'Call The Midwife' Season 12 Brings New Tensions & a Singing Nun to Poplar
Nonnatus House reaches 1968 in a spring cleaning frenzy, eagerly anticipating the arrival of a new face, Sister Veronica (Rebecca Gethings). With the headcount reduced to two nuns, Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt) and Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter), spiritual and medical reinforcement is vital to Nonnatus. Worries about overwhelming her with a lavish teatime spread are unnecessary; Sister Veronica is not shy and bursts into Nonnatus House full of energy and confidence. She can sing, too, a major concern of Monica Joan. Noisy and busy, Sister Veronica disrupts routines and effortlessly offends her colleagues.
Sister Veronica came to the order in perfect health and has no serious illnesses, hospitalizations, or surgeries in the intervening year. Her propensity for tactical falsehoods, however, remains an enduring flaw.
Nurse Nancy Corrigan (Megan Cusack), now newly qualified, is assigned to the care of a terminal cancer patient Olive Macketts (Clare Burt), spending her last days at home with landlady Jessie Parris (Stella Gonet), against hospital advice. Their apartment has an artsy, sophisticated vibe. Olive’s window is hung with prisms that send colored light into the room, and the windows are open to the sounds of Poplar, where she was born. Olive and Jessie are retired teachers of art and physics, respectively, and they used prisms in their classes.
