Every season, GBH Drama prepares to bring you coverage of the latest and greatest in British dramas. This month, we return to Poplar for the twelfth season of Call The Midwife. With complex medical cases, heartwarming found family, and more births and deaths than we can count, this series is sure to make you laugh and cry (probably more of the latter, if we're being honest). GBH Drama contributor Amanda-Rae Prescott is here to recap the magic as it happens.
This week on Call The Midwife the Nigels on the Board of Health reveal their plans for the future of Nonnatus House. In addition, Timothy takes on a new part-time job to earn money while Matthew fights his father for his vision of the future of Poplar. This week's expecting mothers may have pregnancy complications, but their husbands also face medical dilemmas. Cyril also has an unexpected update about Lucille’s sick leave. A lot of events are packed into this episode but first, a warning that this episode discusses mental illness harming others.
Strange Words
Sister Julienne’s maternity patient this week is Mrs. Jill Wray. She’s living with her mother-in-law, Florence, because her family kicked her out for marrying a Black man. The delivery of her daughter Mylene Florence was routine but her husband Spencer didn’t react the way most fathers in the series have. He took a long time to hold Mylene. Spencer says he’s hearing voices in his head and quotes the Bible when the conversation isn’t about religion and spirituality. He’s also muttering in his room. Jill and Florence are concerned about his behavior. Florence believes his issue is primarily a spiritual one which prompts her to ask Nancy about the nearest congregation. Viewers, on the other hand, may sense that Spencer might need mental health services. What will happen next?
Men’s Health
Dr. Turner finds out that 10 patients have bailed on St. Cuthbert's referrals, which is not a good thing. In particular, several patients with heart problems have skipped out on tests. One such patient is Annette Barkley. She was diagnosed with a heart murmur and was advised not to get pregnant again. Annette says the birth control prescribed wasn’t working. Her pregnancy should be supervised by a cardiac specialist and the maternity staff at St. Cuthberts but Dr. Turner is facing bureaucratic red tape.
Meanwhile, Pete Barkley and others attend Dr. Turner’s men’s health session. The point is to stress that the decisions men make regarding sex affect their wives. He recommends that men who believe their family is complete should consider a vasectomy. He’s hoping Pete considers getting one since another pregnancy could be fatal for Annette’s due to her condition. Will Pete get a vasectomy?
An Extra Curricular Assignment
While working in the clinic is going well, Timothy isn’t earning any money for helping out his dad. He decides to take a temp job offered by the council since they can pay him. Timothy’s new gig is helping disabled seniors bathe. One day he sees Matthew driving around and Matthew offers Timothy a ride to an appointment. Many of these clients live in buildings where they don’t have showers inside their homes so Tim has to carry water and basins up several flights of stairs. He also has to wash lice-infested towels. Yikes. One man he helps hasn’t had a full bath since 1965 which is THREE YEARS AGO. We don’t know what Timothy will do with his wages but we’re happy to see him not cleaning up baby diarrhea!
A Hard Days Graft
Matthew tells Trixie that his dad Sir Brigham is making a surprise visit to Poplar after his release from the hospital a few days before. Matthew isn’t happy about the visit because he feels he can’t ever live up to his dad’s high expectations. Dad is shocked to see Nonnatus House holding on and Sister Veronica in the scooter. As Matthew drives his dad through Poplar, he reminisces about the old days of the East End docks and how busy they were. Dad is convinced that Poplar is not worth investing in, and wants to sell his existing properties, including the building Jill and Florence currently live in. He believes Matthew is too much of an idealistic socialist. Matthew argues there’s more to a community than the money that can be made. His dad then says that Matthew never worked manual labor a day in his life. This struck a chord in Matthew because his former career as a lawyer was definitely white-collar work.
A while later, Matthew’s dad is shocked to see his son wearing the same uniform as Timothy. He’s decided to join Timothy as a part-time bather to the seniors. Timothy and Matthew haven’t had many scenes together so this was a nice opportunity to see them forming a bond. Matthew and Timothy bring giant containers of water plus supplies up several flights of rickety stairs to senior men with various disabilities. They were even mistakenly sent to bathe a senior woman but she claimed she didn’t mind if men bathed her. She was clearly thirsty and struggling with her mobility. One assignment took them to the same building Jill and Florence are in, which is a coincidence that worked out for an unexpected reason.
“Poison” In Poplar
While Matthew and Timothy are bathing a client at the other end of the hall, things aren’t going so well for Spencer, who is suffering from schizophrenia. After Nancy’s referral, Cyril and Mrs. Wallace from the Pentecostal church visit Mrs. Wray to pray with Spencer. Cyril sees Spencer and recommends that he needs more advanced medical attention. This suggestion was important to highlight because both then and now, Black patients who should be seeing mental health professionals often don’t seek help. Cultural distrust of the medical establishment, the stress of racism, and systemic barriers to mental health services all provide roadblocks to care. Dr. Turner agrees but is reluctant to refer patients to the mental hospital Linchmere unless they present an immediate risk of self-harm or harm to others.
During the visit, Spencer becomes very aggressive and starts claiming Mylene is possessed and he’s the only one that can save her. Cyril tries to get Mylene away from Spencer but his episode intensifies when Spencer tries to stab Cyril. In the process, Cyril pulls his shoulder. There’s a lot of commotion in the hallway and calls for help. Matthew leaves his post to see what’s going on and he ends up in a scuffle with Spencer to stop him. Just as Matthew has Spencer pinned, the cops come to arrest him. While Cyril and Matthew tried to stay calm, the cops are super aggressive. What will happen next?
Spencer is handcuffed to the jail cell bench as he cries about hearing voices. Dr. Turner gives Spencer a sedative before his referral to Linchmere. It’s clear that the jail cell is not helping Spencer recover and that he needs long-term psychiatric care, not carceral punishment. After Spencer is taken to Linchmere, Sister Veronica suggests that Jill look into social services for single mothers. Jill refuses because Florence will support her and she won’t abandon Spencer.
News From Jamaica
Cyril is discharged from the hospital and Mrs. Wallace plus the Buckles arrange a call to Lucille. Celine answers because Lucille isn’t at the house. She tells Cyril that Lucille took a temporary job with the local hospital for 6 months. She never mentioned this in their letters. Cyril is now wondering if his marriage is over because there’s clearly a lot Lucille hasn’t told him.
Emergency Induction
Annette is trying to keep calm before the delivery, but her heart starts fluttering. This is extremely dangerous for her and the baby. Phyllis manages to talk to the cardiologist at St. Cuthbert’s to get Annette an emergency induction with the ventouse machine. In this instance, the machine prevents the mother from pushing too hard causing a spike in blood pressure. Annette safely delivers the baby and Pete realizes he has to get the vasectomy to prevent his wife from having a heart attack.
The Nigels Strike Back
Dr. Threapwood visits Nonnatus House attempting to meet with Sister Julienne. Fred and Reggie are repairing the broken surgical tool sanitizer. He starts to ask them questions about their professional qualifications. Fred doesn’t realize this is a trap so he admits he’s the neighborhood handyman. He also mentions that half the time he doesn’t even know how Sister Julienne holds the place together, because she strings together donations and Matthew’s cash to pay the midwives’ salaries. This is unfortunately a conversation that’s going to be weaponized later.
Later on, Sister Julienne finally sits down with Dr. Threapwood. He says that Nonnatus House has acted independently of the Board of Health for far too long. Honestly, he’s mad that a group of women has been making decisions and helping others. He also refers to Poplar by the gentrified name of Tower Hamlets. He announces that Nonnatus House is no longer independent and that they’re now going to be employees of the Board of Health. This also means that the Board has the ability to shut them down completely. This is definitely not good news at all.
Failed Reconciliation
We find out that one of the reasons why Matthew quit being a barrister was to be able to take care of his dad. Matthew also believes that he should help invest more in the community. A little while later, Dad calls Trixie at Nonnatus and tells her something is wrong. He then talks about wishing he had a little more time. He goes to the bathroom and then falls. Trixie rushes to his side but it’s too late as his heart gave out, causing his death. In the Nonnatus chapel, Matthew thanks Trixie for being there for his dad and says he wishes he had the chance to reconcile with him. Matthew is feeling overwhelmed by the funeral planning but Trixie urges him to visit his Mom because she’s going to need him now.
Shelagh’s Turmoil
Dr. Turner, in between dealing with the Barkleys and the Wrays, has also had to consider the future of his family. Shelagh tells him she believes she’s pregnant again because she’s experiencing the symptoms. This, for her, is not happy news. She’s overwhelmed with caring for her family and was convinced that after Teddy, that part of her life was over. Dealing with after school appointments and dead pet rabbits on top of all the patients is indeed a lot for one mom to handle. Shelagh is so stressed out that she’s considering taking up smoking. She tells Patrick she’ll love the baby but at the same time, she doesn’t want the baby because she’s too old to raise a newborn. We then see her a short time later crying as she looks at Teddy’s baby booties.
As Shelagh wrestles with her emotions, she discovers that her period has resumed but it came late. She tells Patrick that she feels relief that there won’t be a fourth little Turner but this means now that she may be perimenopausal. We then see the little Turners happily playing the very culturally insensitive version of cops and robbers and getting another pet bunny.
Will Patrick get a vasectomy like Peter Barkley? What will Matthew decide to do with his father’s business? Will the Nigels decide to shut down Nonnatus House for good? What does the future hold for the Robinsons? We’ll have to watch the season finale of Call The Midwife next week.
