Call the Midwife: Season 7   First Watch 
March 18, 2018 6:38 AM - Season 7 (Full Season) - Subscribe

Poplar welcomes Lucille Anderson, the first West Indian midwife to be featured as a series regular. Tested as never before, the nuns and nurses face challenging issues, from leprosy, tokophobia, and stroke to Huntington's chorea and unmarried mothers. Note: This season has already aired in the BBC; the US PBS premiere is March 25, 2018.
posted by elsietheeel (13 comments total)
 
1. That should read "aired in the UK", not "aired in the BBC", sheesh.

2. I shouldn't have watched the last three episodes before bed last night because it was just three hours of straight weeping on my part.
posted by elsietheeel at 6:41 AM on March 18, 2018


Oh, yay! I was just wondering when the PBS premiere would be.
posted by the primroses were over at 7:53 AM on March 18, 2018


There's a major character death this season, so if you haven't removed this thread from your activity yet, you may want to do so to avoid spoilers.
posted by elsietheeel at 10:06 AM on March 18, 2018 [1 favorite]


Thanks for the warning! I happen to be a weirdo who is indifferent to spoilers, but it's nice of you to give me the extra notice (above and beyond titling this a full season discussion and pointing out it already aired in the UK). I'll have to inventory my tissue supplies in preparation, I suppose.
posted by the primroses were over at 3:07 PM on March 18, 2018


I sobbed over Barbara's death too. She was so young, so happy, so beloved, had so much to contribute... her death was utterly, shockingly tragic. I wonder if there really was a "Barbara" who died that way.

I knew all along that man did not have smallpox, though I had no idea as to what he did have. Smallpox patients are very ill with the disease, besides the eruption -- they're confined to bed, and they become delirious. That man seemed quite alert and able other than the marks on his face.

The family with the Huntington's afflicted mother and daughter was so heart-breaking to watch.

I don't know how that woman with the newsstand is ever going to manage. How can she possibly run a shop with four children -- two of them newborn twins -- to care for? Her oldest two children are going to have to grow up fast.

I like Lucille, and I have a growing admiration for Phyllis.

It seemed odd to me that Trixie would not have come back to attend Barbara's funeral. I want Trixie to come back for the 2018 Christmas Special. And I want things to finally work out for her.
posted by orange swan at 7:39 PM on March 18, 2018


I felt horribly for Phyllis and Tom. My second favorite TV Tom and Barbara are gone. :(

Perhaps the woman with the newstand will be able to hire someone to help her, either with the babies or with the shop. Also the nice thing about owning your own shop is that you can take your kids to work with you if you must? But yeah, that one was rough. I honestly thought Phyllis was going to get caught in the fire and that Barbara was going to be the one mourning her but then there was the change-up.

Barbara's funeral happened pretty quickly...maybe there wasn't enough time for Trixie to get there?

I was glad that Lucille finally found a church in which she felt at home.
posted by elsietheeel at 7:59 PM on March 18, 2018


Phyllis is one of my favourite characters ever. I love her so much- that stern exterior hiding such depth of heart and such genuine compassion. Her sat on the steps after the death was heartbreaking.

IRL Helen George, who plays Trixie, had an apparent nightmare of a pregnancy (in a lot of the episodes, you can see the classic bump hiding tricks) so it might not have been possible to get her in for filming.
posted by threetwentytwo at 12:43 PM on March 20, 2018 [2 favorites]


Boy that episode was a real gut punch. Stuff doesn't usually make me cry, and I knew it was coming because of this thread, but it really got me. Especially with the Amazing Grace part.

On this show they don't tend to be too worried about showing how people actually show up for each other. I also thought it was unrealistic that like NONE of either of their families were there when Barbara was sick. I get why they do it this way due to like, not wanting to introduce new characters, wanting to have time for all the moments with Tom and Phyllis that they wanted to portray. But it kind of takes me out of the moment because it looks so unrealistic. I remember the same thing when Sister Evangelina died and it was really weird that Chummy wasn't there since her character was still living in the neighborhood with her husband the cop.
posted by bleep at 11:13 PM on May 5, 2018 [2 favorites]


I want Trixie to come back for the 2018 Christmas Special. And I want things to finally work out for her.

Oh, can we talk about Trixie's nonsense? Was this like, really an artifact of what things were like in that time and place? Where like I dunno they just weren't that used to divorce so people didn't know that kids can adjust with lots of love and care? It seemed really antithetical to the show's usually approach for Trixie to just give up and say "This is too hard, so we can't do it, so, bye." They must be setting up for a happy ending when she comes back.
posted by bleep at 11:32 PM on May 5, 2018


Barbara's family is in New Guinea because her father accepted a missionary position there, remember? That's why they got married so quickly at the end of series 6.

And Trixie is a recovering alcoholic, so that's what she needs to focus on first and foremost.
posted by elsietheeel at 8:03 AM on May 6, 2018


Yeah but her alcoholism only came back because she was sad about dumping Patrick. I was just screaming at her not to dump Patrick in the first place. Instead of putting the daughter in therapy or something. Maybe England didn’t have child therapists at this time.
posted by bleep at 9:40 PM on May 6, 2018


Alcoholism doesn't go away.
posted by elsietheeel at 7:32 AM on May 7, 2018


I know it's realistic for Trixie to continue to have struggles with her addiction, but it's still kind of frustrating as the audience. We just want Trixie to get to be happy! The shot of her on the Italian Riviera in Sister Monica Joan's birthday video was promising though ( and definitely seemed like a clear "hide the pregnancy" shot).

I knew Barbara was going to die, but that didn't lessen the emotion of it. Phyllis and Barbara had such a great friendship. The post-wedding carousel was one of my favorite Call the Midwife moments, so the little tin carousel on the grave the next episode really got me too.

I like all the Sixties fashion, and Tim wanting to go see The Rolling Stones.

I hope Lucille's church friends get some screen time next season. I was glad when she found some community outside Nonnatus House.
posted by the primroses were over at 3:57 PM on May 10, 2018 [1 favorite]


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