A STEP BACK IN TIME TO AN UNEXPECTED PLACE: "CALL THE MIDWIFE"

I started watching this one out of curiosity more than anything else. I mean yes, we all know what a midwife does. We all know the appeal of medical dramas such as Casualty, Grey’s Anatomy, House M.D. etc. Seriously, could there be something untapped and original in there somewhere? Then again the BBC did seem to be on to something good here. I mean this was an actual true story (and you know what a soft spot I have for those. I call it having a sense of history. I strongly suspect it is more commonly known as being nosey. But I’ll let you be the judge of that move hastily on…  So I decided to check out one episode. Just to see what the fuss was about. I was instantly hooked. Now, in case you were also wondering, I shall attempt to explain to you guys what the fuss is about. J

Call the Midwife is based on the memoirs of Jennifer Worth who worked as a midwife through the 1950’s and 60’s in London’s East End slums. It beautifully records everyday life, the colourful characters and the many incidents all punctuated with the miracle of birth. When the newly qualified Jenny Lee first arrives at Nonatus House she isn’t quite sure what to expect. Especially since she was not aware that she would actually be living in a convent alongside a group of nuns – who also acted as midwives. Jenny Lee is slightly taken aback at her rather novel surroundings – be it the convent or the sheer poverty of post- WWII East London. But in time she comes to think of it as home and family. And along with her so, in a way, do we.

I have always thought that it must be particularly difficult to portray real people. I mean people who really existed. In writing the story, creating the characters for television or film, you have to keep the interest of the audience. But at the same time you can’t really afford to lose anything from the “realness” of the characters and events. It really must be a precarious balance. Especially in cases where the character portrayed is still alive. Even more so in a story like this. I mean think about it, it’s a story of London in the ‘50s. No gadgets, gizmos or special effects. There really has to be a large dose of something to make a successful television series – especially with so many “rivals” around.  I was especially interested to read the reaction of the daughters of Jennifer Worth to the series. Mrs Worth, it would seem, departed this world shortly before the series was broadcast. It turns out that her daughters really felt as if they were “seeing” their mother as a young woman, before they knew her. I think that is saying quite something, don’t you?

Well, Call the Midwife really and truly steps up to the plate. The characters and the stories are so incredibly warm, real and easy to identify with one gets swept up in a matter of minutes. It helps that, despite being set in a completely different era, the story largely revolves around an event that has, in its essence, remained unchanged throughout the ages:  childbirth.  Well, the event itself is unchanged of course, but the circumstances under which it happens have, it has to be said, has changed quite a bit. Yes, there are undoubted plugs for the NHS in the script, and you can think of that what you will. But the problems depicted – that are often, thankfully, no longer an issue – were very real at the time.