‘Call the Midwife’ Christmas Special Recap

Previously, on Call the Midwife: In case you need a refresher on where we left things at the end of last season, we have recaps of every episode right this way.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our favorite East End of London neighborhood, but when we meet up with the nuns and midwives of Nonnatus House it would appear the normally festive season is turning out to be more stressful than joyful.

Sister Monica Joan’s enthusiasm for steaming the house’s Christmas puddings hits a snag when her conspicuous coughing results in a total black out on the stairs. This leads to the cherished dessert erupting from its receptacle and spewing its brandy soaked innards all over the kitchen wall.

The nuns and midwives all pitch in to nurse Monica Joan back to health. In her feverish state, the elderly nun persists in her opinion about the holiday; it’s purpose being “to revisit where ones roots lie.”  When Monica Joan recovers somewhat, she expresses her immediate and adamant wish to adorn their home with a beautifully trimmed tree and lots of dazzling tinsel. But Julienne and Evangelina knock down her plans reminding her that, according their traditions, they observe advent and don’t decorate until the week before Christmas.   This admonishment causes Sister Monica Joan to strike back, bemoaning their old-fashioned customs and failure to keep up with technology, i.e. television.  This discussion quickly escalates into a full blown argument between Evangelina and her elder peer about which one had to more miserable childhood.

Discord is not just to be found amongst the nuns. Nurse Gilbert is feeling weepy about not being able to return home to Liverpool for Christmas. Patsy is melancholy since she has been parted from her love Delia after she suffered a head injury in the last series. And although Trixie seems to have recovered from her harrowing broken engagement and struggle with alcohol, she too is somewhat subdued. She wisely refuses Patsy’s offer of a nightcap by claiming booze is bad for the skin.

Even Rev. Hereward’s exciting news of the BBC choosing to film his church’s Christmas carol service isn’t greeted with a unanimous thumbs ups. While the midwives declare the prospect glamorous and jolly, the nuns are hesitant to approve of something so modern in a sacred place.

Nevertheless, plans for the concert’s TV shoot move forward. Upon inspection, BBC producer, Mr. Swann (Adrian Scarborough) is not impressed with the church’s less than luxurious interior and expresses his main concern that members of the congregation not appear poor. As Shelagh is present at the inspection, she agrees to take over the children's choir and deems auditions necessary to identify the most talented voices in the community.

The church cleaning lady, Iris Willens (Victoria Hamilton) agrees to help Tom and Shelagh with their plans to make the sanctuary telly ready. She does this in spite of the fact that Christmas is a time of renewed mourning for her. She lost her infant daughter Lorna over twenty years ago.

With Fred posing as a cotton ball bearded Father Christmas, Barbara and Patsy accompany a large group of Poplar’s children on a bus outing to see the Christmas lights of London. While Rev. Tom and Barbara innocently flirt over the pleasures of two-toned sherbet lollies, one of their young charges becomes fevered and weak. And almost as if seeing a ghost, Patsy just happens to get a glimpse of Delia standing on the curb as the bus passes them by.

That same evening, we witness Monica Joan sneaking out of Nonnatus House into the wintery night; however, her absence isn’t discovered until Nurse Crane finds the sister’s bed undisturbed the next morning.  Since Monica Joan appears to have taken her bequeathed jewels with her, Sister Julienne calls Sgt.Noakes to help them with the search.

Fred makes the disturbing discovery of the Sister’s shoes down by the docks, while her habit and wimple have apparently been discarded as well. Her housemates can’t help but worry that she ran away from home because she was prevented from celebrating the season as she wished. Feeling the most regret, Sister Evangelina who quarreled with Monica Joan the day before purchases a tree and trims its branches with baubles and tears.

Delia, who was obviously not a figment of Patsy’s imagination, pops up in Poplar and the couple reunite in a corner tea shop.  Patsy learns that Delia had been writing to her, but her mother wasn’t sending them in an attempt to cut her off from her old life in London. Nevertheless, if given the all clear to return to nursing, Delia intends to come back to London and share her life with Patsy.

The increasingly frantic search for Sister Monica Joan appears to have come to a tragic end when the body of an elderly lady is found by fisherman at the docks. Sgt. Noakes joins traumatized Julienne and Evangelina at the mortuary to identity the victim. The sheet is pulled back, and through sobs, the nuns are relieved to see that it is not their sister on the gurney.

Rather than lying in the mortuary, Monica Joan is journeying towards her family's ancestral home, a once grand house now occupied by polite and peace loving squatters. The young couple tries to care for the desperately ill nun, but she shuns food and drink and refuses to be moved to hospital. She is content to die in the place of her birth.

With a confirmed diagnosis of measles for the girl from the bus trip, Dr. Turner acknowledges they are dealing with an epidemic.  He goes to the health board where is granted a quarantine. The local schools will close early for the Christmas holidays, but also Shelagh's children's choir will be prohibited from performing at the BBC carol concert. She quickly formulates an alternative plan to which the midwives and nuns agree – to sing in the place of the children in their habits and uniforms.

As the new arrangements for the performance are quickly put into action, Shelagh finds her right hand woman Iris isn't feeling well and assumes she’s having problems with another kidney stone.  Dr .Turner examines her and has astonishing news for his patient. It appears she is not ill, but pregnant and going into labor as they speak. Iris thought having another child was impossible so ignored any clues that might have suggested she was having a baby. Both she and her husband are in shock but thrilled at another chance to have a family. They appropriately name their new miracle daughter, Joy

At Nonnatus House, a desperate Sister Evangelina asks Nurse Crane to recount the last time she saw Monica Joan. The pieces finally come together and after an unsatisfactory police response from Sgt. Noakes, Evangelina commandeers Fred and his Christmas tree van to take her to Monica Joan’s family home in the countryside. At first it appears they may have arrived too late, but MJ is a tough old bird. After a little tender loving care, Evangelina and Fred are able to transport their patient home to Poplar.

The night of the televised concert arrives and everyone, including the recovering Sister Monica Joan, set out for the church. The midwives trade their red chapeaus for their more festive frilly white bonnets and Shelagh takes on the Silent Night solo. Not surprisingly Iris agrees to let her newborn daughter Joy be placed in the nativity scene for all of the country to see.

On Christmas Day itself, midwives, nuns and all their friends gather around the new television set purchased by Sister Monica Joan with the proceeds of her mother's pawned jewels. And later they will celebrate their BBC Christmas appearance with a pudding also cheerfully paid for by Sister Monica Joan.

Share your thoughts on this year’s special and tell us if you’re looking forward to the new series of Call the Midwife this April.