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chez

Call The Midwife

Just watched the first episode on iPlayer. I think it's *brilliant*. It's made me smile, lots.
Marionb

I enjoyed that episode too. Not watched Sundays episode yet though

Very Happy
Rob R

Sunday's was good, it was the only one I've seen, though.
chez

Arvo says it is beautifully lit, too, incidentally Smile
12Bore

The book was one of the reasons that Mrs 12Bore became a Midwife. Cool
Katieowl

The book was great...I've only very recently read it.

Kate
Chickem

Sunday's was good, it was the only one I've seen, though.

Me too!
It was nice to watch something a bit different really enjoyed it! Very Happy
Cathryn

The book was great...I've only very recently read it.

Kate


There are apparently two more. chez

We've just finished watching last Sunday's one.

Reminds me of a couple of ex midwives I taught IT to, who used to work in the rough end of Newport - they had all sorts of stories about stripping the sheets off the bed and replacing them with newspaper. Nell Merionwen

I have followed it from last week. I love it Smile arvo

Masterclass in acting for sure. Hope the younger actors got told Jenny and Pam were in it before they signed up. gardening-girl

Had to watch it.
My birth mother worked as a midwife in the east-end in that era. alice

I've watched both episodes on iplayer and they were bloody brilliant, couldn't fault anything - and believe me, I tried Wink Oh, except the nuns are too nice, but then my experience is RC nuns, not Anglican ones. Beautifully filmed and acted and the situations chimed exactly with stories my mother used to tell. gardening-girl

I must have been lucky.I was taught by RC nuns from age 4 until14.They were never anything but kind and caring. marigold

Somewhat to my astonishment I am enjoying the programme very much indeed. The perfectness of the clothes does make me giggle a bit though, and even I know babies don't come out clean Laughing . One of my friends was a midwife in the 1960s and has some tales to tell. dpack

"all creatures etc "was better midwifery training imho

too squelchy for teatime wellington womble

 and even I know babies don't come out clean Laughing . .

But not we yucky as you'd think. I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of squelch, myself. chez

Yeah, I don't think the baby *has* to be all squelchy. But the afterbirth was like someone had deflated Cthulhu. NorthernMonkeyGirl

But the afterbirth was like someone had deflated Cthulhu.

I may have to steal that quote.... Surprised Laughing dpack

Laughing you do Cool chez

But the afterbirth was like someone had deflated Cthulhu.

I may have to steal that quote.... Surprised Laughing

Feel free Smile NorthernMonkeyGirl

....testing.... chez

Knock out the quotes, they're too clunky. You can have it Smile dpack

and a healthy sig was born Laughing NorthernMonkeyGirl

and a healthy sig was born Laughing

I was just waiting for something to outdo the frozen dog Cool chez

I'm frightened to ask about the frozen dog. I'm not saying I'm not curious. But I don't want to be the one to ask. NorthernMonkeyGirl

Sean's "You can't bend a frozen dog".


I did have to ask, it was distracting me Laughing chez

Yes; exactly. I bet it's from Boy Wonder. But I've been afraid to ask. gardening-girl

Not boy wonder.Sue`s dog had to be put down.They needed to bury it,but the hole wasn`t big enough.
Poor dog had been in the vets freezer. chez

Arvo's mum did that to his granny whilst she went on holiday. I suppose it's different for people, though. They stay the same shape. sean

Buried her in the back garden? chez

Kept her on ice for three weeks whilst she went on holiday. She'd probably have stuck her in the back garden if they could have got away with it, but they'd already got a big patio. sean

Can't see a problem with that really. I can't imagine that I'll be bothered about how quickly I'm buried when the time comes.


Boy Wonder announced (apropos of nothing whatsoever the other night) that he wants 'Also Sprach Tharathustra' played as his coffin is lowered into the hole and 'Highway to Hell' played as they shovel the earth on top. chez

I think it's good to have these things thought out in advance. It saves the family such a lot of stress once you're gone. And bad stress-led choices like stuff by Dire Straights at the crematorium. dpack

Laughing Laughing Laughing

last time i did midwife was a difficult guinea pig farrowing .sucking fluid from little lungs works but tastes vile Confused

before that was the easy for her and me second half of 14 piglets ,time before a cow died in my arms etc

life in the raw Cool

breach delivery of chunky puppy was a good day ,if you met the yellow horror you will understand Laughing Faithmead

The programme is excellent viewing and for me, Miranda Hart is the star - she's just brilliant in it Very Happy Bebo

Boy Wonder announced (apropos of nothing whatsoever the other night) that he wants 'Also Sprach Tharathustra' played as his coffin is lowered into the hole and 'Highway to Hell' played as they shovel the earth on top.

'Dead, dead, dead, One day you'll all be dead' - South Park School Choir
'Disco Inferno' - The Trammps (as I go behind the curtains)
'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' - Monty Python (as everyone leaves) arvo

Boy Wonder announced (apropos of nothing whatsoever the other night) that he wants 'Also Sprach Tharathustra' played as his coffin is lowered into the hole and 'Highway to Hell' played as they shovel the earth on top.

'Dead, dead, dead, One day you'll all be dead' - South Park School Choir
'Disco Inferno' - The Trammps (as I go behind the curtains)
'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' - Monty Python (as everyone leaves)

Disco Inferno is a genius choice. Would it be inappropriate to yell 'CHOOON!' at that point in a funeral I wonder? dpack

Boy Wonder announced (apropos of nothing whatsoever the other night) that he wants 'Also Sprach Tharathustra' played as his coffin is lowered into the hole and 'Highway to Hell' played as they shovel the earth on top.

'Dead, dead, dead, One day you'll all be dead' - South Park School Choir
'Disco Inferno' - The Trammps (as I go behind the curtains)
'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' - Monty Python (as everyone leaves)

Disco Inferno is a genius choice. Would it be inappropriate to yell 'CHOOON!' at that point in a funeral I wonder?

definately not ,i rather like the idea of being sent off by a 25kva rig playing rotterdam harcore and see if i can beat my record of 182 complaints about the noise Laughing Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy wellington womble

Yeah, I don't think the baby *has* to be all squelchy. But the afterbirth was like someone had deflated Cthulhu.

I was busy for that bit. I recall the midwife being afraid that it might stain the grout lines in the bathroom, and himself saying he was a damn bathroom fitter and it didn't matter, but perhaps she could stop it pouring out? And the midwife explaining to the paramedic what they had to look for in the afterbirth, and them picking it over together with relish in the bath. It all disappeared without a trace though. I also remember a paramedic on his knees cleaning my loo. BadgerFace

My Midwife left the afterbirth in a bowl in my fridge for me to go through with her and decide what to do with it Confused And no, I didn't eat it! It was buried in the garden under a rose bush Very Happy NorthernMonkeyGirl

Did you not watch "How to be a good mother" the other week? It's smoothies all the way now Surprised



I'd give it the dog myself... BadgerFace

I don't think we had a blender! Wink Laughing Frazzled_Barbie

Did you not watch "How to be a good mother" the other week? It's smoothies all the way now Surprised



I'd give it the dog myself...


The advert for this programme kept appearing every time I sat down to eat Shocked alice

I had no idea you had to 'go through' the afterbirth. You make it sound like a tin of Quality Street. Frazzled_Barbie

I had no idea you had to 'go through' the afterbirth. You make it sound like a tin of Quality Street.

Laughing BadgerFace

Check all the bits are there, just like you would do for a ewe/sow/mare - good livestock husbandry Wink 12Bore

I had no idea you had to 'go through' the afterbirth. You make it sound like a tin of Quality Street.
Let us know if you get the strawberry cream puke_r NorthernMonkeyGirl

I'd be more worried about the toffee pennies you always find 6 months later.... OtleyLad

Read the book a couple of years ago and loved it.

What I can't understand is why the sets are so pristine - not a damp patch, broken window or peeling wallpaper anywhere. All the walls look freshly painted and the streets have no litter (or excrement) anywhere. Everyone's clothes are so clean and not faded, ragged and patched as they would be in reality. Even the washing hanging everywhere is clean and fresh (not stained, grey and worn out).

The scene with the big happy family (with the non-english speaking spanish wife) all sat round the table was like a scene from the Waltons. Sure, the houses were crowded, but everyone's looking happy!

The grinding poverty, near starvation, horrendous housing conditions is simply not protrayed at all. Pure fantasy.

Its looks more like Stepford Wives than London Docklands. 12Bore

Stepney Wives? alice

Just because you were poor didn't mean you had to be dirty - as my mother was always telling us. Some women worked themselves to death to keep their families and homes 'respectable'.
And litter in the streets is a result of folks having too much, not too little. Bebo

My mum grew up in Battersea during the war and they had very little money. Her and her sisters each had one pair of good white socks to wear to school. As soon as they got in the first thing they did was take them off and wash them so they could dry in front of the fire for the next day. They may have not had much in the way of material things, but they had lots of pride and being dirty would not have been acceptable. Cathryn

Read the book a couple of years ago and loved it.

What I can't understand is why the sets are so pristine - not a damp patch, broken window or peeling wallpaper anywhere. All the walls look freshly painted and the streets have no litter (or excrement) anywhere. Everyone's clothes are so clean and not faded, ragged and patched as they would be in reality. Even the washing hanging everywhere is clean and fresh (not stained, grey and worn out).

The scene with the big happy family (with the non-english speaking spanish wife) all sat round the table was like a scene from the Waltons. Sure, the houses were crowded, but everyone's looking happy!

The grinding poverty, near starvation, horrendous housing conditions is simply not protrayed at all. Pure fantasy.

Its looks more like Stepford Wives than London Docklands.


The big happy family was just that in the book and a counterbalance to the grinding down misery of many of the other lives in the book. It's Saturday/Sunday evening "family" viewing, it can't contain a lot of what the book covered. Some of the lives related in the book means that I don't fancy my fourteen year old reading it yet.

I wish I could say that life has changed but it's not has it, only the location. gardening-girl

Just read the book over two evenings.I enjoyed it. Fee

Haven't read it, but loving the TV adaptation Smile Green Rosie

Just caught up with the first episode - excellent stuff. I agree it's been "cleaned up" for TV but that doesn't detract from it being something enjoyable to watch Very Happy gythagirl

It's funny, isn't it, that a programme I'm enjoying so much has me snivelling every episode...
And OH is enjoying it just as much (but not snivelling). We were both born in '58 so it all seems very relevant. I was a breech birth too - but a 'high forceps delivery' - wince. bloke off the telly

Quote:

Just because you were poor didn't mean you had to be dirty
agreed, pride would have meant that many people would try and be and appear clean lol, though the bit when the lady lays down on the table, legs in stirrups and the midwife, carefully hides her disgust at the "aroma" and me feeling a bit queasy lol wellington womble

The pictures in the book shown very little litter and 'filth' even in the streets where it is described as a ruinined community (where part of the community was destroyed by prostitution) there is some description of it, but also of condemned buildings having no waste collection, because the were condemmed. Even though people were living in them, with no where else to live. I didn't think it was that 'cleaned up' for television. The following book with descriptions of the work houses, even after they were officially closed are much, much worse in my opinion. Bebo

Now the workhouse was a major fear for a lot of people. My grandmother died in the late 1970's aged 89 and on one of the last occassions my mum saw her in hospital she was in tears because she thought she was in the workhouse. She couldn't understand why her kids would have let her be put in there.

I found out years later that the hospital that she was in actually had been a workhouse years before. toggle

there's a fair few hospitals that were. the big london one that comes to mind is hammersmith hospital. i know that the old truro hospital was up on what is now called informary hill, but the site previously housed the old workhouse. marigold

Brighton General Hospital was a workhouse (and infirmary). It's right at the top of the hill, perhaps to provide a suitably threatening presence for the slum-dwellers below. Nicky cigreen

watched the last episode - the one about soul mates - and the finish with the 2 girls lying on the floor listening to the record player - and they were on our carpet! - well same design - it was leftover from the last owner... and everything else is 1950s style.. so.. figures...
we will change it.. when money allows... marigold

watched the last episode - the one about soul mates - and the finish with the 2 girls lying on the floor listening to the record player - and they were on our carpet! - well same design - it was leftover from the last owner... and everything else is 1950s style.. so.. figures...
we will change it.. when money allows...

Going off topic - I watched We'll Take Manhattan a few days ago and was amused to see that Jean Shrimpton's parents had the same tea set my parents had in the 1960s Very Happy . I bought some plates of the same design recently 'cos I'm a sucker for nostalgia.

I suppose you know you're getting old when period dramas are set in times you remember... chez

We watched the third episode last night and I had a good weep.

My grandmother was terrified of the workhouse, too. She made us promise that we wouldn't 'send her to the workhouse to die' and since at that time the geriatric hospital in Taunton was the old building, Ma nursed her at home for two years and she died in her own bed in her own front room.

And I love Roy Hudd. Fee

The flippin' sky box has failed recording the last two, going to have to watch them on iPlayer. Green Rosie

And I love Roy Hudd.

Thank you - I knew who he was but could NOT think of his name Rolling Eyes

Talking about workhouses did anyone see the "Who do you think you are" with Len Goodman. They found a newspaper cutting about one of his not too distant ancestors (grandfather or great GG) who hanged himself rather than go in the workhouse. Very very sad. chez

No, missed that.

The other thing that struck me from that episode was Roy Hudd's character telling Jenny Lee how lovely his flat was - warm, dry, his own. It really did make me think how much worse things were a hundred years ago. Chickem

Real tears Embarassed
it's been a long time since a tv program has got me like this!
so sad yet...... gardening-girl

I sat here snivelling.
Embarassed Bebo

I recorded it. Maybe I shouldn't watch it. Chickem

I recorded it. Maybe I shouldn't watch it.
Watch it, It was good! wizz

lots of snivelling here Embarassed gardening-girl

The first house I lived in was a prefab( in Bristol).The layout shown on the tv was just as I remembered it, including the metal cupboards.
We had a huge corner plot garden,and the old anderson shelter was my playhouse.
I am showing my age Embarassed Embarassed Bebo

I recorded it. Maybe I shouldn't watch it.
Watch it, It was good!
Could have done without it at the moment to be honest. Chickem

I recorded it. Maybe I shouldn't watch it.
Watch it, It was good!
Could have done without it at the moment to be honest.

Watch it while you're alone and have a good cry.... Bebo

I recorded it. Maybe I shouldn't watch it.
Watch it, It was good!
Could have done without it at the moment to be honest.

Watch it while you're alone and have a good cry....t

I just watched it. I did, but that isn't taking much at the moment either. Chickem

((((((Hugs x))))))) Green Rosie

Glad I was on my own when I watched it. Is there a crying your eyes out emoticon?

@Bebo - take care chez

I've just had a good cry, too.

Do we like Jimmy? Or do we think he's a bit wishy-washy? alice

I've just been chatting about the series to my big sister and she made a valid point - no one is wearing maternity clothes?
Ladies - even working class ones - hid their pregnant bellies. It wasn't seemly to publicly acknowledge pregnancy, even up to the 60s and 70s.
It's quite a recent thing - drawing attention to ones bump Smile toggle

I would have thought that the idea of having special clothes that you would only wear for a few months would be inconcievable to a lot of people. alice

No, you sewed your own. And a few months after the birth you began to wear them again for the next pregnancy. Then you loaned them to your friend, who gave them back again, and so on. Green Rosie

I've just had a good cry, too.

Do we like Jimmy? Or do we think he's a bit wishy-washy?

There's something about him that I don't quite like but I can't decide what it is. He is trying very hard to win Jenny's affections. alice

I've just had a good cry, too.

Do we like Jimmy? Or do we think he's a bit wishy-washy?

There's something about him that I don't quite like but I can't decide what it is. He is trying very hard to win Jenny's affections.

Well, he looks about fourteen, which doesn't help Laughing Green Rosie

I've just had a good cry, too.

Do we like Jimmy? Or do we think he's a bit wishy-washy?

There's something about him that I don't quite like but I can't decide what it is. He is trying very hard to win Jenny's affections.

Well, he looks about fourteen, which doesn't help Laughing

Ahh - maybe that is it Embarassed Laughing sgt.colon

We watched the last one, last night. Thought it was a very good series.

Apparently they are making a series 2. Smile gardening-girl

Good. Very Happy Nell Merionwen

I have just finished the book. Anyone want it now I've read it? Chickem

I have just finished the book. Anyone want it now I've read it?
me too! and same offer! Pel

The series was good and book even better. If the second series is like the first i will need a whole roll of tissues, the work houses sounded horrible. My mum was born in 1940 and had her first in 1960 so she has a few of her own stories of how things looked, she really enjoyed the book and tv series too. pookie

I have just finished the book. Anyone want it now I've read it?
me too! and same offer!


Oooh yes please Very Happy Nell Merionwen

It's yours Rosie.
*wonders if I can locate your address*
It's a wonderful read, even after watching the series. Have the hankies ready. pookie

excellent, thanks, I will pm you.....I have just finished a book that you may be interested in swapping it for Wink
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