Original subtitles

All of us in the entire building just collapsed.

Lester Tang gave us the greatest gift we've ever heard. And we can't abandon

her. So I've come home to die.

My last was a stillborn.

No, it's a baby left to be found.

It's not safe.

Give me the key.

We don't get snow in the Caribbean, but nothing's ever perfect.

I don't think it could be more perfect.

Chiefs. Money.

I'm afraid it really is that simple.

Well, it's simple.

We have paid a deposit on that rental. You mistake our intentions, sir.

We're a religious order, and we've come here...

It's too good, not harm.

They're doing women's work.

I'm surprised they have any interest at all to men, with guns or without.

The other sister said they were doing Jesus' work.

But Jesus' work belongs to the devil!

Give him the keys.

It took your money, all of it.

Do not be kind to me.

You're at least as frightened as we were of that man.

And I suspect you have been so for a great deal longer.

Has he been here before, Mrs. Marr?

Many times I pay him to keep my business safe. I think you need to pay someone

to keep you safe from him.

Mrs. Marr, what has happened here tonight is not acceptable.

If we have brought trouble to your door, that is not acceptable either. And we

will move on.

As soon as we are able.

You keep holding her close while I check her temperature.

Do you think she's opioid addicted, sister?

You've more experience of that than me.

It's a different type of cry.

I think she's cold and hungry.

Feel the want of her mother's arms around her.

Babies are not ignorant creatures.

Ladies, Nurse Clifford and I were wondering, since everything's now run

moduli, whether we might be permitted to have a little seasonal gathering here

at the Nassau South?

I love the idea of a seasonal gathering, but it's certainly not up to me to give

permission.

It would really just be ourselves, plus a few of our friends from nursing and

hospital circles.

Will there be popular music playing, and will there be dancing, and the presence

of young men?

Well, Cyril will be coming, and we thought we'd invite Harry Chopra and

Timothy. I consider myself persuaded.

Life is short, and Christmas...

as we are so frequently reminded, comes but once a year.

Morning. I'm looking for Queenie.

Queenie, I know it's hard to talk about what went wrong with the baby that you

lost, but not talking might make it harder in a

different way.

I think this window lean is dried.

If you pass me a rag, I can get ahead with it.

They said I wasn't deceived.

Even though I heard it cry.

Queenie, if you heard your baby cry, it wasn't a dullborn.

It was a girl.

They told me that.

I said I wanted her baptized.

But they said that the priest came too late.

If you don't feel like eating, then you must try and keep up your liquids.

Soup would be particularly good.

Soup?

I never cared much for soup.

When I was a child, soup was a sign that ends were not meeting.

But now...

So it was a sign that I am meeting my end.

You don't have to joke about this, Mr Fisher.

Not unless you want to.

Nothing really matters now but your comfort.

And there are things we can do with regard to that, even though there are

that we can't change.

Isn't that right, nurse?

That's absolutely right.

What would you most like to happen over the next few weeks, Mr Fisher?

I came here because I wanted to come home.

But I failed to allow for the fact that home is where your family are.

Or were.

Mine are all gone, so... Ghosts are good companions for the heart.

But they're not company.

Are you saying you don't want to be alone?

I asked the midwife what happened to the baby.

All she would say was she had the biggest eyes.

And she said biggest like it was a compliment.

She was kindly.

Two other nurses came in and watched me.

Told them I was dirty.

I heard one of them say that my baby had no...

I knew they were lying because the kindly midwife said that she had the

guy.

I wish I could tell you what happened to your daughter.

But I can tell you the truth.

That she was loved.

Loving's not the same as being baptised.

I believe it's very similar.

More hot water.

Now you have to give her name.

Chinese and English.

What your name?

I'm afraid it's not really with it. It's Philly.

It is too hot day.

We sisters all have two names too.

The one we were born with and the one we took when we gave our life to Jesus.

What yours?

Pamela. Semi -classical, with rather a nice ring to it.

Well, if Julienne was baptised Louise, I know two bar girls called

Louise.

You've one name?

Beryl. Berylborough.

Although the surname isn't relevant.

Beryl's a precious stone, isn't it?

And we can't say this one isn't a little gem.

Beryl, it is.

Dr.

Turner, surgery?

Oh, Miss Higgins.

I've been offered half a dozen shifts on Mayo Surgical.

At St. Cuthbert's? Yes.

I'll be supernumerary, but it's under Mr. Borelli.

Mr. Borelli is held in the very highest regard.

Oh, I assume, however, that if you take up this chance, it may threaten the

stability and security of the children's routine.

It could be devastating.

Queenie's had no complications at all in this pregnancy, apart from mild anemia,

despite her age and despite the fact that it's her ninth.

But she is desperately anxious.

Well, does she think the same disaster might be furthered again?

How can I tell her it won't?

If I don't know what happened either.

Oh, that's clever.

It's of a better use for this contraption than the plucking up and

shoes, which is supposedly its purpose.

Sister Monica Jones, I wondered if I might ask for your help.

It's good.

Certainly stable.

You're doing well, lass.

What is lass?

It means girl.

It's what we call a term of endearment.

It's a way of being kind.

My mother used to say, where is your mother, Yu -chan?

In our village in Guangdong.

If she's still alive.

Could you write to her?

A letter?

She does not know how to read.

I do not know what to say.

Can I come here?

I have a baby.

We need you to stay well and happy.

Until this baby comes, I'll be your mother in somewhere.

Abiscus Street isn't part of my division, but it's notorious, even

Kowloon. There are four branches of Triad active in Hong Kong, and they run

everything.

Gambling, prostitution, drugs, the whole nine yards.

Which is why our work there is so essential.

The old clinic came under a branch run by a crook who calls himself the

Cormorant. The Cormorant? He's a Liverpool Chinese, born there, deported

during the war. Never went back, and why should he?

He's made a decent living over here.

Runs a nightclub called the Crimson Lantern and other rackets. How comes you

know all this, but crime's still running rampant? Knowing what Triad are doing

doesn't mean we can stop them.

We don't want to put you in a difficult position, Derek, but the sisters need

advice. My advice is they should look for premises outside the Cormorant area.

They've done something to offend him, and he won't let it go.

Where did you appear from? I've seen entrances on stage like that.

Generally, they involve a trap door. The landlord provided the key, and the

district nurse hung it on a string inside the letterbox.

What year were you born?

1897.

Then you cannot be the child I delivered in this chamber.

I did not arrive in Poplar until 1903.

My brother Sammy.

He was born in 1903.

And the others came after him.

Then you must be the child with the large round eyes that

sat on the bed and watched as I bathed this infant sibling.

You had a remarkable gaze.

Even then.

Yes, I remember that.

And I hope I remember you.

I am most grateful for your assistance.

Good day.

Harry. Yes, Auntie?

Miss Higgins.

Thank you. Just while we're in the surgery. Now, take Dr. Watkins her

Then I need you to go to the records office for me.

All right.

And that was our kindly supporter at the British Army base.

informing us that Sister Prudence also tested positive for tuberculosis.

And so have two of the children.

This is a really vicious strain. Thank goodness we've all been vaccinated.

We will have to get them transferred to the sanatorium, then fumigate their room

as well as Sister Edith.

Patrick, there's something you need to see.

Hello, Teddy, dear.

Teddy, whatever happened to the Christmas tree?

Petula knocked it down.

Where are the girls?

In their bedroom, playing with nail varnish.

Nail varnish?

Angela and May Turner?

Hello, Miss Higgins.

I have brought savoury mint and a peach blancmange. You will come and eat it.

After which...

We will re -erect the Christmas tree, erase all evidence of these manicures,

discuss a plan for the remainder of your parents' absence.

There are photographs and letters in this bag that we sent to Esther from

England.

There are also what look to be her personal belongings.

There's a comb and lipstick and underclothes and a child's shoe.

Yes, Miss Marr.

Esther is a very, very important person to our family.

This is her daughter, May, who is our daughter now.

You make good life for this girl.

But Esther has another child now.

A little boy.

A little boy who is missing his shoes.

And possibly missing his mother.

Mrs. Marr, we don't even know if they're together anymore.

Sister Edith, no. You are Sister Edith.

Mrs.

Forsythe, the midwife who attended your little girl's birth took great care

to record her birth and her death.

in the proper way.

I said she was kindly.

And it seems that your daughter was born with a condition called anencephaly.

The top of her head hadn't developed in the womb as it should have done, and her

brain would have been very badly affected.

Could it have hurt her?

No. I heard her crying.

All babies cry, Queenie.

It's a sign of life.

And it's beautiful.

Even if that life doesn't last very long.

Was it something I did?

No, Queenie.

It wasn't.

I can promise you that. Well, I want to.

To hold a live child in my arms.

And to tell her that it's mine.

The child's name is Christopher.

She will protect him with her life.

His father wants to take him from her.

And his father is a criminal. A gangster?

Of the worst kind.

He has offspring by numerous women.

But Christopher is his only son.

What has Hector done to make him turn on her like this?

Every time she conceived, she came to us.

I gasped that this had happened again.

But all she ever wanted was love.

It happens the world over.

I've seen it time and time again. No, you have not seen a man like this.

They call him the Cormorant.

He has ordered her and her child to be hunted down like dogs.

At one point, we persuaded Mrs. Ma to hide her with Sister Edith, though they

had both vanished.

There is one place she thought that no one could ever find her.

Will you tell me where it is? I must.

For when I die, the waters will clothe over her.

What does that say?

I think those two pictograms together mean for auction.

We won't be going down that route.

You won't be going down the rental route or the purchase route either, sister.

I'm going to have taken every penny you possess.

We're quite accustomed to poverty.

Yes, we gave up money when we gave up men.

What about this one?

It says dancing girls. You've dropped off property and drifted into

I can read this one. It says police.

I've got no apartment number, no floor number.

I've just had to keep on going.

Keep on looking.

How can she even survive like this?

I want to find her. I just don't want to find her here.

Can we talk to you?

I have Mr. Turner with me.

Hello, you.

You must be Christopher.

I've been waiting to meet you.

You keep forgetting that it's madness.

Yes. And it's not even the absolute cold that I marvel at. It's the absolute,

the absolute erasure of weariness.

Do you feel it too? I've never felt such energy in years.

You have to let us get you out of here.

To somewhere where you can be nurses and given food and shelter.

I don't go out.

I stay here.

I always stay here.

The altar in the corner is beautiful, Esther.

I pray always for you and for the souls of my parents.

They had no sons.

Christopher's father wants him very much, doesn't he?

He will give him a wicked life.

Make his child a criminal.

Sisters, I don't doubt your sincerity.

And I do accept that you and your associates have been targeted by local

undesirables. Child.

Let's call a spade a spade, shall we? We have been targeted by Triad. The Order

of St Raymond and Artis have given shelter to abandoned babies, provided

medicine and alternative employment to sweet girls, and persuaded addicts to

turn their backs on heroin.

That, according to Mrs Marr, is our crime.

A young man enslaved to drugs is at the mercy of his masters. He will do

whatever he is asked to do.

in exchange for the one thing that will give his body peace.

But if he's freed from addiction, if he finds there is a better way to live, he

will turn his back on crime itself.

They become free men.

And, sometimes, police informants.

I'm not going to deny that.

Then you cannot deny the fact that we are doing you a service, and in so

warrant your protection.

And how do you propose that we provide that?

Property vacant.

Third column across, fourth paragraph down.

This was an annex of the old training school. No longer in use. Standing

And crucially, still in police possession.

I can't believe we're leaving them.

We are coming back tomorrow with food.

They're both sick, Sheila.

But I need to run some tests on the little boy.

I'll make very, very wrong with him.

Mind your finger.

Everything's under control.

What? I need tasters. Joyce, you can pronounce judgment on the whiskey cream

punch. Here, I want your opinion on the coconut frappe.

That's going to give my snowballs a run for their money. I know. It slips down

like a tart stocking, doesn't it?

Is it?

It's divine.

Call me a miracle worker.

It's mainly condensed milk.

Oh, Geoffrey, that was going to make it very calorific.

It's Christmas. I have personally declared an amnesty on standardising.

No, not the past. Midwife speaking.

Hi, Trixie.

I've just been observing a bowel and asked to milk this. That's nice.

I have to run the canteen. I've drummed up a few more for the party. Miss

Higgins is staying the night with the children.

Everyone's bringing a bottle.

Not at the house. Midwife speaking.

Nurse Hillward, are you able to come to the maternity home?

Queenie Forsythe has just arrived.

Hello, Mum.

Busy again?

I've managed to persuade Hong Kong Rotary Club to offer a modest grant to

sisters to set up a new clinic.

I'm trying to work out if it will stretch.

Chin up.

Sun's over the yard on.

Derek, gin and tonic. Madam?

Thank you, Grace. I'm not sure. I wouldn't normally imbibe when I've got

ready reckoner out.

Mum, please, take a break.

Please stop doing stuff. Stop doing sums.

It's all I can ever remember. You with your head in a column of figures.

It's who I am, Derek.

I know.

But I'd love it not to be.

Just for half an hour.

Just while we have a drink together. In the sun.

Shall we do something together tomorrow?

All right.

Very good.

I

think

Christopher may have a problem with his kidneys.

I need to take him to a hospital.

No.

We'll stay here.

We'll let Doctor examine you now, Esther.

We can... Talk about Christopher after that.

Esther.

You have bread not soaking through your clothing.

You don't still feed Christopher, do you?

No.

There is no baby.

Not here.

Have you given birth to another child, Esther?

If there is another baby.

Will you tell us where it is?

I leave my daughter where she will be safe.

I leave her with sisters at the top of a restaurant, in a box.

Oh.

Two copies of the Pickwick Papers.

One from the Poplar Public Library.

The other from mine own shells.

Oh.

I am driven from my heart by the frivolities of youth.

Oh, I have fond memories of the frivolities of youth.

The appreciation of such pleasures passed me by.

Any regrets?

That is between myself and the Almighty.

I can take you back with us, Esther.

We can reunite you with your baby.

I cannot go back to Hibiscus Street.

My daughter is saved and my son's not.

Have you had to choose one child over the other?

My son's father only want him.

He will kill for him.

This man, the cormorant, your little girl's father too.

I made you life.

I thought he was a better one.

A better man.

When do you think is a good time to start party games? I don't think it's

good time to start party games.

Oh, Carol, this house is full of nooks and crannies. It's just crying out for a

game of sardines.

and baby Luke up to the night in the side hall.

It's very fast asleep already.

Nurse Elwood, could you listen to the baby's heartbeat for me?

What's wrong with his heartbeat?

Nothing's wrong, Queenie.

We'd just like to keep an eye on things. I want to go home.

I'm not good here. I can't do it. You're only married, Mother of God. I can't do

it. Sweetheart, this is where you need to stay as calm as you can and save as

much strength as you can. You're going to be able to start pushing this baby

soon.

The heartbeat's dropping and she's exhausted. We need to get her to

20 minutes doesn't count as rapid transfer in my book, I'm afraid.

The practice doctor is not answering her telephone and the flying squad are not

available. We need an ambulance as soon as possible.

I hope I find you.

Now this is a good party day.

It's bedlam out there. There are three medical students in the airing cupboard.

Why don't we just... Go to your bedroom for a bit. This is all getting so

raucous.

As long as we don't do anything improper.

We never do anything improper.

The rules of the studio couch are very firmly established.

If you haven't got the strength to push, just pant, Queenie.

The ambulance is on its way.

Queenie, would you like us to wake Marie and she could come and hold your hand?

No, I'd be half to worrying about her.

I've seven children alive and living in the world.

But the only one I can think about now is what's inside of me.

I need to hold it in my arms.

We've had half an hour, a second stage of contractions, and there's been no

descent of the head.

I'm going to take this baby now.

My poor baby.

Only Dr. Silver, my fourth sister.

We don't have the luxury of making that distinction.

This baby's heartbeat isn't picking up, and if we delay, we're going to lose

him.

I'm not sure I know what the rules of this game are.

I mean, we are sat in a cupboard with no drinks, and there's no room for

dancing.

So we have to wait to be discovered, and then the next person who discovers us

has to squeeze in.

And the next one, then the next one. Right.

Thank you.

What do we do now?

We wait, apparently.

Well, to misquote Captain Oates, I'm coming in.

And that may be some time.

Oh.

Can I smell old clothes?

Yes.

The whole childhood's flashing before my eyes in here.

I can see the jumper I wore in grammar school.

Oh, I see nurses' uniforms.

And a nun's habit.

Ow.

Sweetie, I know you're tired, but three women are stronger than one on her own.

We're going to work together to get this baby out and in your arms.

Together. Queenie, do you hear that?

We're all going to join forces.

Will you tell me when you can see his head?

Geoffrey Franklin, Timothy Turner, Harry Chopra. What are you doing in my

bedroom? Good things come to those who wait. Geoffrey!

Try to bear down, Queenie. As soon as you feel the next contraction, bear

No ambulance required.

Do you hear that, Queenie?

Isn't that a beautiful sound?

Glory be. I love you.

You are mine.

And you are complete.

And you are mine.

You're crying.

They didn't even tell me if you're a boy or a girl.

Oh, sorry.

I forgot.

How many old recollections and how many dormant sympathies does Christmas time

awaken? Year after year, we met on that day a merry and joyous circle.

Many of the hearts that throbbed so gaily then have ceased to beat.

Many of the looks that shone so brightly then have ceased to glow.

The hands we grasped have grown cold.

The eyes we sought have hid their luster in the grave. And yet the old house,

the room, the merry voices and smiling faces, the jest, the laugh, crowd upon

our mind at each recurrence of the season as if the last assemblage had

yesterday.

Happy, happy Christmas that can win us back.

to the delusions of our childish days.

That said, I'm Jewish, Sister Monica Jones.

Well, that does not prevent us from being companions in nostalgia.

Christmas is but one instance of a glimmering into the darkness.

Yes.

We have our Feast of Lights, too.

Hanukkah.

It falls...

Almost on the same day as Christmas this year.

Joey.

I'm just as enough.

If it's any consolation, you weren't the only one.

I really don't know if I need to know.

It's all right, Tonya.

I think we're safe.

That unholy racket you're making is supposed to be my punishment. I accept

as long as it's followed by strong black coffee.

Go, you'll get coffee. And it will be accompanied by a duck pan, a brush, and

pair of rubber gloves.

I suppose we ought to roll up our sleeves.

We?

We?

Geoffrey, I have been up all night delivering a baby. And I've been

bucket for this poor lamb.

Florence Nightingale's got nothing on me.

Good morning, Rosalind. Or should I say, Nath Tifford? I'm sorry.

I stayed the night at Cyril.

Morning orders will take place in three minutes.

No, not at the house. Charlady speaking.

Has no one observed that I did not sleep in my custom bed last night?

Mr. Monica Jones, this morning that has scarcely caused for comment.

Our charge, Mr. Fisher, fell into a decline before midnight.

I assisted him.

took his bed, then deemed it inexpedient to leave him. Oh,

good morning, Harry.

The cloud of cologne on which you enter does nothing to reassure me. Would you

like a cup of coffee, Harry?

Merry Christmas.

And thank you very much to all concerned.

Raise your rainbow anywhere you find it and maybe you'll find

it tomorrow.

Love is a rainbow to light up your life. It's a strong wind that

blows away sorrow.

When you walk...

I was afraid both Christopher and his mother would test positive for TB, but I

was wrong.

They're clean.

You weren't wrong about this, though.

Unilateral renal mass.

Right hand side.

There isn't a scrap of fat on him. I could feel it on palpation.

Soft tissue x -ray can be quite equivocal.

Nothing equivocal about this, though.

Wilms tumor. I haven't seen a Wilms in general practice for nearly a decade,

but...

Yes. Cancer of the kidney.

And he's two years old.

There was nothing here for him. I know that.

But... Nine months ago, we did have a Remy sergeant whose daughter had it.

We got the family sent back to the UK on compassionate grounds.

Did they lose her? Far from it.

There's a new chemotherapy being trialed at one of the London hospitals.

Brutal, but spectacular.

Is it working?

Yes.

I took my penny to the market square.

I wanted a rabbit. A little brown rabbit. And I looked for a rabbit most

everywhere.

For I went to the store for this old sweet lavender.

Only a penny for a bunch of lavender.

Have you got a rabbit? Because I don't want lavender.

They didn't have a rabbit. Not anywhere there.

You must be baby Beryl's mummy.

Yes, you would like to feed Beryl.

Sister, do you think she's hungry?

Oh, certainly.

She is a peckish little thing.

I can remember lying in bed and seeing exactly this view and the

snow falling.

There were four of us under the eiderdown.

David, Sammy, Isaac and me.

I have often pondered what it must be like to share a bed with others.

Knock, knock.

Oh, it's not the com plan of yours again, is it? No matter how often you

it up with those paper umbrellas of yours, I'm still bored of this. It's

actually a whiskey cream punch.

A recipe that proved so efficacious at our Christmas party. I'm thinking of

applying for a patent.

Oh, yes?

Is it?

Is it the 22nd today?

It's the 25th, Mr Fisher.

Then it's tomorrow.

What tomorrow, old chap?

The first night of Chanukah.

A feast of lights.

Would you like me to find a rabbi for you, Mr. Vitter?

It wouldn't hurt.

Can you just take a kitty halfway round the world, Doc?

If he needs life -saving medical treatment and his mother gives

But you don't have to adopt him?

No, thank God.

It took us years to adopt May.

Christopher won't have years.

He may not even have months if we don't act fast.

It's good of the army to donate stuff. I just hadn't reckoned on it being so

much of it. We need a taxi.

We're in love.

The Bishop's House, 79 Elgin Gardens, please.

Blimey.

You know, Mum, you've done great things.

Here? In Hong Kong?

Well, here and at home.

I've only heard about you being mayor in Tower Hamlet, but now I've seen you

being someone, doing something in a city I can barely get to grips with. All

I've done is raise a bit of money.

And got people who can help talking to people who need help.

It's what I do.

Perhaps because it's all I can do.

Well, that's not nothing.

I'm sorry.

I needed evidence before I did respect you for it.

There's no need to be sorry.

For anything, ever.

You're my... Hello, Christy.

Do you need something?

Mr. Fred and the doctor are in trouble. What sort of trouble?

Work and trouble. They're in danger.

Please, don't ask me how I know this. If you don't tell me, I can't act on the

information. My husband works for the Comrade.

I hear talking on the phone.

You're not taking my son to England.

If we don't, he will die.

You don't know that.

You've given me no proof of that.

Only proof that you're even a doctor. I can assure you his credentials are

totally bona fide.

I'm even a scouser.

What school did you go to? Liverpool Institute.

My father had an ironmonger shop in Cornwall Street.

I probably walked right past it.

When war broke out, they took me to a shed to be deported.

I had an English wife I never saw again.

Sometimes you lose people.

Sometimes they're stolen.

Or you are.

Are you a gambling man, Dr. Tanner?

No. I am.

If you want my son, you have to pay me for them.

How about Marjan?

Poker card?

Poker? To me, the fair?

Blackjack?

YouTube.

Thank you.

If he allowed to choose a deputy, I could play on his behalf. I don't think

would help, Fred.

You can play as many games as you want.

With cards, with words.

With me.

But if Christopher's life is lost, who will pray for him at your altar?

Who will pray for you?

Who will carry on your family line?

You could have all of those things.

I can find a Chinese doctor for him.

I could be the one that saves his life.

Or you could just have your pride.

It doesn't matter who saves his life, as long as it's saved.

And if it is saved, I guarantee I will send him back to you.

Let's continue this conversation elsewhere, shall we?

Doctor, take the case.

Tell him to give him a chance.

Let him breathe as nature intended him to breathe.

There is no consolation for him now in artificial air.

That's her old chap.

It will take time to rebuild.

But the foundations have been laid.

Are you happy to be staying on?

Yes. Because I don't doubt our purpose here.

Are you happy to be going home?

Yes.

Because I'm more convinced than ever that our work is vital, wherever we are

called.

Why do you imagine we'll be called next?

I don't imagine.

But I will go and do whatever I am asked.

Things are ticking along like clockwork, Doctor.

Well done, Yucheng.

Pre -eclampsia isn't easy, but you did everything you were told.

Do you know there's no hard work?

Good, lass.

Good luck.

I'm glad this baby is arriving before we leave, but if it's the first baby born

in the new branch house, it seems to me it should be brought into the world by

one of the sisters.

Yes, it should.

I'm keeping people waiting.

They're all just as they were.

When they were here.

When we were all at home.

A little girl, you child.

Congratulations.

Look at her.

Just look at her.

And laugh. She's gorgeous.

You have been my mother. Now I'm hers.

I give the name that I always bring your face to me.

We all agreed that Phyllis was too hard to say.

Not Phyllis.

Les.

Les is easy to say.

I hope you do remember.

I have seen death before.

It is terrible.

And it can be beautiful.

I think the day it was that.

I have seen lovers come to fetch the dying.

I have seen mothers come.

But I have known no lover. I have borne no child.

And my parents have spurned me.

I have asked myself, more often of late than in years gone by,

who will come for me when my time on earth conclude?

Your sisters will come for you.

Those you knew in life, those who coached you through the novitiates,

who knelt beside you in prayer, and by the beds of everyone you served,

so many sisters will come. God can't have you yet, sister.

We can't spare you.

We should perhaps...

Turn our attention for the return of those we love.

The Hong Kong party.

Let us light lights for the living and marvel at them while we may.

Christopher,

you're going to give your mummy a kiss.

Please. Keep him warm.

I've a coat that put on him as well as this cardigan.

It used to belong to his sister.

Smile! The

little

boy will get better, won't he?

Every chance he'll get better.

Well, then we just have to take care of him.

And be his family.

Oh, they're here!

Oh, Miss Higgins, haven't they managed well?

And this is Christopher.

You look so sweet.

Oh, baby Christopher.

Isn't he smooth?

His hair feels like mine.

Christopher.

Oh, my goodness, I've been dying to see your face.

spark now, can't it? Yes, it can, because I'm AT and you're home.

come at the end of the year or does it provide its turning point is it the

moment where we close the door on all that has passed in the months that have

preceded it or is it the time where we open our arms and say come we are ready

we will embrace it all christmas begins with a baby therefore christmas

is all that is unknown

All we must cherish and all we must shield from the winds of fortune like a

candle flame.

You'll be pleased to hear there's a new series of Call the Midwife coming soon.

With a slew of holiday crimes and a heartwarming reunion on the line in the

Beyond Paradise Christmas special, press red to watch now on iPlayer.