# Call the Midwife; series 2 on PBS (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 1, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-the-midwife-series-2-on-pbs-open-spoilers/654493 "2013-04-01T03:56:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-the-midwife-series-2-on-pbs-open-spoilers/654493/21 "2013-04-30T04:26:03Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Intercutting the abortion itself with Trixie’s manicure was an interesting choice. Very unsettling. Yes. I thought that was _really_ well done. So dramatic and effective, without being graphic. My husband wants to know where they get all the babies for the show. 🙂 I was sure it was set in the late 40s–I guess in North America, and being under 50 myself, it is hard to imagine how rough things were for so many people even as late as 1958. Good show. I love Chummy and Noakes. I’m going to try and find more things that Miranda Hart has done. She’s very likeable. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-the-midwife-series-2-on-pbs-open-spoilers/654493/22 "2013-04-30T18:13:00Z")
I think it’s the best thing on television right now: moving, thoughtful, insightful and amazingly well written. I enjoy charming froth like Downton Abbey but this is so much more well done and realistic with far more sympathetic characters. ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-the-midwife-series-2-on-pbs-open-spoilers/654493/23 "2013-04-30T18:21:42Z")
> [@Savannah](#): > > Good show. I love Chummy and Noakes. I’m going to try and find more things that Miranda Hart has done. She’s very likeable. She’s been in a couple TV series, and she wrote a [book](http://www.amazon.com/Is-It-Just-Miranda-Hart/dp/1444734156/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1367345953&sr=8-2) that is kind of cute. She seems to bring a lot of herself to her role as Chummy. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-the-midwife-series-2-on-pbs-open-spoilers/654493/24 "2013-05-01T22:50:21Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > I enjoy charming froth like Downton Abbey but this is so much more well done and realistic with far more sympathetic characters. I don’t consider Downton Abbey to be “froth” at all. I really enjoy the Earl, he’s a great character. Did you see they are getting a black cast member? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-the-midwife-series-2-on-pbs-open-spoilers/654493/25 "2013-05-12T11:22:54Z")
Gotta love the woman in her 3rd trimester saying she doesn’t think the X-ray is safe on her baby _while smoking a cigarette_. 😉 I also enjoyed the beginning/end of live juxtaposition with the old man and the baby. It was well done and pretty heart-warming. I miss Chummy though. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-the-midwife-series-2-on-pbs-open-spoilers/654493/26 "2013-05-12T11:49:55Z")
Chummy’s coming back tonight! ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-the-midwife-series-2-on-pbs-open-spoilers/654493/27 "2013-05-12T16:39:45Z")
> [@Zjestika](#): > > She’s been in a couple TV series, and she wrote a [book](http://www.amazon.com/Is-It-Just-Miranda-Hart/dp/1444734156/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1367345953&sr=8-2) that is kind of cute. She seems to bring a lot of herself to her role as Chummy. A book! Cool–thanks for the tip. I shall check it out. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-the-midwife-series-2-on-pbs-open-spoilers/654493/28 "2013-05-12T16:56:03Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Gotta love the woman in her 3rd trimester saying she doesn’t think the X-ray is safe on her baby _while smoking a cigarette_. 😉 I also enjoyed the beginning/end of live juxtaposition with the old man and the baby. It was well done and pretty heart-warming. I miss Chummy though. That was funny. But did she have a reason to be concerned? How safe were early x-ray machines? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-the-midwife-series-2-on-pbs-open-spoilers/654493/29 "2013-05-19T03:53:39Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Chummy’s coming back tonight! It was nice to see her even though she didn’t really do anything; next episode will be different though. I liked the story with the Jamaican woman, but that American woman sure was a horrid bitch. I hope Sister Bernadette finds happiness. Oh, and I thought in the UK all registered nurses (which the midwives are) used to be addressed as “Sister”; why are the lay midwives called Nurse or Miss? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-the-midwife-series-2-on-pbs-open-spoilers/654493/30 "2013-05-26T03:07:49Z")
[del]Sr Bernadette[/del] Sheila and Patrick sure make a nice couple. Nonnatus House’s fate is still up in the air. I know the BBC’s commissioned a 3rd series, but they’ve also run out of book material so it’ll be original content. The discussion about the order getting fewer vocations every year was pretty poignant; are Anglican orders like Nonnatus verging on extinction like some of the Catholic ones are? ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-the-midwife-series-2-on-pbs-open-spoilers/654493/31 "2013-05-26T04:34:06Z")
The Community of St John the Divine is the current descendant of the order that ran “Nonnatus House.” Now based in Birmingham, it has only 7 sisters now but is part of a larger community of faith. Read their[history](http://www.csjd.org.uk/history.html) here. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-the-midwife-series-2-on-pbs-open-spoilers/654493/32 "2013-05-26T04:42:44Z")
Call me shallow, but I was hoping that Bernadette/Sheila would take some of that 100 pounds and get a haircut and some new glasses. I like that she and the doctor got together, but there wasn’t much of a basis for their relationship. They rarely talked, never deeply. They’re both good people and share a mission, so they have that in common. Maybe that’s enough. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-the-midwife-series-2-on-pbs-open-spoilers/654493/33 "2013-06-01T19:38:34Z")
Do they still make women have enemas before giving birth? Because ewww. StG ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-the-midwife-series-2-on-pbs-open-spoilers/654493/34 "2013-12-05T16:35:47Z")
I’m Episcopalian, and our priest referred to the show in his recent All Saints Sunday sermon. Here’s a link to the sermon, and an excerpt in case the link eventually goes dead: [http://www.stpauls-church.org/documents/Sermons/2013%2011%2003%20The%20Saints%20and%20You%20AMG.pdf](http://www.stpauls-church.org/documents/Sermons/2013%2011%2003%20The%20Saints%20and%20You%20AMG.pdf) \*My favorite saint discovery this fall is Saint Raymond Nonnatus. We’ve been watching the BBC series \*Call the Midwife, _which tells the story of nuns and nurses who serve as midwives in the poverty of 1950s East London. In the series the convent from which this midwife ministry extends is called Nonnatus House. St. Raymond Nonnatus lived in 13th century Spain. His mother died during childbirth and he was delivered by Caesarian section – thus his name Nonnatus, which literally means, “not born.” Raymond joined a religious order and served as its ransomer, purchasing the freedom of Christian hostages. When his money ran out, he gave himself in exchange for hostages. His moniker meaning “not born,” Raymond Nonnatus is (naturally!) the patron saint of midwives and pregnant women…_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-the-midwife-series-2-on-pbs-open-spoilers/654493.md?page=1)