creator Heidi Thomas recently hinted in an interview and as a long running fan I was horrified.
However, after watching this season’s finale I think it may well be time to rest the long running period drama and perhaps, as was implied focus on spin offs of the characters early lives taking us back to the 50s and 60s and gentler days of the show.
I have watched from the beginning – all fourteen seasons – and while it is always heart wrenching the finale traditionally requires extra tissues for the guaranteed tears that flow. This year I found myself with no such need (so if anyone requires some crates of tissues you know where to find me).
They threw everything at it. The return of a teen mum from the Christmas episode whose parents had disowned her, newcomer Sister Catherine (Molly Vevers) took her vows and had a reunion with her sister and the Turner finally completed the adoption of their daughter May.
To top it all off Nurse Nancy Corrigan (Meghan Cusack) returned in time for her wedding after being AWOL since episode one of this series.
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Sister Catherine, played by Molly Vevers, took her vows in the Call The Midwife finale (Image: BBC)
She came back with a bang as she was revealed to be heavily pregnant leading to a dramatic birth in an ambulance en route to hospital. She then enjoyed a colourful wedding attended by all the residents of Poplar.
It was a cocktail of storylines designed to warm the cockles – and I found myself not caring that much. There was nothing wrong with the writing and the performances were spot on as usuaL. The problem was I wasn’t invested enough in anyone’s story – except perhaps the Turners. But that story has been percolating for years.
The teen mum’s story is the kind of thing we’ve been seeing since show one. Sister Catherine hasn’t really been in the show long enough to care about her religious journey. Although her families issues with her faith have been touched on it has felt like an aside rather than a huge storylines.
Meanwhile, having not seen Nancy for weeks I wasn’t that bothered about her storyline. Clearly her dramatic return and baby announcement was supposed to warm the heart. Unfortunately, for me at least, it was akin to meeting someone on the street you haven’t seen in years and trying to feign interest about what they have been up to.
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Call The Midwife ended the current season with a birth and a wedding as the residents celebrated (Image: BBC)
Compared to previous year’s finales it defintely fell short. People were collectively bawling their eyes out last year when .
It has always been that way since the very first finale at the end of season one which saw Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt) contract pneumonia and Chummy (Miranda Hart) marry PC Noakes (Ben Caplan) after clashing with her mother. Since then there is an expectation that they up the ante for the season end but this year’s just didn’t feel special.
Part of the problem could be that the show has now moved into the 1970s. In reflecting the changes in the world it is losing some of the gentle charm that made it such a success.
Women are having babies in hospitals so the heart wrenching home births are not as common.Births are also safer in this era (although they have still lost patients this season). Nonnatus House almost feels out of place in a world full of glam rock and psychedelia. Indeed, even Nancy’s wedding is a throughly modern (by 1970s standards) affair.
The show has definitely been renewed for another season which will bring it to 15 years on air. But perhaps after that it may be time to consider the spin off which were hinted at.