MATURE JENNIFER: Every mother meets her child in battle.
CRIES OUT
The pain, the struggle, the fight for separate breath.
The mother is a warrior.
She endures it all!
Ah! Morning, Miss Higgins.
Excellent posters!
I have strict rules of precedence
for the printed matter on that board.
You can't put that there until after
the measles vaccination drive is over.
Then I shall leave it on your desk and you can put it up...
..when you see fit.
My duties may preclude it.
My hands are extremely full now that Master Timothy Turner
has taken work elsewhere.
It is paid work!
As a council bathing attendant.
I'm not keen on it either, Miss Higgins.
Think of the things he'll see.
And the things he'll touch!
It could be extraordinarily educational.
Jill, this is the stinging I was telling you about.
It will pass.
STRAINS AND CRIES OUT
Is it born now? Please tell me it's born.
Your baby's head is with us.
Your baby will soon be in your arms.
I can't wait. I can't wait!
SISTER JULIENNE: Baby's turning now,
Jill. Get ready for that last push.
BABY CRIES
Look at him! Look at this child!
He's my Spencer all over again, Jill.
You have to look at him!
It's a little girl, Mrs Wray.
It's stone-cold!
These instruments are no better
than they were when they went in.
It wasn't me who broke it this time.
Maybe the mice have been nibbling at the cables,
like they did with Trixie's Ladyshave.
There's no need to bring my beauty accoutrements into this.
How am I supposed to do the district round
without a fully stocked bag?
We'll have to boil everything manually!
Sister Monica Joan can help.
Spencer?
Would you like to come and meet your daughter?
Daughter?
Mm.
There's a whole lot of women in that flat.
There certainly is.
I'll just, erm, look in from the doorway for now.
BABY CRIES
WOMAN: Scabies,
impetigo, fleas and ingrained dirt.
We can request medical remedies,
but there's not much hot water and carbolic soap won't cure.
I've been reading about this condition
called Pediculosis vestimentorum.
It's when the clothes become infested with lice
and start to cause dermatitis-type lesions,
particularly within folds of skin and on the axillaries.
Oh! That sounds like what we call PBF.
Plain bloody filthy.
I hope you're up to the physical side.
Come on, you follow me.
Pastor Robinson!
And Reggie!
Have you brought me any dry-cleaning?
I'm going to bring you my preaching suit next Monday.
For now, you and your new business
will have to make do with this.
Thank you!
And I've brought you a picture of Jesus.
Well!
Isn't that the very best thing I could have watching over me?
Thank you, Reggie.
Pastor Robinson, any news of Lucille?
I had a letter yesterday.
She's sounding on top of the world.
I think she'll be booking her flight home soon.
Hmm? Mm!
Oh!
Matthew!
Is there any news of your father?
They've let him out of the hospital
with as clean a bill of health as he's likely to get.
After all those tests?
Yes.
Well, that's very welcome news.
It's not very welcome news.
He's coming to visit Poplar.
He's been threatening for ages, but...tomorrow's the day.
Matthew, if your father wants to visit,
we'll make him welcome.
I'll ask Sister Julienne to provide some hospitality.
You're going to have to learn to like salad, Teddy.
Take this carrot out to Genevieve.
She loves her vegetables!
She's a rabbit.
Oh...
Hey! I saw that, May.
If you two don't stop this silly argument,
neither of you is going to have a turn with the egg slicer.
Cowboys and Indians is for boys.
It's my birthday party.
Angela, May can have
whatever sort of birthday party she likes.
People will laugh at her.
Hello, Timothy.
I'm so glad you're here. Is it salad?
Yes, it is salad.
SIGHS
RUNNING FOOTSTEPS
Genevieve won't wake up.
Oh, no, no, no!
Has your husband had a hold of the baby yet?
Sister Julienne said he was a bit shy this morning.
Shy? Spencer?
He charmed the pants off me when we met.
And I mean charmed the pants off me. That's how I ended up
on your books!
CHUCKLES
The minute I get my figure back,
we're getting married.
A whirlwind romance.
My mum said I weren't to bring any coloured babies home.
So this is home now.
Me and him. And this little one.
And I'm not sorry.
MOUTH ORGAN PLAYS
Teddy's practising sad music on his mouth organ
for the funeral.
Oh, give that here.
Full disclosure.
I've already smoked two cigarettes.
Of all the things
I had on my to-do list today,
burying a rabbit did not feature.
What was on it?
A morning at the practice with Miss Higgins,
planning this month's clinics, during which time I'm first
on call at the maternity home.
Then the girls need taking to cycling proficiency.
Teddy needs new sandals,
and I'm three days late with my batch bake.
We'll be eating swiss rolls off the market stall again.
I quite like those.
That is not the point!
MATTHEW: Timothy!
Need a lift?
I wouldn't mind.
What's all this, then?
I'm working for the council,
bathing the sick and needy in their own homes.
Hmm! Sounds like a good scheme.
It is if they've got their own bathrooms.
We need to take collapsible baths
and cans of hot water in a van
to the decrepit places, like Lisbon Buildings.
But the council's got no-one to drive the vehicles.
Oh! Where are you off to today?
I've got four clients in the Napoleon Buildings.
It's all, erm, mod cons in the tower blocks.
All right.
No Mrs Turner this morning? I gave her the day off.
The summer holidays are getting on top of her.
In the meantime, may I draw your attention
to today's communication from St Cuthbert's?
No fewer than ten of our referred patients
have completely failed to keep their appointments.
No?!
That is not on.
MUSIC AND CHATTER
DOORBELL
Morning, mate. Er, I'm here to bath
Mr Stanley, erm, Facchiaro. Oh, wrong door.
Old Stan's last one up on the left.
Here, you don't want to sluice this lot down, do you,
while you're about it? Especially this one.
Proper pen and ink, she does.
BOTH LAUGH
Sorry to disturb you.
POP MUSIC PLAYS
Never mind the breakfast discotheque.
Time for actual breakfast.
MUSIC OFF
Come on. Don't make me play the wicked stepmother.
Sit down, sit down.
Right, Pete, we need to get this lot back to their mum's.
It's already gone ten.
Oh, I love it
when they stay the night. I know!
Cheryl misses them, too, when they're gone.
Don't you, darling?
Right, go and get breakfast.
I just need to sit down and catch my breath.
CHILDREN CHANT: Milk! Milk! Milk!
There. She'll sleep a bit longer.
I'll weigh the baby and give her the once-over first.
Come on, hand her over.
I promise you I'll give her back.
Oh, she's gorgeous.
Proper little head-turner!
She's been sent to Earth...
..with a purpose.
Next? Er...
Annette Barkely, Flat 19, Napoleon Towers.
Failed to attend her six-monthly check
at the cardiology clinic on the 23rd of June.
She can't afford to do that!
She has rheumatic heart disease.
Advise her to come and see me
with a view to arranging another hospital appointment.
And I'd like this one delivered by hand.
Ah, right.
CHUCKLES
It feel like a party, don't it?
Oh! Shhh...
BABY COOS
Even though it's just the four of us!
LAUGHS HAPPILY
A real family...
..with a baby at the heart of everything!
We've been saying all along that if we had a girl
we'd make her middle name Florence,
after you.
Didn't we, Spencer?
Spencer?
I'm talking about the baby's name.
Mylene Florence.
I thought we could go and get a birth certificate tomorrow.
Fear not, for I have redeemed thee.
I have summoned thee by name.
You are mine.
You're quoting the Bible now?
Hey!
Fatherhood doing you good.
Nah, it's like I can hear it.
It's...loud in here.
Like I can't turn it down. Like...like television.
But there's no knobs.
MUMBLES QUIETLY TO HIMSELF
It's the names.
They will tell you what it is.
They will tell you what it is...
TV: Here's a house.
Here's a door.
I should have gone to my appointment
at the heart clinic. You know I should.
But they're going to go mad
with me. They said I should never
get pregnant again! Come here.
Ohh...
They read you the riot act last time,
and everything was all right.
Sod the hospital.
Mother Nature knows what she can handle.
SCOOTER ENGINE STARTS
Hello!
Is that nun...motorised?
Yes. That's Sister Veronica.
Where did she get the money for a scooter?
I thought they always took vows of poverty.
Yeah... Ah, here's the girl
of everybody's dreams!
Hello, Pops!
This is the uniform, is it?
Yes. Designed for practicality.
And I did not choose the colour scheme!
CHUCKLES Looks pretty fine, all the same.
Pops, do you want to use
the, er, facilities before we set off?
There's coffee available, as well,
if you'd like. I'll just have a packet
of Henley's Gold Label.
There's a tobacconist's over there.
Of course.
I've never seen Spencer like this before.
Just talking and talking.
But in a voice that is not in his own.
Mrs Wray, I've got to be honest.
Some of his behaviour is ringing alarm bells.
But the only person that can really tell you what's going on
is a doctor.
The nurse is right.
This is a spiritual disturbance.
He needs to see a minister.
And I don't even know where to look for one.
I haven't been to God's house since we leave Brixton.
There is... a Pentecostal church...
..on Wick Street.
I've written down the name for you.
But you must let me arrange a visit from the doctor.
Urgently.
SIGHS
I don't object.
But I don't want anybody to know.
Once upon a time,
I'd come down here with your grandfather,
and the wharves were swarming with men -
stevedores, dockers, banksmen...
..even rat catchers!
But they kept our buildings working.
Can't make money from a place
if you don't know what makes it tick.
Ah, it's not what it was.
My bladder's not what it was, either. Stop the car.
Right, that's your 'nanas. Now go and get your hair ribbons
so you can be all pretty for your first day at nursery.
MARKET TRADERS CRY OUT
Don't worry, love. I've got hold of you. Charlie?
Give the poor woman some air.
Ooh! There you go.
You sit on this chair, dear.
Here you go. You go and stand with Mummy.
Shall we get this coat off you?
Oh, bless you! You're in the family way.
Someone run and knock on the door at Nonnatus.
Ooh, how are you feeling? Yeah...
Better? You OK?
GULLS CRY
SIGHS
We need to get out.
The docks have finished at this end of the river.
The East End will die.
Pop, the East End isn't just the buildings. It's the people.
Oh, don't start all that again.
You've been halfway to socialist
ever since you did your national service.
I'll take that as a compliment.
And let me tell you, the economy here is more complex
than you think. We shouldn't be getting out.
We should be investing, expanding, creating employment
and apprenticeship opportunities.
Your comparative youth gifts you two luxuries...
..an unhindered prostate
and the licence
to spout idealistic bilge.
I've seen this community with my own eyes.
And you've never done a day's graft in your life.
Annette, when you had rheumatic fever as a child,
it damaged the valves of your heart.
Now, that is not a situation that changes,
but sometimes things happen that can make it worse.
Pregnancy increases every woman's blood volume,
and that is putting extra pressure
on your heart valves.
I should have tried to help myself.
I should have... taken that pill
or, I don't know, had my tubes tied.
But you never got on with the pill,
and you're too young to be sterilised.
Which left us with that Dutch cap. Pete didn't like it.
What we both love is children.
DOOR OPENS
Doctor!
Is she going to be all right?
We are going to take the best possible care of her.
I'm moving her to St Cuthbert's as soon as we can find a bed.
You think this could have been avoided, don't you?
And not to put too fine a point on it,
this really does have to be avoided in the future.
You could do worse
than come along to this talk.
Men's health!
In my book, that means women's health, too.
So much of what we do or can do impacts on them.
Do help yourself to pie, Sir Brigham. It's steak and kidney.
Steak and kidney! I don't need
asking twice. Sorry.
It's such a treat to have you here. Isn't it, Matthew?
Yes. Yeah, it is. Yeah.
It must be a bit like meeting all the mad relations
she keeps in the attic.
ALL CHUCKLE
It is a very great pleasure
to put so many faces to names.
I must bring my wife Lavinia next time.
She might like to see Lisbon Buildings.
Mr Aylward has poured such care into the renovations there...
..not to mention money.
Has he, indeed?
DR TURNER: Spencer?
It seems to me
that for the past couple of days...
..you've either been full of energy...
..almost too much energy...
..or very, very quiet...
..and saying that you want to sleep
but not being able to.
I've got stuff to think about.
Loads and loads of stuff.
I'm not fast enough for all of it.
It's tiring. I know.
Spencer, when all of this stuff is going through your head...
..do you ever feel as though things aren't quite real?
Everything's real.
More real than real.
I think that's the problem.
But you don't see anything strange
or hear people speaking
who you can't see?
Take one of these.
It'll help you get a bit of rest.
Spencer needs to see a psychiatrist
as soon as possible.
Psychiatrist?
You mean like an 'ead doctor?
Yes.
Someone who can give him what I can't...
..a proper diagnosis and then the help he needs.
But-But will they take him away?
Only if it's necessary,
but I'll have to see how things unfold.
I'm going to make an urgent referral.
Perhaps next time we conclude a call regarding Mrs Barkely,
I will be able to close by saying thank you for your help.
Any luck at St Cuthbert's? The reverse.
The cardiac department say
maternity must take responsibility,
and maternity won't
until a meeting with a cardiac specialist
is timetabled.
I'll have another go myself and see if that works.
In the meantime,
the soonest I can get a psychiatric appointment
for Spencer Wray is the end of next week.
Can you not simply have him admitted to the Linchmere
for a mental health assessment?
I made a vow I'd never send anyone there
unless they were a danger to themselves or others.
Shelagh!
I'd like to speak to you in private, please.
I'm pregnant again.
What?!
I've missed my monthly,
my breasts are tender
and my mouth tastes as if I've been sucking a penny.
I thought all that sort of thing was behind us.
So did I!
I don't have to spell out my age to you. Or yours!
Shelagh, let's not get ahead of ourselves.
We are going to do
what we always do with everyone and arrange a pregnancy test.
I've already brought you a sample.
CYRIL: You are welcome in our church
whenever you choose to join us, Mrs Wray.
And your son can come, too, for prayer and anointment.
If he needs it.
He is...
..scared...
..to leave the flat, Mrs Wallace.
He says there is poison in the air.
All we can offer you,
everything that prayer can offer you,
can only sit alongside what proper medicine can do.
Once, faith healing was all some people had.
But now...
..now we know
that trained doctors can do more.
Haddock and chips. I've been keeping them warm in the oven.
BOTH CHUCKLE
Was your father very tired when you dropped him home?
Oh...
I think we were...both as exhausted as each other.
Anyway, after I'd...
..digested some of his more...forthright remarks...
..I came to a decision.
I went to the council...
..and I secured a job...
..as a bathing attendant.
What?!
It's only for ten days.
But maybe my...father's right.
Maybe I never have done a...
..day's graft in my life.
I'm just holding it. I'm not going to smoke it.
I know smoking is bad for pregnant women.
Let's wait and see what the test says.
We'll know for certain in a few days' time.
I know for certain now.
When I was having Teddy,
I stored up every single sensation, every symptom,
because I feared I'd never feel them
and thought I never would again.
And here we are.
I've seen...
..so many women...
..weeping in clinic...
..women whose bodies caught them out...
..women who were too old and too tired
to go through it all again. And now I'm one of them!
If you were too old,
your body wouldn't allow you to conceive again.
And what if I'm too tired?
What if the house isn't big enough,
the car isn't big enough?
What if we aren't big enough?
We will always be big enough.
I promise you that.
And I promise you I will love it.
I just don't want it.
Six canisters of hot water,
one collapsible bath.
And one wheelchair
for the less mobile patient.
Lead on, Macduff.
It's like the blind leading the ruddy blind.
It was only a tiny little wet patch.
Might have just been sweat.
When my waters broke with Cheryl,
the midwife nearly drowned!
We just need to keep an eye on it.
And you're to try to have a little nap.
In my view, a rested mother is a well mother.
Oh...
Oh! I've gone a bit dizzy.
Is there anything else that feels amiss?
It feels like someone's wound my heart with a key.
It's going really fast.
I won't be a moment.
# Something's coming along...
# Something's coming along for you
# You don't have to knock
# Life is like a clock
# So wind it, wind it, wind it
# There's so much to do
# So it's up to you
# To find it, find it, find it
# You don't have far to go... # KNOCK ON DOOR
Council bathing service for Mr E Perrins.
It's Mrs.
Er, there must be a mistake, then. We only do men.
I don't mind.
Afternoon, Sister.
Any objections to me having a go at that autoclave?
If you can repair it, you will be wreathed in laurels.
I don't want to go. No, I'd prefer to have it here.
St Cuthbert's really is the best place for you,
Annette. And at least these signs of early labour
mean they've suddenly found you a bed.
It's these heart palpitations that are bothering us all.
It's stopped now. She says she feels all right.
Yeah, and I haven't leaked any more of my waters.
You heard Dr Turner, Annette.
This baby needs to be born in hospital.
Oh, they're going to have a go at me
at St Cuthbert's. They were like that
the last time.
They made me feel stupid,
like I was some great big problem.
Mrs Barkely is ready for transfer.
Nurse Crane will travel with her
in the ambulance.
TV: Well, John, Peter and I are driving
into the studio...
DOORBELL
..in the most fantastic car I think I've ever seen.
It's called FAB 1.
TV ON IN NEXT ROOM
Greetings, guv'nor. May I be of assistance?
My name is Threapwood.
I'm chairman of the Board of Health.
I don't suppose you've got any contacts
in the world of autoclave parts?
Are you a medical equipment specialist?
No!
Jack-of-all-trades.
I'll turn my hand to most things
if it helps the sisters out.
Yeah. Same down the maternity home.
There's always a bed that wants fixing,
gas and air that needs looking at.
I help him.
Clearly.
Nothing wrong with a little bit of make do and mend, eh?
Even if the friendly millionaire
does cough up for most of the extras,
it's a miracle where those sisters make ends meet.
Are you able to specify what the "extras" are?
Rent. Furniture.
Even the midwives' wages. Not to mention this malarkey.
I am not going to give up.
Even millionaires don't have money to burn.
Upon Sister Julienne's return, would you be so kind
as to give her my card
and tell her I called on a visitor inspection?
FOOTSTEPS APPROACH
Oh! Thank you for waiting, and of course
for travelling with Mrs Barkely.
It's a very delicate situation. I'm just glad she derived
some comfort from my presence.
And as her cardiologist, I'm not going to be the one
who takes that comfort away.
Her labour seems to have slowed to a stop,
but the obstetrician is going to augment it by artificially
rupturing her forewaters in the morning.
It's been decided, has it? From his point of view,
the birth itself should be relatively normal,
as long as they use forceps
or the ventouse machine in second stage.
I suppose the concern is
she mustn't strain too much when pushing.
Exactly. So...
..it's going to be a very busy delivery room.
So often, what's happening in a woman's body drives a marriage,
a household, even a family.
Most men have no idea how much their wives
have to put up with.
SISTER VERONICA: Menstruation springs to mind.
Painful, debilitating...
..and inconvenient.
But it's a brave woman who'd use it as an excuse
for not having your tea on the table.
ALL CHUCKLE
Nevertheless, the most unwelcome event
in a home is almost certainly
an unplanned pregnancy.
And this day and age,
there's no excuse for it.
Is there, Doctor? No.
Sorry, Sister,
Dr Turner.
There was nobody to mind me youngest,
but I didn't want to miss the talk.
Oh, that's all right. Just take a seat.
So...
..contraception has come on
in leaps and bounds in recent years.
And while the pill may not be suitable
for every woman,
there are alternatives -
alternatives that we as men can take responsibility for.
Condom. Sheath.
Durex.
Johnny.
MEN CHUCKLE
French letter.
All different ways of saying the same thing.
If we could have the next page, please,
Sister Veronica. Now, this
is the first really viable alternative to the sheath,
which I hope will be licensed very soon.
It's basically a simple operation
in which the tubes that carry the man's sperm, or seed,
from the testicles are severed.
MEN WINCE
Believe me, it is a minor procedure,
and perfect for a couple
who've decided that their family is complete.
Bit late for some of us!
You've got to sleep, Spencer.
Nobody's mind works properly
when they've been up for 24 hours straight.
I've been finding that out ever since I had madam.
She don't need sleep.
It's all part of her power.
They told me.
No, no. No. Listen to me, Spencer, not them.
She sleeps like...an angel.
Like a baby.
I can always get her off.
That's how I know I'm going to be a good mum.
I bet I can get you off, too, if you'll let me.
Well, at least I got through to the man himself.
He's been on holiday.
Mild interest,
especially as "new research suggests high rates
"of mental illness amongst young West Indian men".
But has Dr Billinge given Spencer an appointment?
I have his mother in reception in a state of acute distress.
He can make a domiciliary visit next week.
SIGHS
It's a start.
I'll speak to Mrs Wray and I'll arrange for more sedatives.
WOMAN GROANS
So, how's our patient ticking over?
Contractions every five minutes. No analgesia
required thus far.
Very well. Prepare for transfer to the delivery room.
Pastor Robinson! Please.
Erm...I need you to, erm, come to my home.
I need you to pray over my son. Please.
He's getting worse, and the psychiatrist will not
see him until next week.
I have an hour between meetings later on. I will go then.
Are you sure
we need two cans of hot water for just one client?
This one hasn't had a bath since 1965.
Mrs Terrence says we might need Brillo pads.
Is it going to be like forceps?
I had forceps with Cheryl.
The ventouse is gentler on baby.
The little one's head is in just the right position.
I don't even think I can breathe any more.
Yes, you can.
My old dad used to work in a tanner's yard.
He used to smell better than I do now.
He'd scrub himself all over when he got home.
In that sink over there.
All right.
There you go.
Oh, he was always clean.
I think he wanted me to be like him...
..but I could never manage it.
I'm not much like my father, either.
Spencer?
BABY CRIES
I came here at your mother's invitation,
and I think my presence is making her feel better.
I'd like to stay...
..if you will allow me to.
Sometimes people speak with forked tongues.
And sometimes they don't.
It sounds different.
It hisses.
Like... Like poison.
Like instruction.
Like that.
Only...I know what to do with her.
I'll get a certificate.
I-I know what the poison is.
Spencer...
..the baby is in her own home with her family,
with people who love her.
She is safe.
No. No!
We're the ones who are in danger.
The baby's the demon.
WOMAN GROANS
I can't go on any more.
You're doing well.
Don't I have to push? No need, lass.
The whole point is
that you strain yourself as little as possible.
ANNETTE CRIES OUT
SURGEON: One more.
BABY CRIES
Hey presto!
A son.
Spencer! You've got to let me pick the baby up.
No. I'll stand in the way. I'll stand guard.
I'm the lifeguard. I'm the only one who knows!
No! Spencer, if the baby
is a demon, I have the Bible in my hand.
YELLS
Is something wrong? It's like ruddy Bedlam!
SPENCER YELLS
FLORENCE SOBS
SHOUTS
Get out!
He's got the baby! Go. Go. Telephone the police.
Spencer!
Not everything is as it seems, huh?
I'm not asking you to believe me,
just to trust me. Don't ask me.
Don't ask me! Don't ask!
You can't ask anything!
They command me.
BABY CRIES
She's a demon.
And God sent you. Maybe that's a good thing.
Maybe you need protection.
Maybe there are words I can say that can drown out the voices
that are telling you to do these things.
Only water can drown. Water could drown her!
When thou passeth through waters, I will be with thee.
And through rivers...
..they shall not...
SHOUTING
Here! Take her!
BABY CRIES
SPENCER YELLS
STAB GRUNT
YELLS
Get out!
Don't let him out.
Timothy!
Sorry, Pastor, sorry! Sorry.
SPENCER ROARS
Get out!
Give me the scissors.
Oh!
It's all right, Cyril. It's all right.
He missed all the major blood vessels.
Doesn't look like it. My jacket's ruined.
If they'd hit an artery, the walls would be ruined.
Through there. There's a mentally disturbed man,
and I think he might have a knife.
Don't hurt him.
CYRIL: Don't hurt him, yeah? He's a sick man.
SPENCER YELLS
A short, persuasive exchange with the nursery sister...
..and here we have one Master Barkely.
All present and correct.
Oh!
Also...
Hello!
..one husband.
LAUGHS
Oh, I'm sorry. I'm all right.
They said I got away with it.
I might not next time.
Love.
There will be no next time.
THUNDER RUMBLES AND RAIN POURS DOWN
FLORENCE PRAYING SPENCER YELLING INSIDE
Dr Turner! Mrs Wray!
You have to help him. You have to tell them!
Tell who? Them!
What? Them!
SPENCER SNARLS
Stop! Stop!
WHIMPERS
SPENCER YELLS
He needs to be restrained
so that I can sedate him.
And I don't care what his offence was -
assault, wounding or murder -
he is not fit to go before the magistrates.
He's screaming at people we can't see!
Hearing voices?
Yes, Doc. SPENCER: Help me!
SIGHS
I think I know what this is. YELLS: Help me!
Florence!
Don't make me go home!
Don't let me abandon him!
We're not going to abandon him.
FLORENCE SOBS
Here.
I keep seeing the blood.
And...
..knowing that there's going to be more blood
if he gets the scissors again.
I can't bear to think about it.
I never could bear to think of you being in trouble,
or danger.
Did you think it would get easier when I grew up?
Yes.
Maybe children never grow up to their mothers...
..no matter how many she rears.
DOOR CLOSES
SIGHS
I've had to sign committal papers for Spencer Wray.
He's being moved in the morning,
probably to the Linchmere.
The duty psychiatrist said it's probably schizophrenia.
I'm not going to tell you what I said to him.
You might feel better if you did, Dad.
I said...
..the next time I spend three days
begging for a psychiatric appointment for a patient...
..I hope I don't end up pinning him to the floor
of a cell in my capacity as police surgeon.
Your father's here, Mr Aylward.
I was hoping to see the little fella.
The nanny says he's gone to nursery school.
He goes three mornings a week now.
And I thought you might like to take me to work with you again.
There's a possibility of shedding some of those...
..tenement blocks - Azores Gardens,
and that other one that you're so inexplicably fond of.
Lisbon Buildings.
I'm not fond of it so much as appalled by it.
And if I spent money on it, it's because I was ashamed.
I'm going to sell the whole bally hovel from under them.
What sense does that make?
Financial.
LAUGHS INCREDULOUSLY
And what are you doing in a grocer's overcoat?
It's not a grocer's overcoat. It is a council overall,
because I am working
for the council. What?
I'm doing hard graft...
..in the course of which I'm learning...
..humility...
..endurance...
..and what it is like to be completely dependent
upon the kindness of others.
Sometimes life means more than investing just...
..money.
PHONE RINGS
Nonnatus House. Midwife speaking.
May I speak to Nurse Franklin, please?
Sir Brigham?
Is something wrong? Me, probably.
As usual.
Oh! Welcome home, Cyril.
I'm so glad they discharged you so quickly.
I don't think anyone gets properly better in a hospital.
Anyway, I found you a hot-water bottle and two extra pillows.
Thank you, Violet.
I think I just need to sit down for a minute...
..get my bearings back.
I wish Lucille was here.
Pops? Oh!
Oh, dear. You do look dismal.
I feel dismal. Rotten indigestion.
I think some milk of magnesia's in order.
And then we're going to sit down and have a chat.
Ah, you're as bad as bloody Lavinia!
She's always trying to play nurse.
I don't play nurse, Pops.
I am nurse.
And I expect you to do as I say!
SIGHS
KNOCK AT DOOR
Ah, Sister. Sorry to have kept you waiting.
Take a seat. Thank you.
Thank you for sparing me the time.
I called you in today
because I thought it was time to refresh our understanding
of the Order's position.
Our position in Poplar.
We encourage the name Tower Hamlets
since the inception of the GLC.
Of course.
But we cover much the same area as we always have.
And with a great deal of autonomy.
Possibly too much.
I hate having words with Matthew.
He hates having words with you.
So why do we do it?
Because he wants you to be proud of him.
And you want him to respect you.
And somehow...
..neither of you are able to do either of those things,
or, at least, you can do them, but you can't show them.
I've never been one for a lot of demonstration.
Habit I got into in the trenches.
Men got into a lot of habits in the trenches...
..my own father included.
It's all better not discussed.
But, Pops, when did not discussing war
turn into not discussing love?
When we realised there are better things to talk about!
Such as? Business.
That never gets boring.
Actually, it does.
Moving money around, juggling properties and investments
has never interested Matthew for a moment.
He gave up his career as a barrister
simply because he wanted to support you.
And I'm grateful.
It means a lot to me. And to his mother.
Tell him!
You tell him. He won't believe me. WINCES
Pops, have you still got that pain in your chest?
Off to the little boys' room.
Tell him...he's a good chap.
I would have been more...
..more like him if I hadn't had to make money...
..if I'd had more time.
Nonnatus House is financially inefficient,
and too dependent
on the resources of the Turner practice,
which we also have in our sights.
You both use dangerous
unskilled labour for maintenance.
Finally - and I shudder to think
how things have come to such a pass in the modern age -
you are currently only operational
because of private charity.
Charity is another word for love.
All too often, I've had to trust in God and say,
"Let us see what love can do."
It is 1968.
Love is no longer a legitimate currency.
No, I disagree. Hear me out.
At a time to be decided by the Board of Health,
Nonnatus House will lose its agency status and its autonomy.
Every member of your staff, including you,
will be in the direct employment
of the health service, who can close you down
as and when it deems appropriate.
GROAN THUD
No! No!
Pops!
KNOCKING ON DOOR
Pops!
Sir Brigham, say something!
SOBS
PHONE RINGS
Good afternoon, operator.
Yes, of course.
Cyril!
The international operator
is about to connect a call for you.
No. How has this happened?
It's a surprise.
We booked a line to Jamaica, to Lucille,
to cheer you up. Come on, hurry. It's ringing.
BOTH CHUCKLE
Hello?
Hello, Celine? It's Cyril, calling from England.
I'm good. Yes.
Please may I speak with Lucille?
She's at work?
How can she be at work?
Possibly an embolism.
I would have moved heaven and earth to save him,
if I could.
So would I.
Thank you for loving him.
You made it look so easy.
And thank you for finding me and telling me.
That must have been so hard.
Thank you for calling my mother.
You need to go home.
You need to be with her, Matthew.
Oh, there's so much to do.
The funeral.
The business.
The bloody business!
Just let me stay a few minutes more.
CYRIL: Her sister said
she took a job at the town hospital
so she could pay her way at her parents' home.
Then she was offered a sister's position on the maternity ward.
And she...she never told you?
She never mentioned it in any of her letters?
And now her sister says
she's agreed to stay on for six months!
Maybe there was more wrong than I knew in the marriage...in us.
You've only been married for 18 months.
And what if Lucille was unhappy for all that time?
She was happy on her wedding day.
Violet made her dress.
Reggie, don't interrupt.
Cyril, lots of couples endure quite long separations
for all sorts of reasons, and sometimes
love is strengthened by absence.
And sometimes the opposite happens.
I couldn't sleep.
The result of the test will come in today.
It's...going to be negative.
Or if it was positive when I did the sample,
it would be negative today.
My monthly has arrived...
..very late, and a little heavy.
It might even mean that my menopause is starting.
But no baby?
No baby.
Am I allowed to be happy?
Of course.
Am I allowed to be sad?
Everything is just as it ought to be...
..because we have everything a family could want.
Someone said to me
that schizophrenia means a split personality,
like he's two people.
Well, Spencer's never been like two people.
He's him!
He's sick, but he's still him.
Of course he is. The best way to describe the illness
is a state where all thoughts, feelings
and understanding are broken into pieces
and cannot be made to connect in the usual way.
How much is he suffering?
Florence...he's in agony.
That's why he's in hospital.
The most important thing to remember,
Jill, is that the welfare state
will be with you every step of the way.
What are the welfare office going to do for Spencer?
It might be some considerable time
before he's discharged. In the meantime,
you may need to prepare yourself for a life
alone with Mylene.
NANCY: Excuse me, Sister.
Sorry to butt in...
..but why are you pushing Jill towards a life on her own
as a single mother?
Because we can support her.
Florence supports me.
And I support her. My mum dumped me
for going with someone with a different colour skin.
And Florence could have done the same with Spencer,
but she didn't.
We are sticking together,
no matter what the future brings.
Good for you.
You mean it, Jill?
Even though our road is going to be hard?
Of course I mean it!
MATURE JENNIFER: The mother endures
because a mother loves.
The cord that binds her
to her child is never fully severed,
even when it is torn, and bleeds.
The battle is not chosen, but it must be embraced,
as baby is embraced.
The mother fights on in the hope of peace to come.
There will always be presents to open
and blessings to count.
A mother's heart is strong.
There will always be a place where love can find a voice,
even in silence.
Everybody has a mother somewhere.
It is no matter if they can't be touched or seen,
because we are all bound to each other.
Our stories interweave.
Our sorrows unite us.
Our joys flower hand in hand,
past, present and future.
We cherish. We share.
We survive.
How many weeks pregnant are you, sweetie? Dunno.
We ain't told no-one.
I don't want to marry Nigel! He was my first boyfriend,
and he'd better not be my last!
Jesus, you're disgusting! Mrs O'Dwyer...
Dr Turner and the health visitor are running a clinic.
It's a council thing for kids that work.
This is a most promising start!
Please enter.