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00:00I'm pretty sure that's it for now.
00:02Go and get ready. I'll cover for you.
00:08Mum, what's going to happen when we close the maternity home?
00:12I wish there was a simple answer, May.
00:15The truth is, nobody knows.
00:18Will we have to move house?
00:20No. This is our home, and that's not going to change,
00:24because Daddy will still have his surgery.
00:28I promise you, sweetheart, everything will be all right.
00:33Angela needs to do everything together.
00:35Now we don't even get the same bus.
00:38She'll be home tonight, just as she always is.
00:41And Timothy's back in London, living at St Cuthbert's.
00:45That's good, isn't it?
00:47I know. New things are always hard.
00:56Nurse Crane's been held up at the maternity home.
00:58She's asked me to give out morning orders.
01:00Sister Catherine, are you happy to be on first call this afternoon?
01:04Of course.
01:04I was top of the call board myself,
01:06but I know how I'm meeting halfway across London.
01:09Good morning, all.
01:11Rosalind Ladadetais. She's just sodding out of fresh beer.
01:13Well, I hope she's eaten a hearty breakfast.
01:15She's going to be cycling all over Poplar today.
01:25See you later.
01:26Six o'clock! And don't be late!
01:33Come in.
01:42And it is wakey, wakey, rise and shine for my favourite slugger bed.
01:50I bring grapefruit tea and French toast chaser.
01:56Am I overslept again?
01:57You're keeping not dissimilar hours to Princess Margaret.
02:01Although, I am told, her cooling tray has nothing on it
02:04but black coffee and an orange juice.
02:05She probably wakes up with a hangover.
02:08I've never had a hangover.
02:11Are you getting a bad back sleeping on the sofa?
02:14I did think of sending for an osteopath.
02:17Then I remembered I am one.
02:19Well, I've slept like a log every night since I came here.
02:22It's like I'm getting over an illness.
02:24You look to me as though you are recuperating nicely.
02:28Apart from the faintest suggestion of a few split ends,
02:31dare I make you a little appointmentette at the salon on the corner?
02:34The hairdressers.
02:36Oh, no, I really don't think I can go to the hairdressers.
02:39Not with my hair in this state.
02:44In a moment, we'll be inviting the ladies and gentlemen of the press inside
02:48to view the magnificent Ground Four extension funded by the Bathroom Grant scheme.
02:54But first, I'd like to ask Mrs Rhoda Mullocks, who's here today with her daughter Susan and son Paddy,
03:02to say a few words about how she and her family have benefited from this council initiative.
03:09This has been a really fortunate development for us.
03:13As many of you know, Susan was affected by thalidomide.
03:17And we were struggling a bit more than most with the old outside toilet and tin bath.
03:23Hello, Mum.
03:24For those of you who don't know, this is my second eldest, Perry.
03:28He's at Technical College.
03:31My grandma was actually born in this house.
03:35And the addition of the bathroom has brought us bang into the middle of the 20th century.
03:41And what do you have to say, Susan?
03:42It's fantastic.
03:46In you go, members of the press, straight through to the back of the house.
03:50Oh, and Mrs Mullick's sanitary wear is in a new colour called Pampers Beige.
03:56So you might want to caption your photographs accordingly.
04:02Come on, love.
04:04Let's bump you up.
04:13I can't believe we're under notice of closure,
04:16yet we've still got a cohort of junior doctors coming in for district obstetrics.
04:21And all the more unsettling because my own son's one of the doctors.
04:25Oh, he was such a little boy when he came into my life.
04:29You were younger than he is now when your path first crossed with mine.
04:34And look at us now.
04:36Shutting up shop to all intents and purposes.
04:38Where do you think we'll be this time next year?
04:41Possibly in a better place than this.
04:45Possibly in a worse one.
04:48But not here?
04:50Sheila.
04:51The council are not going to give Nonata's house any more money.
04:57We'll have to see what God thinks.
04:59And what the order proposes.
05:04Hurry up, please, gentlemen.
05:06The mother is feeling the urge to push.
05:08And Mr. Parry wants all junior doctors to be in guns.
05:14I'm sorry, Dr. Turner, but I have begged for an extraordinary meeting of the Board of Health.
05:19And Dr. Threatwood says we have to wait until the next one's scheduled on Friday.
05:25They might announce more closures at that one.
05:27There are half a dozen other maternity homes just waiting for the axe to fall.
05:32Which doesn't give the Board the right to treat you or Nonata's house like a canary down the mine.
05:38Meanwhile, I fear the fact that our GP practice is remaining open has confused matters.
05:44I had expected some degree of local uproar, but no one has so much as started a petition.
05:50The system we're heading into is going to be so big it dwarfs people's comprehension.
05:54Then, by the time they realise what's afoot, their voices will seem too tiny to be heard.
06:02Well, my voice isn't too tiny to be heard.
06:12Now, Mother, let's concentrate on the task in hand.
06:16Less noise equals more effective bearing down.
06:19I'd do better without a ruddy audience!
06:22Come, come. Just keep reminding yourself you're making very satisfactory progress.
06:27Now, whilst this contraction ends and Mother has ceased her exertions,
06:32would one of the gentlemen present like to step up and describe what he can see?
06:37Ah, Dr. Turner, Jr.
06:42Rule one of obstetrics. There is often something liquid on the floor.
06:50The fetal scalp is not visible at the introitus during the pause between contractions, sir.
06:57The presenting part is the vertex in a cephalic presentation.
07:01The head is beginning to distend the perineum.
07:05The crowning has not yet occurred.
07:08And?
07:10Boy or girl?
07:13It's reassuring to know your expertise knows its limits.
07:25Now, Lady Aylward, matron of the Lady Emily Clinic for Women and Babies does have rather a ring to it.
07:32Yes, it does. And I'd like to accept. With caveats.
07:38You know I'll grant you any caveat you desire.
07:41I can't commence until the new year.
07:44I have to give him my notice to Nonata's house.
07:47They're not in the best shape at the present time.
07:51PHONE RINGS
07:55PHONE RINGS
07:57Had I to feel this bell much longer, I would have been in need of embrogation from my elbow.
08:04As well as assistance to the lavatory.
08:07This means the diuretics are working.
08:11PHONE RINGS
08:12And helping to cleanse your body of all the excess fluid.
08:17I am not in want of a biology lesson.
08:22Merely your aid.
08:24It might be more convenient if we set up a commode for you.
08:27I have always bright dignity above convenience.
08:33PHONE RINGS
08:35I've spent the whole of my career in the East End.
08:40Which equates to almost all of my adult life.
08:43You would have served less time for murder.
08:45I don't see it that way, Mr. Scarrisbrick.
08:48It wasn't a sentence.
08:50It was, and still is, a privilege.
08:54And now our maternity home is closing down.
08:58And the domestic delivery of babies could end up virtually outlawed.
09:03Thank you, Peel Report.
09:04I don't want to work in hospitals.
09:07I want to get to know the women I'm caring for.
09:10I want them to feel safe.
09:12As though birth is a miraculous but normal part of life.
09:16Soon I won't be able to provide that, and...
09:19In my view, that's a...
09:22Terrible loss.
09:24I'm simply grateful we're able to offer an alternative.
09:28To those who can afford to pay.
09:32Nevertheless, we have new adventures to look forward to.
09:35In due course, I'll have something else to put to you, but...
09:38Not today.
09:40We have quite enough to celebrate.
09:42Perhaps you'll allow me to take you out to dinner?
09:45Perhaps.
09:46In a week or two.
09:51Oh, good evening. Is that the Gazette?
09:53Oh, Miss Leverett. Glad they caught you.
09:57Could you put me through to Mr. Reynolds on features?
10:00Paddy, what noise?
10:02Oh, er...
10:03Sheep, mate.
10:07I'm gonna have to take Susan to the surgery tomorrow, Bernie.
10:10That blister looks like it's become infected.
10:13You can't have that, can we?
10:15What's the matter? How beautiful, eh?
10:18It hurts when I put the legs on.
10:21Doesn't it?
10:22If I take a first thing, can you drop Paddy at nursery?
10:25Oh, no, I can't. I've got a funeral.
10:27At ten o'clock, out in Easttown, Mr. Albion wants us lined up at the hearse by nine.
10:32Sometime through the day you took that undertaking job.
10:35Oh, it's a steady line of work.
10:38You're drinking more of that milk and magnesia than you ever did when you were pregnant.
10:41You're not trying to tell me we've got some news, are you?
10:44A chance would be a fine thing.
10:47God, our almighty Father, we ask today for a blessing to add to all the blessings you have given us.
10:54And as we thank you for leading us to one another, and for letting us love one another,
11:01enfold us as my hands, enfold hers, and protect us as her body protects our child.
11:06Amen.
11:08Amen.
11:16Oh, gosh. It is beautiful, isn't it?
11:22I've always loved pearls.
11:25The idea that inside all that sheen there's a tiny speck of sand.
11:35The heart of a pearl is so much stronger than we think.
11:41I didn't even know we kept Sherry on the premises.
11:44When a house is a home to a lot of young women, it's always wise to be prepared for a
11:49celebration.
11:50I managed to grab some twiglets and smokey bacon crisps.
11:54Well, Fred sends his congratulations.
11:56This is turning into quite the shindig.
12:00Have you given any consideration to a date yet?
12:04I went to the register office this morning and filled in all the forms.
12:08It's going to be in three weeks' time.
12:12Three weeks?
12:17And what of your parents? Are they as delighted as we?
12:21They don't know yet.
12:23They've been away on the school trip to Bruges, so I'm going to call them tomorrow night.
12:29They are educated and they are inhabitants of the modern world.
12:36Congratulations.
12:38Congratulations.
12:46I've stopped short of going the full bit Elsa soon and giving you a geometric bob, but I think that's
12:55taken the curse off.
12:56Farewell, Splatoon.
12:59I've never had eggs rubbed in my hair before. It felt quite nice.
13:02Trixie put me onto the protein rinse when I decided to go long.
13:06But, Bevel, now that you've had a rest, we need to talk about the future.
13:13The Order want my answer in three weeks.
13:16And what are you going to do with those three weeks?
13:19Are you just going to sit them out indoors in the hope that clarity will come floating through the window?
13:25Or are you going to try to live a little?
13:28I think I'm living quite a lot just being here.
13:31Beryl. You know that's not true.
13:38Today, whilst I'm out manipulating the vertebrae of London's jet set, I want you to make a list of every
13:48single thing you wish to do before you tell the sisters whether you're going to leave or stay.
13:54To what end, Geoffrey?
13:56It may help you decide which sacrifice is bearable.
14:05What do you mean mayor turns midwife?
14:08You can't deliver babies, Mrs. Buckle. You're not qualified.
14:13I'm not intending to deliver them.
14:15The idea is that I follow you and the other ladies round Poplar as you go about your work, lending
14:22a hand, you know, as and when appropriate.
14:26And getting photographed by the Gazette?
14:28The Gazette feels that it will draw attention to the destruction of midwifery services as we know it.
14:35That I can't deny.
14:39But so far, we've left the news to seep out slowly so we don't cause alarm.
14:45Nurse Crane, in my opinion, we need to cause alarm to save the maternity home.
14:52If people protest, it might make a difference.
15:02How often do you wear the artificial legs?
15:04Every day. They make them wear them at school.
15:07There's three other Thalidomide kids and the teacher says they all have to set an example to each other.
15:12What do you think about it all, Susan?
15:14I don't really like them very much.
15:16The other kids?
15:18The legs. They're heavy and they hurt and they don't look like proper legs.
15:23You're probably ready for a bigger set.
15:25She's growing like a weed.
15:28While I'm here, Dr. Turner, I want mine some more milk of magnesium.
15:33Rhoda, you really need to get that gallbladder removed.
15:37You've been at the top of the waiting list twice and cancelled the operation both times.
15:41I'm too busy, Doctor.
15:43Belinda's away at university and I'm busier than ever with Paddy and Susan to look after.
15:50I can look after myself.
15:52Susan, you know that's not true.
15:54And the campaign for compensation's had so many ups and downs.
15:57I'll write you a prescription.
16:00It's cheaper than buying it over the counter, but promise me, the next time your name comes up, you'll get
16:05the operation done.
16:08They don't complain like this in male surgical.
16:14He's hungry.
16:16Oh, sorry mate.
16:18We don't run to bar snacks.
16:21The infant stomach is a small fusiform organ situated in the upper abdomen.
16:29The capacity of approximately 30 millilitres.
16:36Anatomically, it's comprised of the cardia, the fundus, the body, and the pilares.
16:46And the gastrum aguso is capable of submitting hydrochloric acid.
16:50What do you think you are doing with that infant?
16:53I was comforting him. His cry was quite high-pitched, so we might have colic.
16:59And he stopped the moment you picked him up?
17:02Yes, sister. He just didn't seem very happy.
17:05A well-managed baby is a contented baby.
17:10Doctors do not care for babies.
17:13They diagnose them and they treat them.
17:16And junior doctors are on this ward to learn.
17:22Sorry, sister.
17:25Ooh!
17:26I don't know what's gone on here.
17:27This one's covered in lipstick and there's a whiff of whisky.
17:30Ooh!
17:35Now, you don't get a belt or badges because you're not a nurse.
17:39Your hair must be off your collar.
17:41There's to be no coloured eyeshadow.
17:43And I shall be inspecting your fingernails.
17:46Not that we'd let you tune near the business end.
17:50I'm just so used to seeing you do everything.
17:53The caring and the medicine are mixed up.
17:57In a perfect world, the caring and the medicine would always be mixed up.
18:02And in obstetrics, most of all.
18:04Obstetrics and hospital just seems like another branch of surgery.
18:08There's so many rules and protocols.
18:10You'll be doing your rotation on the district soon enough.
18:13You'll probably wish there were more rules then.
18:16Just wish the maternity home wasn't closing.
18:19The maternity home was an innovation once.
18:22Practice evolves all the time.
18:24And as a doctor, you have to lean into it or medicine won't grow.
18:31Sometimes change is for the better.
18:34I mean, look at us tonight.
18:36Putting on fireworks for the children just like we always have.
18:39But timing them so Angela and May don't miss their pop music programme.
18:44If you're talking about the Partridge family, that is not change for the better.
18:54It looks like the Sunday Times has come out on our side again.
18:58Like the manufacturer's latest compensation offer.
19:00They manufacture us, they want their book thrown at them.
19:05Three million quarter, four hundred children.
19:07Arms missing, legs missing, some deaf blind.
19:10I've heard the campaign leaders say the kids deserve 20.
19:13A million.
19:14I've never seen numbers that big until we started this campaign.
19:18And they'll never be big enough.
19:19Money can't buy what that girl will never have.
19:25What's the matter?
19:27She's screaming at David Cassidy.
19:29He's a pop star.
19:31You have to scream when you see his picture.
19:39David Cassidy.
19:41I want to scream every time I see his haircut.
19:44It's better than their T-Rex fella Belinda likes.
19:51That Susan's going to grow up soon.
19:54Isn't she?
19:56I think it's happening already.
20:03Right, Nurse Clifford, I'm assigning you to juice and milk tokens.
20:07That way you can show off your engagement ring.
20:09Thank you, Nurse Crane.
20:11Are you ready with the petitions, Miss Higgins?
20:14I have personally typed up four copies to be presented to the board
20:19and they will be circulated while clinic is in progress.
20:25Mrs Buckle, and a gentleman of the press,
20:28unless I'm mistaken, you are most welcome.
20:37I've drawn up a list of suitable poses, but first you'll need to help me with the hat.
20:46I'm telling you now, you'll not last long in a sling-back corkshaw.
20:56You may enter.
21:00I bought you some crescent, Sister.
21:03They're still coming up lovely on the allotment.
21:09There was an earwig in the last bouquet.
21:12I watched him climb from petal to petal for an hour.
21:17It was so like being out in nature that I almost fancied I felt sunlight on my face.
21:25Would you like us to get you into the garden, Sister?
21:27I could light the brazier, you could have a blanket on your knees.
21:31I think you mistake me for one elderly and frail.
21:36Never.
21:41I'm sorry to confess it.
21:47But I do not think my feet will carry me.
21:53Sit with me for a while.
22:00That's right. Give me the joy.
22:03Give me the excitement.
22:07Trouble with this is,
22:10we do our most important work when people aren't smiling.
22:22Um...
22:22Do you reckon Sister Monica turns fade in, Sister?
22:26She's certainly weakening.
22:28And the worst thing is,
22:30she knows it.
22:33She must be getting scared.
22:36Not of death.
22:39But...
22:39letting go of life.
22:42And life means so much more than breath and a heartbeat.
22:50It's...
22:51independence.
22:52And company.
22:54And joy.
22:56Even nuns take pleasure in things.
22:59And with every day that passes, she's denied a little more.
23:08Maybe it's time to move the telly to her bedroom.
23:12That said, I don't even think the TV will perk her up.
23:17It's only the test card after time.
23:21We need to get her outside.
23:25But why aren't you and Sarah making this call together?
23:28Because, in case you've forgotten, my parents haven't spoken to him since the day I introduced them.
23:34Which was also the day they said he wasn't the man for me.
23:38I think I need to break the ice.
23:41Honey, you're going to need a pickaxe.
23:44My mother and father aren't bad people, Joyce.
23:47They're just very blinkered.
23:49And my marriage is their chance to see things a different way.
23:54You're a good child, child.
24:07My name's Bernie. I'm an alcoholic.
24:11I used to be a warehouse man.
24:13Before they closed the docks.
24:15I was good at it.
24:18Things on shelves, things in boxes.
24:22Lists to tick.
24:25I was in control.
24:27And then I lost my job.
24:30And I have to have a reason to get up every morning, to get dressed, go out.
24:36Or else the drink comes creeping in.
24:38So when Mr Albion offered me a job,
24:42I thought, yeah, things in boxes.
24:47That feels familiar.
24:49I didn't know that I would find my calling.
24:53That it would make me more human.
24:55That it could make me feel so much.
24:58And you don't feel much of anything at all.
25:01Apart from safe.
25:02In a warehouse.
25:14A little while back, we had to take care of a family who'd come to grief in their own home.
25:23Carbon monoxide.
25:27It took a mum, it took a dad, it took a little girl.
25:34And the little girl was the same age as my youngest daughter.
25:39Even their names were nearly the same.
25:41Susan, Suzanne, instead of Susan.
25:47And her hair.
25:51I had to wash and brush.
25:55Her hair.
25:56Her hair.
26:02But it was when I was washing her feet,
26:04that I thought these...
26:09Perfect.
26:11Little feet.
26:13Will never go dancing.
26:19We all found that one hard.
26:23It was a hard job.
26:26But I can't put...
26:28Those feelings on the shelf.
26:32That keeps things safe.
26:36Because my Susan's feet.
26:40They'll never go dancing either.
26:44Her hands.
26:46Never wear a wedding ring.
26:48Never hold a child.
26:54And I love her so much.
26:58Every imperfection she has is beautiful to me.
27:02There are days I think I just live to see her loving.
27:09And sometimes...
27:12Sometimes...
27:12When...
27:14When I stop...
27:16To look at her...
27:20I won't stop.
27:29But I know...
27:31That I am not...
27:32At ease...
27:38With...
27:39With what was done...
27:41To her.
27:47Because sometimes...
27:50I...
27:52Sometimes I compare her...
27:55To the dead.
27:59I don't know...
28:01I don't know...
28:02Rosalind...
28:04A telephone call...
28:06You couldn't make together...
28:07Telling you if you couldn't deliver...
28:09A person was never going to end in happiness...
28:11For anyone involved.
28:13I suppose I just...
28:15Thought that...
28:16The niceness...
28:18I'd always seen in them...
28:20The general decency they'd always shown...
28:23Would...
28:24Somehow come out on top.
28:28But it didn't.
28:31What did they say about the baby?
28:34Nothing.
28:37Because...
28:37I didn't tell them.
28:40Rosalind...
28:41The baby is more important than the wedding.
28:43I know that.
28:44I just...
28:46It's agony enough...
28:48Having them reject the man I love.
28:51I'm not going to give them the chance...
28:53To reject our child.
28:59One.
29:01Buy a new dress.
29:03Oh...
29:03Beryl.
29:04Well that's a bit basic.
29:06I have put...
29:07Not in navy blue in brackets.
29:10I'll add...
29:11Mustn't go with a wimple...
29:13And lace-ups.
29:14I could see you...
29:16In tiger print chiffon.
29:18No.
29:18I don't think animal print ever really works...
29:20If you're bigger than the actual animal.
29:22The only member of the feline species...
29:24You outrank in the size department is...
29:27Tabby cat.
29:28The door is wide open...
29:30For tiger print.
29:31And...
29:31Indeed...
29:32Leopard.
29:34To...
29:36Drink wine.
29:37While making crepes...
29:39Like the galloping gourmet.
29:41Well I can put a line through that one after tonight.
29:43And we'll get the scorch marks off the frying pan eventually.
29:46Three.
29:48Earn some money.
29:51How am I going to earn money?
29:54Sing hymns in the street and put a hat down?
29:57I need a secretary.
29:58You could be the Miss Higgins of Harley Street.
30:01I don't have a felt hat.
30:03Or a petrifying manner.
30:05No, no, no.
30:06It makes perfect sense.
30:07I hire space in three sets of consulting rooms.
30:09And I'm always missing calls.
30:11But do say yes.
30:13Only if you forgive me for the frying pan.
30:16I'll do more than forgive you.
30:17I will buy you a felt hat.
30:19And an ocelot two piece.
30:31I hear all spells, how do you do that?
30:33I hear all spells, how do you do that?
30:34What, what, what, what?
30:38What's the matter?
30:39The pain.
30:40What?
30:41The pain.
30:42I can't stop being sick.
30:45I've woken up Paddy now.
30:47He's got nursery in the morning.
30:49I'm going to call 999.
30:55Thank you for attending this seminar today, gentlemen.
30:59This practice was established in 1947 under the auspices of the then new National Health Service.
31:07And the maternity home was opened in 1958.
31:10Is it true that it's due to close down?
31:14Yes, in a word.
31:17Do you have any questions relating to your training?
31:21Do we have to ride bikes?
31:23Proficiency in cycling is considered an advantage.
31:30Evolution gave you two hands, Dr Drinkwater.
31:33Can we see one on each handlebar, please?
31:37Now, gentlemen, if you would all oblige me by signalling as if you were turning left.
31:46What?
31:46That's the other left, Dr Turner Jr.
31:51Oh, sorry.
31:54He was like that as a little lad. I had him in cubs.
31:58PHONE RINGS
31:59Hi.
32:01Any oil left in that can, Fred?
32:05They're going to operate tomorrow.
32:08Take the whole thing out.
32:09I know.
32:10And the nurse says that it's worse because it's an emergency.
32:14Dr Turner's not getting on at you for the good of his health.
32:17It's for yours.
32:18And you ignored him.
32:19You've got too much to do.
32:21Now you've got too much to do.
32:24I'll cope.
32:25Your sister's going to come and pick up Paddy.
32:28Avis?
32:29I'll have to give her a list.
32:32What about Susan?
32:40It's not the most luxurious mode of transport, but with a couple of cushions,
32:46it'll be just the job for taking you out in the fresh air.
32:51By fresh air, do you mean in public?
32:57Sister, you need stimulation and you're capable of embracing it.
33:03Why then did you bring that infernal television into my chamber?
33:08It is the equivalent of putting straw down in the street
33:13so a moribund patient will not be disturbed by the carriage wheels.
33:17You make all these gestures because you think I am not long for this world.
33:24Can you not see that all of these gestures are because we love you?
33:30I have neither the time or the temper to engage in violent sentiment.
33:36Love is not violent, sister.
33:39Love is patient and love is kind.
33:43And sometimes love pushes us to places where we do not wish to go.
33:47I thereby refer you to my feelings regarding that conveyance.
33:59She was as mulish as I have ever seen her and I came as close to losing patience as I
34:04ever have.
34:05When I was in formation, Mother Albert used to say that our greatest trials would always come from within our
34:13family circle.
34:14I have had flesh and blood sisters as well as sisters in Christ.
34:19The thing is, you don't have to forgive the flesh and blood ones.
34:22You can just roll around on the floor and smack each other and forget.
34:26That sounds quite appealing.
34:33Sister Catherine, I am afraid I have to increase your nursing duties.
34:38Mother Mildred has asked me to go to the Mother House to discuss plans for our missionary work.
34:45You have always said we are missionaries here.
34:47And there's a whole world in need of healing.
34:51Let us see what is proposed.
35:02Belinda.
35:04Hello, love.
35:05Yeah, we need you to come home.
35:08Help look after Susan.
35:10Did Mum say that's what she wants?
35:12No.
35:13She wants you to prioritise your studies.
35:14It's me, I'm asking you.
35:16Then I'm doing what Mum wants.
35:17I wouldn't be at university if she hadn't worked so hard to help me.
35:21I owe it to her.
35:22To work hard and make the most of the opportunity.
35:24But what about Susan?
35:25I can't, Dad.
35:27I just can't.
35:30You don't have to stay here for this, Rosalina.
35:34From now on, we share all the hard things.
35:41So, Pastor Robinson, Rosalina.
35:46What's all this?
35:47We wanted to talk to you about the engagement.
35:50And the wedding.
35:51This is the wedding that's taking place in three weeks' time.
35:54Less than three weeks now.
35:58And you think I don't have eyes in my head?
36:00There's a look to young mothers.
36:03Even before their bodies tell the tale.
36:07Have you guessed, Mrs. Wallace?
36:09I have.
36:11I must have said some terrifying things in your imagination.
36:16Yes.
36:18Then let that be your punishment.
36:21Now make me a cup of tea.
36:29I beg your pardon.
36:33I never promised you a rose garden.
36:38Along with the sunshine.
36:40There's gotta be a little rain sometimes.
36:45But when you take, you gotta give.
36:48So live, let live, or let go.
36:50Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, baby.
36:53Oh, buddy.
36:55I never promised you a rose garden.
36:59I could promise you things like big diamond rings.
37:04But you don't find roses growing on stocks so close.
37:09So you better think it over.
37:14Well, it's sweet talk and you could make it come true.
37:18I will give you the world right now on a silver platter.
37:24But what would it matter?
37:28I'd rather be a little rain sometimes.
37:30This newspaper story certainly made a splash.
37:33Will it make any difference, do you suppose?
37:35My dad went along with it, but I don't think he's very optimistic.
37:40I keep feeling as though I should be helping you.
37:43You're a junior doctor now, not a student.
37:46No donkey work allowed.
37:51There's some sort of spring sticking out of this saddle
37:53and into my backside, Joyce.
37:56District work is all about determination in the face of challenge.
38:00And if you can't get on board with that, you're not getting your red card again.
38:09I feel for the pair of them, Mrs. Wallace.
38:11Nothing takes a shine of a wedding like parental disapproval.
38:15It was always going to be under our shadow because of Pastor Robinson's divorce.
38:19But he deserves as much happiness as any other man.
38:23Now his mistakes are behind him.
38:25I don't think his marriage to Lucille was a mistake, Mrs. Wallace.
38:30It was never a union without love.
38:31What it was, was a union without luck.
38:35Perhaps matters would have turned out differently if they'd been able to have a child.
38:40A baby is always a blessing.
38:44And now we must look to the future.
38:48Let us say nothing further.
38:53Meanwhile, hastily arranged though it may be, this is Rosalind's first wedding.
38:59How do we make it special for them?
39:03How do we make up for the fact that her parents have treated them so coldly?
39:08It's simple enough, Nurse Crean.
39:10We show them love.
39:14Nurse.
39:15Nurse, my wife is on the second floor.
39:18I will take you to her.
39:20That's okay, honey.
39:21Let us park these bicycles and we'll head straight out.
39:24This is young Dr. Turner, by the way.
39:27Uh, doctor, yes.
39:28He'll be working under my supervision.
39:41Do you have running water, Mr. Das?
39:43We have only one room. We use this stack.
39:53Oh, Nass Island.
39:55It's Mrs. O'Day, isn't it?
39:57Yeah.
39:57I remember you're from the clinic.
39:58You couldn't come and look at my little barricade, could you?
40:01He don't seem right.
40:02I'm on my way to a lady in labour.
40:04What's the matter with him?
40:06It's like a cold and a bit of a cough.
40:08Please.
40:09I can hear crying out.
40:11Have you taken him to the surgery?
40:13I haven't got the bus fare.
40:15I don't get my money till tomorrow.
40:16Please.
40:18I'll pop down later, honey, when I get the chance.
40:25I'll have to run or the chippy will be closed.
40:28Now, don't cod or haddock.
40:30Cod.
40:31And get haddock for Dad.
40:32He's hungry when he comes in from picking up dead bodies.
40:35I'll be back in ten.
40:40Perry!
40:41My Jackie magazine's still in the bedroom!
41:10My husband cannot touch me now, even though he wishes to.
41:17Are you Hindu, Mrs Das?
41:19Yes.
41:20And we are Bengali.
41:23We could not stay in our own country anymore.
41:25Don't worry about where you've come from.
41:27The only thing that matters tonight is what's going to happen in this room.
41:31I should not be here.
41:33No man should be here.
41:35Unless he is a doctor.
41:37But I have nowhere else to go and I do not want to leave her.
41:41We could rig up a screen.
41:43I can go out onto the landing and requisition a bit of washing line.
41:47You get cracking, but I need you back quickly.
41:49Or this won't come towards your rotation.
41:55Shhh.
41:58Shhh.
42:00Shhh.
42:01Shhh.
42:05Shhh.
42:13Shhh.
42:14Shhh.
42:14Shhh.
42:14Shhh.
42:15Shhh.
42:24Shhh.
42:25Shhh.
42:26Shhh.
42:27Shhh.
42:29Shhh.
42:33Shhh.
42:34Shhh.
42:34Shhh.
42:35Shhh.
42:35Shhh.
42:36Shhh.
42:36Shhh.
42:37Shhh.
42:38Now, with this next pain,
42:40you're going to need a really long, strong push from you, Ranjani.
42:43Shhh.
42:45Shhh.
42:46Shhh.
42:46Shhh.
42:46Shhh.
42:47Shhh.
42:49Shhh.
42:50Shhh.
42:51Shhh.
42:51Shhh.
42:52Shhh.
42:52Shhh.
42:55Shhh.
42:57Shhh.
42:58Shhh.
42:59Shhh.
42:59Shhh.
43:00Shhh.
43:10Shhh.
43:11It's crowding.
43:16The baby's head has been born, Ranjani.
43:20It's resting right here in my hand.
43:24Help! We need the nurse!
43:30Do you mind? A lady is having a baby in here.
43:33I can't stop breathing!
43:43Help!
43:47Just rest, Ranjani. Just rest.
43:53And I'll talk you through the next bit.
43:55Help! I'm sorry!
43:59What's all this, young man? You OK?
44:03What happened? Did he choke on something?
44:06It was just like he was choking on the air and he just stopped!
44:11Look! What's he got blue?
44:14Somebody call an ambulance!
44:26This is just your baby turning, Ranjani.
44:29Everything's OK.
44:35Larry, Larry, please, Larry!
44:37Yeah!
44:39Is he breathing? Is he breathing?
44:41Is he breathing?
44:41Is he breathing?
44:46He's not working! He's got him up, look!
44:49He's got him up, look!
44:50Did somebody call an ambulance?
44:51Yes!
44:55I'm almost there.
44:57This is it, Ranjani.
44:59Yeah!
45:06And you have a little girl.
45:24I'm not going to stop until the ambulance gets here.
45:39Where is the midwife?
45:42And I haven't, he's breathing.
45:47I'm not going to stop.
45:52So, I laughed.
45:54Where is the midwife?
45:55Where is the midwife?
45:57Ranjani, I'm going to have to give you an injection.
46:23He's okay.
46:25He'll need to go to the hospital and be checked.
46:47I suppose many house calls end up with two ambulances arriving.
46:51No. The baby seems to have had croup and they do bounce back from that. And Ranjani will be alright
46:59after a blood transfusion.
47:00I froze for a moment, but then it was like my heart rate shot up and my brain kicked in.
47:09That would be the adrenaline.
47:11I wonder if anyone's ever done blood tests on doctors immediately after a crisis situation. That might make an interesting
47:17research paper.
47:18Yes.
47:26Belinda, I can't show you the bruises your sister has all down her back, but I'm telling you, you have
47:31to come home.
47:33You said I was to throw everything I've got at university. You said it was something you never had.
47:38This isn't about you and it isn't about me. This is about Susan.
47:42Rola, this will be a shame really necessary.
47:45Everything is always about Susan.
47:48And I know you love her as much as us.
47:52There are essentially two ways of approaching makeup.
47:55One can purely use it to disguise nature's shortcomings or push things a little further and deploy it as a
48:01sort of costume.
48:02You mean like a disguise?
48:03No. People hide behind disguises.
48:07Bold lips and defined eyes can bring out our inner confidence.
48:12Try putting this on by yourself this time.
48:16And then I'll show you how to blot.
48:29Do you ever have to bring out your inner confidence?
48:32More frequently than you might imagine.
48:38It's jolly hot in here.
48:40Bear with me a moment.
48:42It's the excitement of seeing yourself transformed, perhaps.
48:45No, I suspect it's something else.
48:49It's past now.
48:51Let's get on with your nails.
48:56And before we turn our attention to the riveting recent investigation into unlicensed butchery operations,
49:04we have item five on the agenda.
49:07The closure of Kenilworth Row Maternity Home.
49:10Which counts as unlicensed butchery all on its own.
49:14Thank you, Turner.
49:16Any comments from the wider committee?
49:18Yes, from me, Dr Threatford.
49:25This is what midwifery looks like in your district.
49:30And this is what local people think about your proposal.
49:34The women of Poplar know how vital and how valuable the sisters are, and you're closing them down too.
49:42This is the direction of travel dictated by the National Health.
49:48Meanwhile, Turner, rest assured that even as you progress to this next phase, we continue to learn from you.
49:55Will you be watching to see what goes wrong?
49:58Because there'll be plenty.
50:01May we move on now to item six.
50:10I will pray for you when I say the offices.
50:12You will not be as alone in the chapel as you imagine.
50:16Oh, keep the home fires burning and all of that.
50:20I will telephone from the mother house if there is anything to report.
50:27Mother phone!
50:34I'm ready, I'm ready!
50:40Come on, shoot!
50:51Are you happy to take your diuretics with just water, or would you like me to make some hot blackcurrant?
51:00I require no beverages, for I will take no pills.
51:10But the treatment is working.
51:13It is not treatment.
51:15It is merely postponing all that is to come.
51:20You would have me out in nature,
51:24but I would sooner admit nature into this room,
51:29and let it take its course.
51:36Sister, I'm speaking to you nurse to nurse now.
51:41If you refuse your medication,
51:43you will progress from chronic kidney disease
51:47to end-stage renal failure very rapidly.
51:53And what if that is what the Lord intends?
52:14Sister Catherine, what's this?
52:20I chose this life because I wanted certainty.
52:25There was work, and a rule of life, and there was faith to knit all together.
52:35But now nobody is where they ought to be, and we don't know what's coming next.
52:43Sister, are you dating your vocation?
52:47No.
52:48I have made my vows, and those vows are indivisible from my soul.
52:55But if I felt I could leave, I would leave.
53:02Because right now it would be easier.
53:04It would not. I can promise you that.
53:09No.
53:10I'm sorry.
53:12But just now, just today,
53:19I feel so alone.
53:23I'm almost at the end of Harry's new jumper.
53:26I suppose I'll be casting on for Rosalind's baby after this.
53:30There is going to be a baby, isn't there?
53:32Of course there is.
53:34The girl's been locked in the bathroom every morning.
53:42There's so much change afoot.
53:50Phyllis, I often find people speak of change as if they're speaking about rats.
53:57As if change is something hiding underneath the house,
54:02attempting to get in and gnaw at all that we hold precious.
54:07Perhaps we would be better to compare change to the birds.
54:14Enlighten me.
54:15Well, birds do what birds will.
54:18They carry twigs in their beaks and seeds.
54:22So they build nests and sow flowers.
54:26However accidentally.
54:29Maybe you should put that in a poem.
54:39Good things can come from birds.
54:42And it's the same with change.
54:45PHONE RINGS
54:47Oh, it's Mrs Turner.
54:54Is that Belinda?
54:55Oh, hello, darling.
54:57Hello.
54:59Hi.
55:00Welcome home, love.
55:08Is that what I think he is?
55:12I'm eight months gone.
55:14I managed to hide it over the summer holidays.
55:17And then once I went back, I thought I'd be safe.
55:19I thought I wouldn't have to tell you.
55:22And then I had to come home because of Susan.
55:24Susan...
55:31What's wrong?
55:34What's wrong?
55:49Often a fear faced up to is a fear outgunned, and love expressed becomes love doubled and
56:00ignited whether we light the fire through words or deeds.
56:07There is always a way ahead, a route through the woods, a path that leads us to the place
56:17we need to be.
56:22We listen always for the voice that calls us.
56:30But sometimes love speaks loudest as we let it go.
56:38I have news to impart.
56:39Would you consider entering into partnership with me?
56:42I'll never finish with God.
56:43Thank you for your patience, ladies.
56:45May I present the bride?
56:46I would like you to summon someone from this establishment.
56:49Albion and Sons is an undertaker.
56:51And every bed, kidney bowl, and set of clamps is staying on these premises until the last
56:56mother and baby go out of those doors.
57:02Judged is a new podcast on sounds exploring what happens when a mother's love is pushed
57:06to the limit.
57:07And featuring real crimes and real clues, can you crack the case?
57:11The new series of Forensics, The Real CSI, now on BBC Two.
57:26The Real
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