By Leah Rozen | Posted on March 31st, 2014
Miranda Hart returns as Chummy in Call the Midwife. (PBS)
Call the Midwife, the British series about a group of nurse-midwives and nuns who help the poor in London’s East End in the late 1950s, got off to a promising start with its season opener on PBS. There was even a royal visit.
The midwives and nuns are on the move as Season Three begins. Suitcases in hand, they depart their old, condemned-for-demolition residence and move with their belongings to new, more spacious digs. As they settle in, handyman Fred Buckle (Cliff Parisi) puts up the familiar Nonnatus House nameplate on their new home.
The gang is all there, minus Chummy Noakes (Miranda Hart), who now lives in an apartment with her policeman husband, Peter (Ben Caplan), and spends her days mothering their infant son, Fred (named after the handyman). With her characteristic energy and enthusiasm, Chummy is busily sewing, cooking and cleaning, as if determined to clinch the title for Best Housewife Ever.
Also gone from Nonnatus House is Sister Bernadette, who left the order to marry and move in with the kindly, widowed Dr. Patrick Turner (Stephen McGann) and his young son last season. Now called by her given name, Shelagh (Laura Main), she serves as the receptionist for Nonnatus House’s healthcare clinic, which has been relocated to the community center this season. (Shelagh and Dr. Turner are trying to get pregnant, likely a continuing storyline this season.)
In Shelagh’s place, a newcomer joins the Nonnatus House posse. Meet Sister Winifred (Victoria Yeates), who as yet displays no major discernable personality quirks. In her favor, she’s quick to smile and doesn’t cower in fright when gruff Sister Evangelina (Pam Ferris) barks at her.
Three major story lines dominate the episode. The first involves Jenny Lee (Jessica Raine), our first among equals of the young midwives. After delivering a baby in an early scene, she moves on to tend a young mother who is worried because both her infant son and his toddler brother seem to be ill much of the time. Jenny is concerned, both about the youngsters and their mother, who may be suffering from post-partum depression. She begins visiting regularly and consults with Dr. Turner about the case.
READ MORE HERE: http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2014/03/recap-its-chummy-to-the-rescue-in-the-call-the-midwife-season-opener/
