as my youngest daughter.
Even their names were nearly the same.
Suzanne instead of Susan.
And her hair.
I had to wash and brush...
...her hair.
But it was when I was washing her feet
that I thought, "These...
"..perfect little feet...
"..will never go dancing."
We all found that one hard.
It was a hard job.
But I can't put... HE CLEARS HIS THROAT
...those feelings on the shelf...
...that keeps things safe...
...because my Susan's feet...
...they'll never go dancing either.
Her hands...
...never wear a wedding ring,
never hold a child.
And I love her so much.
Every imperfection she has is beautiful to me.
There are days I think I just live to see her laughing.
And sometimes...
...sometimes, when...
...when I stop to look at her...
...my heart stops.
But I know that I am not at ease...
...with...
...with what was done to her.
Because sometimes...
...I...
Sometimes I compare her to the dead.
SHE SOBS
Rosalind.
A telephone call we could have made together,
telling news we couldn't deliver in person
was never going to end in happiness
for anyone involved.
I suppose I just thought that
the niceness I'd always seen in them,
the general decency they'd always shown...
...would somehow come out on top.
But it didn't.
What did they say about the baby?
Nothing.
Because I didn't tell them.
Rosalind, the baby is more important than the wedding.
I know that. I just...
It's agony enough having them reject the man I love.
I'm not going to give them the chance to reject our child.
One... "Buy a new dress."
Oh, Beryl! Well, that's a bit basic.
I have put "not in navy blue" in brackets.
I'll add, "Mustn't go with a wimple and lace-ups."
I could see you in tiger-print chiffon.
No, I don't think animal print ever really works
if you're bigger than the actual animal.
The only member of the feline species you outrank
in the size department is tabby cat.
The door is wide open for tiger print,
and, indeed, leopard!
No. Two...
"Drink wine...
"..while making crepes fruits de mer like the Galloping Gourmet."
Well, I can put a line through that one after tonight!
And we'll get the scorch marks off the frying pan eventually!
Three...
Oh... "Earn some money."
How am I going to earn money?
Sing hymns in the street and put a hat down?
Hmm. I need a secretary.
You could be the Miss Higgins of Harley Street.
I don't have a felt hat or a petrifying manner.
No, no, no, it makes perfect sense.
I hire space in three sets of consulting rooms,
and I'm always missing calls.
Do say yes.
Only if you forgive me for the frying pan.
I'll do more than forgive you. I will buy you a felt hat
and an ocelot two-piece.
SHE RETCHES
SHE GROANS
SHE CRIES OUT
Hell's bells! Rhoda! SHE GROANS
What-what-what's... happened?
SHE CRIES OUT
- What's the matter? - The pain!
- What? - The pain!
And I can't stop being sick!
CHILD CRIES You've woken up Paddy now.
- He's got nursery in the morning. - I'm going to call 999.
SHE GROANS
SHE CRIES OUT
Thank you for attending this seminar today, gentlemen.
This practice was established in 1947
under the auspices of the then new National Health Service.
And the maternity home was opened in 1958.
Is it true that it's due to close down?
Yes, in a word.
Do you have any questions relating to your training?
Do we have to ride bikes?
Proficiency in cycling is considered an advantage.
Evolution gave you two hands, Dr Drinkwater!
Can we see one on each handlebar, please?
Now, gentlemen, if you would all oblige me
by signalling as if you were turning left.
WHISTLE BLOWS That's the other left,
Dr Turner Junior.
- Oh... - Sorry. - He was like that
as a little lad. I had him in Cubs.
WHISTLE BLOWS
Any oil left in that can, Fred?
They're going to operate tomorrow,
take the whole thing out.
I know. And the nurse says that it's worse
because it's an emergency.
Dr Turner's not getting on at you for the good of his health.
It's for yours.
- And you ignored him. - I've got too much to do.
Now you've got too much to do.
- I'll cope. - Pff!
Your sister's going to come and pick up Paddy.
Mavis? Oh, I'll have to give her a list.
About Susan.
It's not the most luxurious mode of transport
but, with a couple of cushions, it'll be just the job
for taking you out in the fresh air.
By fresh air, do you mean in public?
Sister, you need stimulation,
and you're capable of embracing it.
Why, then, did you bring that infernal television
into my chamber?!
It is the equivalent of putting straw down in the street
so a moribund patient will not be disturbed
by the carriage wheels!
You make all these gestures
because you think I am not long for this world.
Can you not see that all of these gestures
are because we love you?!
I have neither the time or the temper
to engage in violent sentiment!
Love is not violent, Sister.
Love is patient and love is kind.
And sometimes love pushes us to places
where we do not wish to go!
I thereby refer you to my feelings
regarding that conveyance!
She was as mulish as I have ever seen her,
and I came as close to losing patience as I ever have.
When I was in formation.
Mother Albert used to say that our greatest trials
would always come from within our family circle.
I've had flesh and blood sisters
as well as sisters in Christ.
The thing is,
you don't have to forgive the flesh and blood ones.
You can just roll around on the floor
and smack each other and forget.
That sounds quite appealing.
BELL JANGLES
Sister Catherine,
I'm afraid I have to increase your nursing duties.
Mother Mildred has asked me to go to the mother house
to discuss plans for our missionary work.
You've always said we are missionaries here.
And there's a whole world in need of healing.
Let us see what is proposed.
RECEIVER PICKS UP Belinda?
Hello, love. Yeah. We need you to come home,
er, help look after Susan.
- Did Mum say that's what she wants? - Er, no.
She wants you to prioritise your studies.
- It's me. I'm asking you. - Then I'm doing what Mum wants.
I... I wouldn't be at university if she hadn't worked
so hard to help me. I owe it to her -
to work hard and make the most of the opportunity.
- But what about Susan? - I can't, Dad.
I just can't.
You don't have to stay here for this, Rosalind.
FOOTSTEPS ON STAIRS
From now on, we share all the hard things.
KNOCK AT DOOR
So, Pastor Robinson, Rosalind.
- What's all this? - We wanted to talk to you
about the engagement and the wedding.
This is the wedding that's taking place
- in three weeks' time? - Less than three weeks now.
And you think I don't have eyes in my head?
There's a look to young mothers
even before their bodies tell the tale.
Have you guessed, Mrs Wallace?
I have.
I must have said some terrifying things
in your imagination.
Yes.
Then let that be your punishment.
Now make me a cup of tea.
♪ I beg your pardon
♪ I never promised you a rose garden
♪ Along with the sunshine
♪ There's gotta be a little rain sometimes
♪ When you take you gotta give
♪ So live and let live or let go Whoa, whoa, whoa
♪ I beg your pardon
♪ I never promised you a rose garden
♪ I could promise you things like big diamond rings
♪ But you don't find roses growing on stalks of clover
♪ So you better think it over
♪ Well, if sweet-talkin' you could make it come true
♪ I would give you the world right now on a silver platter
♪ But what would it matter?
♪ Gotta be a little rain sometimes... ♪
This newspaper story certainly made a splash.
Will it make any difference, do you suppose?
My dad went along with it,
but I don't think he's very optimistic.
I keep feeling as though I should be helping you.
You're a junior doctor now, not a student.
No donkey work allowed.
DOORBELL RINGS
There's some sort of spring
sticking out of this saddle and into my backside, Joyce.
District work is all about determination
in the face of challenge.
And if you can't get on board with that,
you're not getting your red cardigan!
I feel for the pair of them, Mrs Wallace.
Nothing takes the shine off a wedding
like parental disapproval.
It was always going to be under a shadow
because of Pastor Robinson's divorce.
But he deserves as much happiness as any other man
now his mistakes are behind him.
I don't think his marriage to Lucille
was a mistake, Mrs Wallace.
It was never a union without love.
What it was was a union without luck.
Perhaps matters would have turned out differently
if they'd been able to have a child.
A baby is always a blessing.
And now we must look to the future.
Let us say nothing further.
Meanwhile, hastily arranged though it may be,
this is Rosalind's first wedding.
How do we make it special for them?
How do we make up for the fact
that her parents have treated them so coldly?
It's simple enough, Nurse Crane.
We show them love.
Nurse...
Nurse! My wife is on the second floor.
- I will take you to her. - That's OK, honey.
Let us park these bicycles and we'll head straight up.
This is young Dr Turner, by the way.
- A doctor? Yes? - He'll be working under my supervision.
CLATTERING IN KITCHEN
WOMAN COUGHS
Do you have running water, Mr Das?
We have only one room. We use this tap.
WOMAN COUGHS
BABY GRIZZLES
Oh, Nurse Highland?
- It's Mrs O'Dey, isn't it? - Yeah.
I remember you from the clinic.
You couldn't come and look at my little Barry, could you?
He don't seem right.
I'm on my way to a lady in labour.
What's the matter with him?
It's like a cold and a bit of a cough.
Please. MRS DAS GROANS
I can hear her crying out.
Have you taken him to the surgery?
- I haven't got the bus fare. I don't get my money till tomorrow. - Please.
MRS DAS GROANS I'll pop down later, honey,
when I get the chance.
MRS DAS GROANS
I'll have to run or the chippy will be closed.
Do you want cod or haddock?
Cod, and get haddock for Dad.
He's hungry when he comes in from picking up dead bodies.
I'll be back in ten.
DOOR CLOSES Perry!
My Jackie magazine's still in the bedroom!
SHE WHIMPERS
DOOR CLOSES
Thank you.
My husband cannot touch me now,
even though he wishes to.
Are you Hindu, Mrs Das?
Yes. And we are Bengali.
We could not stay in our own country any more.
Don't worry about where you've come from.
The only thing that matters tonight
is what's going to happen in this room.
I should not be here.
No man should be here unless he is a doctor.
But I have nowhere else to go. And I do not want to leave her.
We could rig up a screen.
I can go out onto the landing
and requisition a bit of washing line.
You get cracking, but I need you back quickly,
or this won't count towards your rotation.
DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES
SHE PANTS
STAIR CREAKS
SHE SCREAMS
HE PRAYS, SHE GROANS
Now, with this next pain,
I'm going to need a really long, strong push from you,
- Ranjini. - I am too tired. - You're stronger than you know.
And you've come further than you think already.
Ha! This one talks a good talk.
Let's see if we can prove him right.
Help! Help!
SHE GROANS That's excellent, Ranjini.
Excellent.
Check for descent of the head.
SHE GROANS
It's crowning.
SHE SHRIEKS
Baby's head has been born, Ranjini.
It's resting right here in my hand.
KNOCK AT DOOR Help! We need the nurse!
HAMMERING AT DOOR
Do you mind? A lady is having a baby in here.
Her kid's stopped breathing!
RANJINI GROANS
Help!
Just rest, Ranjini.
Just rest.
And I'll talk you through the next bit.
Help! Help! Barry!
What's all this, young man?
You OK?
What happened? Did he choke on something?
It was just like he was just choking
and then he just stopped!
Why has he gone blue?
Somebody call an ambulance!
SHE BLOWS
This is just your baby turning, Ranjini.
BABY CRIES Everything's OK.
Barry, Barry, Barry!
Is he breathing? Is he breathing?!
Oh, it's not working! He's going all blue!
Did somebody call an ambulance?
MRS O'DEY SOBS
RANJINI GROANS Almost there.
This is it, Ranjini.
BABY CRIES
SHE CRIES OUT
And you have a little girl.
BABY CRIES
MRS O'DEY SOBS
I'm not going to stop until the ambulance gets here.
SHE BLOWS
BABY CRIES
Where is the midwife?
Ranjini...
I'm going to have to give you an injection.
SHE SOBS
BABY GURGLES
Oh! Is he OK?
BABY CRIES
He'll need to go to the hospital and be checked.
Thank you.
Don't suppose many house calls end up
with two ambulances arriving?
Well, that baby seems to have had croup,
and they do bounce back from that.
And Ranjini will be all right after a blood transfusion.
I froze for a moment.
But then it was like my heart rate shot up
and my brain kicked in.
That would be the adrenaline.
I wonder if anyone's ever done blood tests
on doctors immediately after a crisis situation.
- That might make an interesting research paper. - Yes.
Belinda, I can't show you
the bruises your sister has all down her back.
But I'm telling you, you have to come home!
You said I was to throw everything I've got at university.
You said it was something you never had.
This isn't about you.
And it isn't about me.
This is about Susan!
Rhoda... Is all this shouting really necessary?
Everything is always about Susan.
And I know you love her as much as us.
There are essentially two ways of approaching make-up.
One can purely use it to disguise nature's shortcomings,
or push things a little further
and deploy it as a sort of costume.
You mean like a disguise?
No.
People hide behind disguises.
Bold lips and defined eyes can bring out our inner confidence.
Try putting this on - by yourself this time.
And then I'll show you how to blot.
Do you ever have to bring out your inner confidence?
More frequently than you might imagine.
It's jolly hot in here.
Bear with me a moment.
It's the excitement of seeing yourself transformed perhaps.
No, no. I suspect it's something else.
It's passed now.
Let's get on with your nails.
And before we turn our attention
to the riveting recent investigation
into unlicensed butchery operations,
we have item five on the agenda,
the closure of Kenilworth Row maternity home.
Which counts as unlicensed butchery all on its own!
- - Hear, hear! - Thank you, Turner.
Any comments from the wider committee?
Yes, from me, Dr Threapwood.
This is what midwifery looks like in your district.
And this is what local people think about your proposal.
The women of Poplar know how vital and how valuable the sisters are.
And you're closing them down, too.
This is the direction of travel dictated by the National Health.
Meanwhile, Turner, rest assured that
even as you progress to this next phase,
we continue to learn from you.
Will you be watching to see what goes wrong?
Because there'll be plenty.
May we move on now to item six?
I will pray for you when I say the offices.
You will not be as alone in the chapel as you imagine.
Oh...
Keep the home fires burning and all of that.
I will telephone from the mother house
if there is anything to report.
CHILDREN PLAYING OUTSIDE
BALL BOUNCING OUTSIDE
Come on, shoot!
CHILDREN LAUGH
Are you happy to take your diuretics with just water?
Or would you like me to make some hot blackcurrant?
I require no beverages
for I will take no pills.
But the treatment is working.
It is not treatment.
It is merely postponing all that is to come.
You would have me out in nature...
...but I would sooner admit nature into this room...
...and let it take its course.
Sister, I'm speaking to you nurse to nurse now.
If you refuse your medication,
you will progress from chronic kidney disease
to end-stage renal failure very rapidly.
And what if that is what the Lord intends?
SHE SOBS QUIETLY
Sister Catherine?
What's this?
I chose this life because I wanted certainty.
There was work
and a rule of life,
and there was faith to knit it all together.
But now nobody is where they ought to be and...
...we don't know what's coming next.
Sister... are you doubting your vocation?
No!
I have made my vows.
And those vows are indivisible from my soul.
But if I felt I could leave...
...I would leave...
...because right now it would be easier.
It would not. I can promise you that.
- I'm sorry... - Oh... - But...
...just now, just today...
...I feel so alone.
I'm almost at the end of Harry's new jumper.
I suppose I'll be casting on for Rosalind's baby after this.
There is going to be a baby, isn't there?
- Of course there is. - Oh!
The girl's been locked in the bathroom every morning.
SHE SIGHS
There's so much change afoot.
Phyllis, I often find people speak of change
as if they're speaking about rats,
as if change is something hiding underneath the house,
attempting to get in
and gnaw at all that we hold precious.
Perhaps we would be better
to compare change... to the birds.
- Enlighten me. - Well...
...birds do what birds will.
They carry twigs in their beaks
and seeds.
So they build nests
and sow flowers -
however accidentally.
Maybe you should put that in a poem.
DOORBELL RINGS
Good things can come from birds.
And it's the same with change.
DOORBELL RINGS
DOOR OPENS
Oh, it's Mrs Turner.
FOOTBALL RESULTS ON RADIO
DOOR OPENS
- Is that Belinda? - I don't know, darling.
Hello?
Hey, welcome home, love.
That what I think it is?
I'm eight months gone.
I managed to hide it over the summer holidays.
And then once I went back, I thought I'd be safe.
I thought I wouldn't have to tell you!
And then I had to come home because of Susan!
BELINDA SOBS
It's all right.
DOOR OPENS
Often, a fear faced up to
is a fear outgunned,
and love expressed becomes love doubled and ignited,
whether we light the fire through words or deeds.
There is always a way ahead,
a route through the woods,
a path that leads us to the place we need to be.
We listen always for the voice that calls us.
But sometimes the love speaks loudest as we let it go.
I have news to impart.
Would you consider entering into partnership with me?
I'll never finish with God.
Thank you for your patience, ladies.
- May I present the bride? - I would like you
to summon someone from this establishment.
Albion & Sons is an undertaker's.
And every bed, kidney bowl
and set of clamps is staying on these premises
until the last mother and baby go out of those doors!