CALL THE MIDWIFE: SEASON ONE The Original UK Episodes Only Available from BBC Home Entertainment and Highly Recommended by Whom You Know Our Coverage Sponsored by Maine Woolens
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I cannot believe I have never seen this show before! I was laughing so hard I was crying one minute, then to turn around and be tearing up the next. Based on memoirs of Jennifer Worth, this series has to be my new favorite. Once I learned that this series was based on real events, I had to go search for the books. Call the Midwife follows several midwives who work the the nuns in the East End of London in the 1950's. I don't want to give much away because I don't want to spoil anything for anyone. I know that if you've enjoyed any of the other BBC Home Entertainment series, you will absolutely love this one. I can't wait for the next season. Call the Midwife is a show I could watch again and again. I can't get enough.
Midwifery. Pronounce that with a short vowel on the "i". To those of us from the side of the pond England used to call "the colonies", midwives are either an ancient calling, or a new reality. The midwives in the BBC Home Entertainment series start us in East London in the late 1950's. Our heroine, Jenny Lee, finds herself at the door of what she thought to be a private hospital, but is actually a convent : Nonattus House, for a job. Nurses first and midwives by choice, with our Jenny as the newbie. Atmospheric, not just for reminiscing, Call the Midwife gives us a side of Great Britain not well known in America. Tenements and the clinics that attended them have always worked a certain fancy. No fancy here - this is as close to reality as it can get. The "Wall of Wimples" cares for as many babies as they can get to, with help from several civilian young ladies. Through foibles and failings, syphillis and stillborn babies, the team works hand in hand with God and the National Health to keep women alive and well through their pregnancies. Johns Hopkins should assign this series to all of its gynechological/obstretic students. And the rest of us should watch it just because.
It will make you weep, and smile. The characters are full, and sometimes echoes of someone we might have known. It's a delightful season, and a great bunch of folk to get to know.
I find myself watching quite a bit more television these days now with a DVR in every room. Mostly because I can watch what I want and when and in a shorter time without commercials. I have loved several series from the BBC. With such a reputation for producing meaningful shows with depth and intrigue, I could not wait to dive right into the series “Call the Midwife.” You immediately connect with many of the characters and feel sympathy, satisfaction and joy with each experience. The show covers a historically significant time in London from the perspective of these midwifes. With life coming into the world to the many women and families they service, you learn of hardships and tragedy as well as survival and pure happiness. With each delivery and each day, you are transformed to world so unlike ours now. So tune in to Call the Midwife’s first season for some great entertainment.
I absolutely love BBC Entertainment mini series. Like the others I've seen, Call The Midwife follows suit in being great television! The series examines the health and welfare conditions of East London in the fifties. The series is based on the memoirs of Jennifer Worth and is full of unforgettable characters that quickly found their way into my heart. Within each episode we see the nurses with various patients in horrific conditions. Even though the poverty at this time is prevalent, the nurses are incredibly dedicated to their profession. As their personal stories unfold, we learn about each of them and start to understand their commitment to being a midwife. I truly felt transported to this time period while watching. I can't wait until the 2nd season of this show! The series has engulfed me and I am ready for some more!
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Suggested Retail Price: DVD $34.98 ($43.98 in Canada)
Blu-ray $39.98 ($49.98 in Canada)
Length: Approx. 355 minutes / 2-disc set
New York – August 30, 2012 – BBC Home Entertainment brings the critically acclaimed BAFTA nominated British drama Call the Midwife: Season One to Blu-ray and DVD for the first time in North America on November 6, 2012. Based on the best-selling memoirs of Jennifer Worth, Call the Midwife is a moving, intimate, funny and, above all, true-to-life look at the colorful stories of midwifery and families in East London in the 1950s. Don’t miss the chance to watch full episodes as they originally aired in the UK- only from BBC Home Entertainment
When Jenny Lee (Jessica Raine, The Woman in Black) first arrives in Poplar, East London, she knows nothing about hardship, poverty or indeed, life itself. Attached to an order of nursing nuns at Nonnatus House, Jenny is part of a team of midwives who visit expectant mothers, providing the poorest women with the best possible care. Here, the streets teem with children and with only a single eight-bed maternity ward to serve the whole district, most deliveries take place at home. The series follows Jenny as she travels through the streets to meet her patients - including Conchita, who is on her 25th pregnancy, and Mary, a prostitute and pregnant at just 15 years old. Along the way Jenny learns to admire the families she works with, as well as the sisters and fellow midwives who witness the daily drama of life in this vibrant community on the brink of huge social change. Narrated by Oscar-winner Vanessa Redgrave (Atonement, Girl, Interrupted) as the mature Jenny, Call the Midwife provides a fascinating look at personalized health care and the courage of mothers in any condition.
Written by Heidi Thomas (Cranford, Upstairs Downstairs), the first season of Call The Midwife attracted 10.7 million viewers for its peak episode during its premiere broadcast on BBC ONE in the UK, making it the highest-rated BBC new drama launch on record. A second season has been commissioned and will air in the UK in 2013. In the US, Call The Midwife premieres on PBS starting Sunday, September 30.
About BBC Worldwide Americas:
BBC Worldwide is the main commercial arm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). BBC Worldwide Americas brings together all of BBC Worldwide businesses across North and South America. The company exists to maximize the value of the BBC’s assets for the benefit of the UK license payer, and invests in public service programming in return for rights. The company has five core businesses: Channels, Content & Production, Sales & Distribution, Consumer Products and Digital. Under these businesses fall two key brands in the U.S. – digital cable channel BBC AMERICA and BBC Worldwide Productions, the production arm responsible for the smash hit Dancing with the Stars.
