S01E02 is the second episode of Series 1 and the second episode overall of Call the Midwife. It originally aired on 22 January 2012 in the UK and 7 October 2012 in the USA.
Overview[]
A new midwife, Chummy Browne, arrives at Nonnatus House, and finds it difficult to prove herself. Meanwhile, Jenny befriends a young Irish prostitute who is expecting a baby, and is shocked by the Church's treatment of the girl.
Plot[]
Late at night, Jenny is helping a young mother, Ingrid Mason, deliver her child. The mother curses her husband and swears that she will never let him near her again before we see her other child, a toddler hanging out of her crib.
In a dark alley, a young girl is propositioned by a sailor. The girl, Mary, brings him to a nearby house where she is granted entry by a man called Zakir. As she is bringing the sailor inside, Zakir kisses his fingers and brings them to her lips, then instructs her to take the customer to the Crystal room.
The next morning, the young mother and her husband coo at their new daughter, who the mother names Dawn. The baby’s older sister comes over to gently hug her and the family enjoys a pleasant moment while Jenny packs her tools.
Mary is laying in her underwear on a bed, seemingly asleep. At the clinking of coins, she bolts upright and reminds her customer of the price. Once he leaves, she dashes out of bed to count the coins he has laid on the window sill. A young woman, Charmaine, comes into the room and starts making light conversation. When Mary turns around, Charmaine's mood changes and she exclaims to Mary that she is pregnant. Mary crawls under the bed sheets dejectedly. Her friend comes over to comfort her and urges her to get an abortion. Mary is reluctant, but her friend insists that their employers will not allow her to keep the child.
Jenny returns to Nonnatus House and finds it bustling with activity. Cynthia informs her that their cook, Mrs. B., left her a kipper, and Jenny makes her way to the kitchen. The other nuns and midwives run around seeing to tasks for their patients. In the midst of the action, Sister Julienne gives Sister Evangelina the details for a new midwife who will be arriving later that day.
Sister Evangelina answers the door to greet a tall woman in a pale pink nurse’s uniform, Camilla Fortescue-Cholmeley-Browne. Sister Evangelina brings her inside and the nurse informs her that most people call her Chummy, joking that her father used to say that “long dogs need short names”. Sister Evangelina is tense and doubtful of Chummy’s nursing qualifications. Chummy nervously attempts to keep up with Sister Evangelina and assure her of her qualifications. Jenny is carrying her food and attempts to pass by the room without notice, but Sister Evangelina spots her and calls her over.
Jenny brings Chummy her new blue uniforms in her room. While she is dressing, Chummy awkwardly attempts to make conversation with Jenny about the complications she’s had with dresses because of her height. When she pulls the uniform over her shoulders, she finds that she is too tall for this dress as well and she is unable to move her arms. Jenny informs her that she is wearing the largest size uniform that they have.
Chummy finds a dusty sewing machine in the parlor and cranks the handle to assure it is functioning properly. Sister Monica Joan comes up behind her and warns her not to use the machine aimlessly or the “cogs will become deranged”. Chummy once again is rebuffed in her attempts to make friendly conversation, but Sister Monica Joan leaves the conversation smiling. Mary creeps down the stairs of the strip club with her heels in her hand. Before leaving, she stops to smell Zakir’s jacket as well as slip a bank note out of the wallet. Once outside, she slips on her shoes and dashes out of the alley.
In the kitchen, the nurses are chatting as Chummy cuts out the pattern for her new uniform. When she accidentally cuts off Princess Margaret’s head on the newspaper, the ensuing conversation leads to the other nurses finding out about her family’s wealth and status. They warn her not to inform Sister Evangelina, informing her that the nun is a “bit of an inverted snob” due to her impoverished upbringing. Fred enters the kitchen to ask Chummy about which bicycle she prefers, but Chummy says that she will just walk. Trixie informs her that, as Nonnatus House covers eight square miles, she will not be able to work without a bicycle. The nurses are once again shocked when they learn that Chummy does not know how to ride a bicycle.
Their initial attempts to teach Chummy are not very successful and draw the derision of the children who are playing outside Nonnatus House. Sister Evangelina reiterates her doubts in Chummy’s ability to nurse in the East End.
Later, Jenny walks past Mary on the street and Mary approaches her asking if she can change a 5 pound note. When Jenny declines, Mary rushes after her and pleads. Jenny notices how Mary holds her belly and devises a plan to eat lunch together and she will pay for the meal with the note so that the shopkeeper does not accuse Mary of theft.
The two talk about Mary’s troubled past over lunch and the conversation turns to Mary’s pregnancy, though Mary tries to deflect from the subject. Jenny pays for the meal with the note and the girls giggle as they exit the cafe. Jenny gives Mary her change and when she finds out that Mary has nowhere to sleep for the night she brings her back to Nonnatus House. As Jenny is tucking Mary up on the couch, she tries to get more information from Mary about the father of her child and is shocked to learn about Mary’s prostitution.
The next day, Jenny and Sister Julienne comfort Mary as they try to get her to go to the Wellclose Square refuge. Mary tells Sister Julienne about her fears of a forced abortion. Jenny is shocked, but Sister Julienne remains calm and firm. She assures Mary that once she has gone to the refuge, she will be part of the community and the Nonnatans will look after her. Jenny brings Mary to see Father Joe at Wellclose Square. When they finish their tea, Father Joe brings Jenny back to his office. He explains to her the living conditions and manipulation tactics that lead girls like Mary into prostitution. When Jenny attempts to tell him that she already understands poverty because of her work in the East End, he reframes her view by positing that poverty is not just a lack of money but of love, attention, and respect. Jenny apologises for her ignorance, but he tells her that she was just lucky and that she has no reason to apologise.
At clinic that week, Chummy dashes in late. She stops to see Trixie, who sends her to work with Dr. Turner. Brenda McEntee chats with Betty Smith before she is called in to see the doctor. Chummy assists her onto the bed as Dr. Turner asks her some routine questions. He explains to her that Brenda has bone deformations, including bowed legs and a narrow pelvis, due to having suffered from Rickets as a child. As he explains her previous pregnancy troubles, Brenda is on the verge of tears. Dr. Turner attempts to reassure her, but it is Chummy’s touch and soft words that calm Brenda enough to carry out the examination.
As the shuffle around the exam table, Chummy trips, knocking over some trays and the exam curtain. She dashes off to clean up the broken glass. Though Sister Evangelina scolded her, Dr. Turner commends her for how she comforted Brenda. He reassures her that he has confidence in her qualities as a nurse.
Later, Sister Bernadette is teaching Cynthia, Chummy, and Jenny about breech births. When Sister Bernadette asks if any of them witnessed a breech birth during training, Chummy recounts a technique used by the midwife where she wrapped the baby in a towel and let its body hang before the head was born. Sister Bernadette explains that increases the flexion of the head. When Jenny asks for more details, Chummy explains that she fainted during the procedure and couldn’t say more than she already had. At this time, Sister Evangelina bursts in to scold Chummy about her tardiness to appointments. Cynthia and Jenny attempt to defend Chummy, but Sister Evangelina in unmoved by their explanations.
Jenny goes to examine Mary. Mary waxes poetic about her time with Zakir and how wonderful it made her feel. When Jenny tells her that he abused her and that she shouldn’t think of him, Mary says whistfuly that she can’t. She draws back the curtain to show Jenny that Zakir has been stalking her and watching her from across the street. When Jenny tells Father Joe, he is furious and is determined to get her far away to keep her from being exploited again. Mary is sent to a Catholic mother-and-baby home in Kent where she would deliver her baby.
Chummy, Jenny, Cynthia, and Trixie are all biking together. Though she is managing the straight road well, when the latter three try to coach Chummy around the upcoming turn she is nervous and begins to shake. As they turn the corner, she exclaims that she doesn’t know how to turn and the nurses end up crashing into Constable Peter Noakes and his partner.
That afternoon’s tea is tense. The nuns and midwives, except for Chummy, discuss the accident and how lucky the nurses were that they were not seriously injured and that they were not arrested. Sister Julienne announces that once Chummy is healed, she will be attending deliveries on her own. Sister Evangelina is outraged, but Sister Bernadette defends Chummy’s nursing ability and experience. Sister Evangelina scoffs at the idea that Chummy has experience, insistent that she has no experience of real life or people.
Chummy enters the dining room and Sister Julienne rushes to pull her a chair, asking why she is out of bed. Chummy explains that she had gone to buy whiskey for the policemen. She sits next to Sister Evangelina, who looks shocked by her thoughtfulness.
Jenny goes to visit Mary after the birth of her child. When she arrives, Mary is singing to her daughter, Kathleen, in the garden. She explains to Jenny that the name means “pure” and she recounts the story of Kathleen’s birth to her.
Fred reassures Chummy for her first night on call. The phone rings and Chummy answers to find that Betty Smith has gone into labour during her daughter’s wedding. She is several weeks early, so Chummy rushes to gather what she needs before setting off. When she arrives, Jack mocks her for her poor biking ability. Betty’s mother wallops him for disrespecting the nurse. When his father comes over, his grandmother tells him that he’s being disrespectful and his father wallops him again, telling his mother-in-law that she is too soft on the boy.
Betty’s mother guides Chummy inside to start assisting Betty. Upon examination, Chummy finds that Betty’s baby is presenting breech. Chummy dashes out of the room to catch her breath. She catches Jack and sends him to call Nonnatus for assistance, then runs back into the room to reposition Betty. Chummy calmly replicates the procedure that she recounted during her lesson with Sister Bernadette. Sister Evangelina and Dr. Turner make their way to assist Chummy and burst into the room midway through the birth. Though Sister Evangelina had been complaining to Dr. Turner that Chummy had not followed procedure, when they enter, he stops Sister Evangelina from stepping in. The two watch as she handles the birth on her own and Sister Evangelina is more confident in Chummy’s abilities.
Mary mails Jenny a poorly handwritten letter that says “baby gone please come”. Jenny gets Father Joe to drive her to the mother-and-baby home and she arrives to find Mary distraught, calling for her daughter. Jenny is outraged and confronts Father Joe about Mary’s physical and mental pain. He explains that in cases like Mary’s the child is always put up for adoption. When Jenny attempts to rebut, he reveals that Mary is only 15 and cannot legally consent or provide for her child. Jenny is not satisfied with his answers and walks away to treat Mary’s blocked milk ducts.
At the end of the episode, we learn that Jack has become a fierce defender for Chummy and that Brenda McEntee delivered a daughter by Cesarean section, who she named Grace Miracle.
Main Characters[]
Midwives[]
Cynthia Miller
Camilla Fortescue-Cholmeley-Browne (first appearance)
Jenny Lee
Trixie Franklin
Nuns[]
Sister Bernadette
Sister Evangelina
Sister Julienne
Sister Monica Joan
Other[]
Fred Buckle
Patrick Turner
Peter Noakes
Guest Characters[]
Patients[]
Betty Smith
Brenda McEntee
Ingrid Mason
Mary (first appearance)
Other[]
Charmaine
Clifford Mason
Father Joe
Jack Smith
Zakir
Songs featured[]
'The Brothel' - Peter Salem
Trivia[]
- This episode includes the first appearance of Camilla Fortescue-Cholmeley-Browne.
Quotes[]
- "Sister Evangelina: Short-staffed again!
Sister Julienne: The new trainee is on her way. I can't deny I'm looking forward to an extra pair of hands.
Trixie: (after taking a call) Doreen Riley. She's the twins case in Quebec Street.
Sister Evangelina: We don't need an extra pair of hands, we need an octopus.
Sister Julienne: When I get back from Mrs. Riley, I'll contact the aquarium." - - Sister Evangelina, Sister Julienne, and Trixie discussing their workload.
Gallery[]
Coming soon...
References[]
Coming soon...