All language subtitles for Call The Midwife.S2e00.Christmas Special.eng

(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)

It's on!

It's on!

It's on!

(CHILDREN LAUGHING)

(MARKET TRADERS SHOUTING)

BOY: Hurry up, you lot!

(ALL LAUGHING)

(LAUGHING)

MATURE JENNY: My first Christmas in
Poplar was unlike any other I had known.

The streets, like all streets,
were strung with colored lights,

and children drew up lists,
like children everywhere.

As the days ticked down,

it seemed as though the
district was fizzing with delight.

But at Nonnatus House,

a different magic was at work.

The sisters spent Advent
in prayer and meditation.

And the atmosphere
was not one of excitement,

but of expectant, joyous calm.

I wasn't entirely sure
what I should make of it.

I was young, and faith
was still a mystery to me.

(PHONE RINGING)

Nonnatus House,
midwife speaking.

It's me neighbor. She
started having pains.

Name, please?

Hilda Levons, Lisbon Buildings.

You're meant to be
sending her down the

hospital. She's already
crying her eyes out.

(BABY CRYING)

First one, she was
in labor for three days.

I'll come out and assess her. Keep
her tucked up and warm till I get there.

(EXASPERATED SIGH)

It's all right, baby. It's
all right. Come here.

Mrs. Levons was very
anxious at the last appointment.

I'll come with you
to reassure her,

and then go on to
the mastitis case.

Oh, straw for the crib. Well
done, Sister Monica Joan.

I availed myself of the kindness
of some customers in the market.

(BREATHING HEAVILY)
The spirit of the season

would appear to be amongst us.

(BICYCLE BELL RINGS)

(BABY CRYING)

Nurse!

You gotta come quick, Nurse!

Hurry, quickly! She's
in here. Come on!

She's through here.

- JULIENNE: Take that.
- Follow me. Please, hurry up.

(HILDA SCREAMING)

Hilda, it's all right. The
Nonnatans have come.

- You can stop pushing.
- I can't stop!

Let me through,
please, I'm a midwife.

HILDA: I need to
go to the hospital.

I had to have forceps
with the last one.

Second stage, Sister.

Don't distress yourself,
Hilda. All is well.

(MOANING)

Please, everybody, stand right
back so we can assist Mrs. Levons.

It might help if you were
dispersed elsewhere.

Begging your pardon. This is a
communal toilet, and I was in the queue.

Get yourself down the
other bloody landing.

- I can't do this on my own!
- Yes, you can.

I want you to take
nice, steady breaths

in between each contraction, it
will help you to feel a lot calmer.

- (INHALING DEEPLY)
- Good.

- (BELL RINGING OUTSIDE)
- Oh, thank God. Thank God.

Who sent for an ambulance?

It wasn't necessary at all.

If you really want to be of
help, you will boil a kettle,

fill some hot water bottles,

fetch clean, dry towels, a basin

and a blanket.

HILDA: I'm going to
need forceps again.

Thank you, gentlemen, for your attendance.
All is in order for the meanwhile.

All right, Sister.

I want you to inch
forward for me, Hilda.

- (MOANING)
- That's a good girl. A bit more.

I can't have it here! I
haven't had my enema!

The vertex is visible, Sister.

Shall I tell you something,
Hilda? You're doing splendidly.

Nurse Lee and I aren't
going to leave your side.

Now, on this next contraction, I want
you to make as little noise as possible.

I want you to put all that energy
inwards as you bear down.

MRS. JONES: Hot water
bottles are on their way.

Good.

That's wonderful!
Well done. Well done.

- Keep going.
- JULIENNE: Now on this next contraction,

I think we're going to
have the baby's head.

(MOANS LOUDLY)

(GRUNTING)

Really good.

Really good.

JULIENNE: Well done now.

(CRYING)

JULIENNE: Lovely girl, Hilda.

(EXCITED CHATTER)

I can't believe it.

(BABY CRYING)

Can't believe it.

MATURE JENNY: There
were days, and deliveries

where I couldn't
believe it either.

Birth was and will always be the
most commonplace of miracles,

an event at once
familiar and phenomenal,

timeless and immediate,

briefly making angels of us all.

(BABIES CRYING)

Over 18 pounds, bravo.
About the same size as a turkey.

All the children for vaccinations
over this way, please.

And anyone who doesn't line up nicely
will be reported to Father Christmas.

Trixie.

And you needn't think I
don't know where to find him.

Last year, he left his
number in my stocking.

Lynette, take the boys
over for their needles.

Mum, don't say needles in front
of them, you know they'll kick off.

If they're frightfully
brave and well-behaved,

they'll get a Jelly
Baby afterwards.

But better hurry up, otherwise
all the black ones will be gone.

(BABY CRYING)

Watch out!

Come on, mind out me way. I want a star
on top of this, not somebody's eyeball.

Season's greetings to you, too.

Do I have to undress him?
It's on the nippy side in here.

Down to his napkin if
you would, Mrs. Duncan.

Hand-knits weigh rather
heavy on the scales.

- A Christmas tree! Got it! Stop it!
- Get off!

I'll see you at tea
time. Better hurry.

(BICYCLE BELL RINGS)

Has a baby been born?

JENNY: Yes, there has.
WOMAN: Is it thriving?

- Yes.
- Is it?

- Yes.
- And the mother?

Is she thriving, too?

Mother and baby
are both doing well.

I'm afraid you must let me
pass, I'm expected elsewhere.

Both doing well.

Thank God, Nurse.

Thank God.

Hmm. There's a bolt
loose somewhere, I reckon.

Or a wire.

Oi, sonny, go and
wiggle that plank for me.

The electric always slows
down in the cold weather.

That's what you
call atmospherics.

Don't tickle it. Clump it one.

We'll be sat in the
blooming dark at this rate.

Then how's the reindeers
gonna find their way, eh?

Ah. Ow!

(CHILDREN LAUGHING)

You won't be laughing
come Cubs' Nativity.

How's Bethlehem gonna
look without tree and lights, eh?

What ho, Lynette. Looking for the
pamphlet on three-month colic. Oh.

- Something caught your eye?
- Not really.

Are you interested in
coming into nursing?

You must be
finishing school soon.

Easter. Then I start as a filing
clerk down at Carson's Wool.

My dad's their
warehouse foreman.

Gosh. Nothing like connections.

Must be rather jolly,
seeing doors begin to open.

Big, wide world, all of that.

I suppose.

Happy reading.

FRED: Stop mucking
about with that plug, there.

No one told you
plugs are dangerous?

You'd have had more success
pulling her teeth out one by one.

One can't help having a
sort of spasm of fellow feeling.

Do you remember
what it felt like?

Feels as though you'd
never stop growing.

Like Alice in Wonderland
when she ate the cake.

Dreading being noticed,

and fearing you
aren't visible at all.

Can't say I do.

Never seen anyone so decrepit.

I have to say, I've
got a jolly robust nose,

but a meths drinker asked me
for small change the other day,

it was all I could do to
keep my bran flakes down.

I don't think she was a drinker.

And there was actual
mildew on her coat.

- She was asking after the baby, you say?
- Yes.

Sounds like someone we used to
see a lot of up Stepney boarders.

Used to call her Mrs. Jenkins. I
don't think that was her real name.

Not quite the full
picnic, if you ask me.

But she always knew if
a birth was taking place.

Never thought Lisbon Buildings

would have been
her stamping ground.

Do you know, I think I
saw her the other day.

I'm sorry to say it, but the poor
old thing was widdling in the gutter.

Well, that's
definitely her, then.

A lot of demolition
up Stepney way.

She may have moved
her lodgings or lost 'em.

Righty-ho. For the next two
hours, I only answer to Akela.

The things you see when
you haven't got a gun.

(CHILDREN CHEERING)

(CHILDREN WHOOPING)

(SCOUTING CALL TO ORDER)

(SCOUTING CALL TO ORDER)

Shut up!

Thank you, Jack.

BOY: Stop pushing me.

Neil and Kenneth, we
do not need any flags.

We're putting our semaphore
to one side this week

and concentrating
on our Nativity play.

ALL: Hooray!

Now, as you know, we're going to
perform it for our mothers and fathers

on the last Thursday
before Christmas.

Everyone taking part will
get their entertainer badge,

apart from Timothy Turner,

who'll be getting his musician
badge for playing the violin.

Now, calling all shepherds.

Jack, what about you? Aren't
you supposed to be a shepherd?

"Oh, what blazing
light is this?"

I've grown out of me
old dressing gown.

You said we had to
have dressing gowns.

(TIMOTHY PLAYING SILENT NIGHT)

Well, why doesn't
Gary take your part?

He can be a shepherd,
you can play Balthasar.

Can I still have a crook?

- (BLOWS WHISTLE)
- Stop it, please.

Timothy.

(TIMOTHY STOPS)

Oh! Donkey's ears.

- (LAUGHTER)
- (BRAYING SOUNDS)

Now, the Alice band
has already perished,

so I want you to treat those as
though they're made of porcelain.

What's porcelain?

BOY: Not him again.

Oh, bravo. Reinforcements.

Excuse my tardiness.

I've been making
enquiries about a manger.

(BOYS CHATTERING)

Gosh. Move over
Prince Rainier of Monaco.

Do you suppose your
mother will run you up a cape?

(CLEARS THROAT)

(CHUMMY CHATTERING BEHIND DOOR)

You all right, there?

Picking my brothers up.

My mum and dad don't like
them running around unsupervised.

Good for them,
that's what I say.

CHUMMY: Now, in
a horseshoe, please.

BOYS: Akela!

- Cubs, do your best.
- (DOOR OPENING)

BOYS: We'll do our best.

(MOUTHING) Letter
for you from the vicar.

Get into bed, Camilla,
and calm down.

Calm down? The vicar's invited
the mayor of Poplar to the Nativity.

I know one shouldn't speak
ill of a man of the cloth,

but it was bally cowardly
of him to put it in a letter.

- It's only a bit of fun.
- It was only a bit of fun.

If the mayor's
intending to descend,

that's a different
kettle of plaice entirely.

I can't just have a few
Cubs in their nightwear, and

Tiny Tears in swaddling.

Camilla, why are
you getting so upset?

This is our district, Peter,
All Saints is our church.

I feel proud of it. I don't want anyone
to feel as though we're somehow

lacking.

Into bed now before you
get pneumonia off the lino.

(SIGHS)

Whatever happened
to nil desperandum, eh?

You forget what you're
capable of sometimes.

I know exactly
what I'm capable of.

That's the problem.

(CLOCK TICKING)

(BABY CRYING)

Oh...

Oh...

Who's a lovely?

Who's a lovely?

Two little dicky
birds sitting on a wall,

one named Peter, one named Paul.

- Fly away, Peter...
- Get away from my baby!

- Do you hear me? Get away!
- (GLASS SMASHES)

I'd never take him.

I'm not accusing you of taking him,
I'm accusing you of touching him.

Mrs. Jones,
whatever's happening?

It's her, the filthy old crone.

I only nipped in to pick
up me orange juice.

- Get off!
- Mrs. Jones. That's enough.

Now go back in the clinic and
ask them to replace your juice.

Nurse Lee, would
you clear up this mess?

No one can resist a
baby, Mrs. Jenkins.

But mothers can be fierce when
they think their child is threatened.

- It was only dicky birds.
- I know.

Dicky birds.

Just little 'uns.

It's a hard time of year to
spend too much time alone.

Can you tell me where you live? I
can send someone to look in on you,

to make sure you're being
properly taken care of.

She doesn't look well.

Old age, poverty.

Chronic malnourishment
and exhaustion, I suppose.

Why doesn't she accept help?

Who knows what brutalities
she knew when she was young?

Help then didn't mean
what help means now.

Once more unto the
breach, and all of that.

It's simply a matter
of scaling things up.

I just waylaid Brown Owl at the bus
stop, and we're combining forces now.

So there will be eight
angels, a female Mary,

a full complement of cattle and
a quite sizeable flock of sheep.

Chummy, it's the parish
hall, not the London Palladium.

Well, that's sort of
attitude will get us nowhere.

(SIGHS)

(TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWING)

- Lynette!
- Oh, hello, Nurse Noakes.

By all means tell me
I'm a frightful bore,

but would you consider
doing me a kindness?

I'd be glad to, if
my mum don't mind.

It's all connected
to church affairs.

The Nativity play,
to be precise.

We need a sort of
capable senior angel

to rule the little Brownies
with a rod of iron.

Oh, I don't know, Nurse. I
might be needed at home.

I might let you down. I
don't like to let you down.

I always think it best
to travel hopefully.

Oh, but, Nurse.

We're not at home
to Miss Pessimistic.

Now, we'll rig you out
in the best crepe paper.

Oh, shame. I haven't got my
tape measure in my pocket.

You don't need it.
I'm a 40-inch hip.

Oh, bravo. Splendid.

- Elsie in?
- Yes.

Yeah, first door on the right.

- Excuse me.
- It's the first floor.

- Ta ta then.
- See you on payday.

(GROANS)

Greetings, Doctor.

I just called in to collect
those instruments.

Of course. Nearly done.

No sign of that new autoclave?

The department said it
would come this week,

but there's been no joy so far.

You staying for tea, Dr. Turner?

Mrs. B's made an absolute
piece de resistance of Yule log.

Thanks, but I've got
Timothy outside in the car.

Oh, dear. Housekeeper's day off?

Well, I'm sure we can pop
you something into a paper bag.

(PHONE RINGS)

How is Timothy getting on?

It's been almost a year.

He's doing well enough,

but it will be our first
Christmas since his mother died,

and I'm worried it
might undo things.

I lost my mother
when I was very young.

Children are more
resilient than you think.

Well...

He's made his opinion
of my cooking rather clear.

Fish and chips for
us tonight, I reckon.

Sorry, Doctor, there's been
a message from the surgery.

Urgent home visit requested.

Lady called Mrs. Jenkins.

I'm meant to be
at a rehearsal now.

Stay there and
don't talk to anyone.

You'll make me late.

Like you're always late.

Hello?

(DOOR CREAKS)

Mrs. Jenkins?

I'm a doctor. Here to help.

Don't you come near me.

(SCREAMS)

- I won't be a moment.
- What? That's my dinner.

Who are you giving my dinner to?

(SIGHS)

It's a classic case
of angina pectoris.

I've prescribed amyl nitrate for
use in the event of any new collapse

and penicillin because there was evidence
of urinary incontinence all over the...

Gangway!

Mrs. Jenkins might very
well have an infection

which would contribute
to her confusion.

It might be worth trying
to collect a urine sample.

That shouldn't
prove too challenging.

Just stick a galley pot
in a convenient gutter.

She's also hard of
hearing, jumping with fleas

and her living
conditions are calamitous.

If you could speak
to the Social Services,

I'll put her on the list for
daily visits in the meanwhile.

(NERVOUS BREATHING)

Hello?

Mrs. Jenkins?

I'm Nurse Lee.

The doctor sent me to
come and have a look at you.

I don't need no
bleeding looking at.

There's nothing to be afraid of.

We just want to see if we can
make you a bit more comfortable.

Oh!

(CAT MEOWS)

Thought you was
Rosie for a minute.

She's got a face like yours.

Like Carnation milk
when you open up a tin.

Who's Rosie, Mrs. Jenkins?

Is she a relation?

She's sweet.

Sweet as a little
flower, she is.

The doctor wanted me
to do a few routine checks

each time I visit.

We'll start by
taking your pulse,

and then we'll move
on to your temperature.

- Don't you touch me... No!
- Please, Mrs. Jenkins...

Well.

When do you see your patient
again, Nurse Can't Take a Pulse?

Look, it wasn't that
I couldn't, Sister,

it was that she wouldn't let me.

Oh, no, it was because
she didn't trust you.

And if you can't make
your patients trust you,

you are no good as a nurse.

Now answer my question.

(SIGHS)

She's on the list for this
evening's rounds, Sister.

Mmm. And shall I tell you what
else is on this evening's rounds?

Twenty-one
injections, 16 insulin,

four penicillin,

an ear to syringe,

a cannula to drain

and three sets of
haemorrhoids to compress!

I'm sorry, Sister, but
the problem was...

No, no, I'll tell you
what the problem is.

You young girls do
too much book-learning.

You sit for months
in classrooms,

filling your heads with
loads of codswallop,

when simple practical
tasks are beyond you!

(LOUD CRASH)

Now look what you've made me do!

(EXASPERATED SIGH)

Oh!

Cynthia?

I'm modeling for Chummy.

She ended up with more
children taking part than parts,

so she decided to personify
the Wise Men's gifts.

And what's that supposed to be?

Myrrh.

It's quite straightforward
compared to frankincense.

- (KNOCKING ON DOOR)
- Nurses!

Ah.

Well now, madam.

(BAGS THUDDING)

What's all this fuss about?

Doctor says you've got a
problem with your ticker.

But I would lay bets

that it's as hale as mine.

Hmm. Right.

Let's have a
check of this pulse.

- (LOUD SMACK)
- (GROANS)

Oh!

Pulse attempted.

(SIGHS)

Patient

demonstrated strong right hook.

Right.

You awkward old biddy.

See what you make of this.

(BREAKS WIND LOUDLY)

And if that doesn't impress
you, I can do it again.

In a different key.

(BREAKING WIND)

Catch it, Nurse Lee,
it's heading for the door.

Cat's got it now.

It's underneath the chair.

Where e're you be,
let your wind go free.

In church and chapel,

let it rattle.

Good thing there's
no naked flames about.

(BOTH LAUGHING)

Right.

Off on the insulin round,

and I'm under no illusions
that it'll be straightforward.

They'll all have been
at the Quality Street,

every man Jack of 'em.

If I was the Prime Minister,

I would shut that factory down.

(DISTANT WAILING)

(WAILING CONTINUES)

Is that Mrs. Jenkins?

Yes.

I've never heard
anything like it.

I have.

(WAILING CONTINUES)

We used to call it
the workhouse howl.

What?

It's the sound of someone who's
been at the bottom of the heap.

I would call it
a cry of protest,

except there's
no fight left in it.

No hope either.

Should we go back?

Not now.

We couldn't reach her if we did.

(WAILING CONTINUES)

ALL: ♪ Silent night

♪ Holy night

♪ All is calm...

And don't forget to smile.

The mayor doesn't want
to see a lot of gloomy faces.

♪ Round yon Virgin

♪ Mother and child

♪ Holy infant so
tender and mild... ♪

Go on!

(SINGING FADES OUT)

(CLOCK CHIMING)

Sister Monica Joan,
why don't you rest

until it's time for compline?

(SIGHS)

No.

I thought

bright raiment was
stored within this room.

But it's gone.

And we do not know
what forces are at work.

Chummy takes the costumes

up to her old bedroom
for safekeeping.

She doesn't want them
getting in everybody's way.

I was accused of taking
macaroons to my room

by Sister Evangelina,
but it was not so.

Almonds are mercurial,

and likely to be
consumed into the ether.

(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)

Would you hold the
glue pot for me, Sister?

(FOOTSTEPS FADE)

(DOOR CLOSES)

Sister Monica Joan, have you
heard of the workhouse howl?

I have heard the workhouse howl

itself.

One hears it less now
the infirmaries are closed

and the inmates are slowly

tidied into graves.

It speaks of an agony
beyond all words.

This wasn't beyond all words.

Mrs. Jenkins was
calling someone's name.

(WHIMPERING)

(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)

Lynette, have you seen
my kitchen scissors?

No, Mum.

I was putting the string
on the Christmas pudding,

and I couldn't lay
hands on them.

What are you doing
with your light still on?

I was just thinking.

You can think just
as well in the dark.

Oh, come on, you.

Another busy day tomorrow.

Church in the morning.

And you've got rings around your
eyes as black as the ace of spades.

Reckon my monthly's coming on.

No medals for that, I'm afraid.

You know where the aspirin
is and the you-know-whats are.

Good night. And god bless you.

(DOOR CLOSES)

(CHURCH BELL TOLLING)

NUN: ♪ Yea with thine
eyes shalt thou behold

ALL: ♪ And see the
reward of the ungodly

NUN: ♪ For thou Lord art my hope

ALL: ♪ Thou hast set thine
house of defense very high

♪ There shall no
evil happen unto thee

♪ Neither shall any plague
come nigh thy dwelling

♪ For he shall give his
angels charge over thee

(GROANING)

ALL: ♪ To keep
thee in all thy ways

NUN: ♪ They shall
bear thee in their hands

ALL: ♪ That thou hurt
not thy foot against a stone

(WHIMPERING)

NUN: ♪ Because he hath set his
love upon me, therefore will I deliver him

♪ I will set him up, because
he hath known my name

(THUNDER RUMBLING)

NUN: ♪ With long
life will I satisfy him

ALL: ♪ And show him my salvation

♪ Glory be to the
Father and to the Son

(DOOR CLOSES HEAVILY)

♪ And to the Holy Ghost

♪ As it was in the beginning
is now and ever shall be

♪ World without end, Amen ♪

(THUNDER RUMBLES)

(WHIMPERING)

Help me!

Baby, help me.

(CRIES OUT IN PAIN)

(GRUNTING)

(GASPING)

(SCREAMING)

(GASPING)

(BREATHES HEAVILY)

(GRUNTING)

(BABY CRYING)

Sorry.

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

(SOBBING)

(BOTH SHIVERING)

Fetch the milk, darling.

Let's hope it hasn't frozen
solid, like the bathroom tap.

Oh, no!

No, no!

Trixie!

Trixie!

Whatever's the matter?

- Oh, my goodness.
- Get Sister Julienne.

(BABY SPLUTTERS)

His breathing's shallow
and his pulse is slow.

He was already turning blue.

I'll fetch the blanket
and the paraffin heater.

When you've done
that, call for the police.

- (KNOCK ON DOOR)
- Lynette!

Time to get up!

I am up.

(SIGHS)

Pillow case, candy-striped,
wincey material.

You'll find the same in any one

of a hundred homes in Poplar.

We were able to
snip about an inch

off the thread that
was used to tie the cord.

It looks like ordinary
kitchen string,

but the cord was
cut quite neatly

with sharp scissors or a knife.

Make sure to clean
the cord properly.

Whatever implement was
used, it was unlikely to be sterile.

Yes, Sister.

Our order has been
here for over 60 years.

We've never had a single
case of abandonment, until now.

There's a paper bag
here from Liston's,

that dry cleaners
that shut down.

Sister,

why do you think somebody
would do a thing like this?

(SIGHS)

I've come to the
conclusion there are

only two reasons for
ever doing anything.

One is love,

and the other is fear.

It would appear that both
were at work in this case.

I've put almost a
whole layette together

from the things
in the charity box.

Pink booties for a boy?

There weren't any blue ones.

Wool of the proper
hue can be acquired.

Wool of the proper
hue can be purchased.

Nurse Lee, take two
shillings out of the petty cash

and see that Sister Monica
Joan is properly equipped.

FRED: What are we
gonna call him, then?

I worry we should
leave that to his mother.

I mean, she may come back.

Especially if it's
reported in the papers.

It is in fact customary

to name an abandoned
infant after somebody

closely connected
with its rescue.

We can hardly call it Cynthia.

It'll be worse
than pink booties!

Somebody closely connected,
and of the same gender.

Nobody calls baby
boys "Fred" anymore.

You might as well give him
a flat cap and a Woodbine.

There is surely only one
appellation we can choose.

The child must be
baptised in honor of

our patron, St.
Raymond Nonnatus.

Sounds like a spiv.

(BABY BREAKS WIND)

Ooh, sounds like a digestive
system in full working order.

Now then, little Raymond,

let's see if we've
warmed you up.

That's not what I
asked for, but it's a start.

I can't believe the
council won't re-house her.

The building's been condemned.

Elderly single people are
supposed to go into nursing homes.

But we can do better than
that for Mrs. Jenkins, can't we?

I don't doubt it.

(LOUD CLANGING)

EVANGELINA: Call off the search!

I've found the bath.

What's more, it's full of coal.

(GRUNTS)

Right. I'll fill 'em up.

Oh, come on.

Move any slower,
you'll grow moss.

Don't you talk against my
Rosie. You come over here, dear.

I don't know who Rosie is,
Mrs. Jenkins, but she isn't me.

No.

She had a little girl's hands.

Yours are only small.

Ooh. Ooh.

I'm not taking 'em
off! I told you, I'm not!

You thieving bisoms.

Please, Mrs. Jenkins,

we need you to take them off
so we can get you into the bath.

You can have them
back afterwards.

She'll burn 'em.

I am burning your
clothes because

they're riddled
with little visitors!

We don't want them
infesting the clean new bed.

I never take them off.

(WHISPERING)
They won't come off.

They're stuck to her skin,

Sister.

We'll have to try Vaseline.

Here.

MRS. JENKINS: Ahh!

- Mmm.
- MRS. JENKINS: Ohh.

You're hurting me.

(STRAINING GRUNTS)

No wonder you were lashing out.

You must have
been in constant pain.

Ooh! We'll get you
into the chiropodist's.

But Nurse Lee and I will give
you the once-over for today.

They shame me.

EVANGELINA: No. Not anymore.

(O COME O COME EMMANUEL PLAYING)

This placenta is less
than 24 hours old.

And there's a piece missing.

What does that mean?

If the mother doesn't
get medical help,

she will develop
a uterine infection

leading to high fever
and possible septicemia.

If untreated, it may be fatal.

I see.

We need to find her.

We may not have much time.

I reckon that's squirrel.

And it's not long dead.

I'll keep it for best.

No, you're to put it on now.

You've a busy day ahead.

Dentist first, then we're
going to the doctor's.

Did you hear me, Mrs. Jenkins?

I heard the word "dentist".

I'll go in the spring,
when it's warmer.

If you can eat
without discomfort,

your general
health will benefit.

My purse won't benefit.

There'll be no
charge, Mrs. Jenkins.

You're also entitled
to free glasses

and a walking stick, should
either take your fancy.

But you haven't eaten
your meals on wheels.

I was saving it for Rosie.

She'll be hungry when she comes.

What's that?

It's a lamb chop.

(WALK HAND IN HAND PLAYING)

Be good now.

(GURGLING)

Oh! How very kind.

Thank you.

Hello.

Thank you.

Oh, goodness! Thank you.

(WHISPERING) Merry Christmas.

(MAIL FLAP CLANGING)

What you doing with
my paper, madam?

Reading about this.

Someone's been doing
something they didn't ought to.

Police have issued an appeal.

Quite right, too.

Whoever she was, she
wants a horse-whipping.

Oh, I nearly forgot.

Friday night is
sweetie money night.

Always has been, always will be.

Used to be a shilling,
Dad. This is half a crown.

That's 'cause the things
you do don't go unnoticed.

You're a good girl, Lynn.

You don't have to look
after me, Mrs. Jenkins.

I should be looking after you.

Besides, if I sit too close
to the fire, I'll get chilblains.

Oh, not the chilblains.

My Rosie got chilblains.

She cried.

One night, the wardress,

she let her come to me

on account of the
others being kept awake.

I wrapped her in my petticoat.

Her bones was like bird's bones.

Was Rosie your
daughter, Mrs. Jenkins?

All night she stayed.

And when morning comes, she was

put back with my others.

There were others?

How many?

Too many.

Did they go into the
workhouse with you?

Yes.

They didn't thrive.

What happened to Rosie?

After the night
with the chilblains?

I never saw her again.

Never saw none of them.

Never saw 'em fly.

I just knew they
wasn't singing anymore.

(SEWING MACHINE WHIRRING)

How could Mrs. Jenkins
not have been told?

I believe once you walked into
one of those appalling places,

you gave up everything you
were and every right you ever had.

Even your children?

Especially the children.

The kiddies were kept
in separate quarters.

(BABY CRYING)

Oh, shh, shh.

Oh, sweetpea.

Social worker's going to
come for him on Friday.

I heard Sister Julienne
on the telephone.

First he'll be fostered,

then adopted, lost
to his mother forever.

Oh, don't say that.

All the facts will be
filed away in some sort of

beastly cabinet.

We just have to hope that one
day they go looking for each other.

Sorry, ma'am. I'm looking for information
about a baby who's been abandoned.

A baby? Around here?

(RETCHING)

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

(KNOCKING CONTINUES)

Public records office?

- Just upstairs.
- Thank you.

(TYPEWRITERS CLACKING)

All Saints Parish
baptismal roll.

Thank you.

All Saints Parish, deaths.

Poplar workhouse, 1888 to 1934.

MATURE JENNY: And there it
was, in neat, indifferent copperplate.

Third of April, 1906.

Jenkins, Mary Anne.

Widow, admitted destitute.

And underneath,
the desolate roll-call

of her only possessions.

Alice, George, May, Percy,

age five, age three, age two,

age seven months,

and Rose.

There was a Rose.

Age eight upon admittance
to the children's ward.

The cause of death was
given as failure to thrive.

She was in there from 1906

to 1935.

Put to work in a sewing shed.

Enough to drive anyone doolally.

When the workhouse closed,
she was discharged with a gift

of a sewing machine,

so that she could
earn her own living.

And what do you
propose to do, Nurse Lee,

now you have garnered
these unedifying facts?

I don't know, Sister.

Then if I may crave
my sisters' indulgence

for a quote from the apocrypha,

"You have been curious

"in unnecessary matters.

"The past remains the past.

"The present, un-amended."

EVANGELINA: Sister
Monica Joan is right.

It's what happens in the
here and now that counts.

Will it matter one day where
Baby Raymond was found?

Blue with cold and
wrapped in a pillowcase? No.

Because that will be his past.

And his present will be safe

and filled with love.

Mrs. Jenkins' present
isn't safe or filled with love.

Nurse Lee.

Forgive me, Sister, but her
life is completely wretched.

She waits every day for a child.

For children that are
never coming home.

Then you should
turn your mind to that.

Pass me a mince pie.

Public burial ground,
Poplar, 1900 to 1910.

Now, I want gold, frankincense
and myrrh and the three kings

to stand at the back of the line for the
parade of the shepherds and the sheep.

Come on. There we go.

- (DOOR OPENS)
- (SIGHS)

Sorry.

We'll be starting that as soon
as Nurse Lee takes her gloves off.

And don't forget to line up
nicely down the central aisle.

You'll be walking
past the mayor,

and I will not have him
knocked by any elbows.

Timothy Turner,
where's your tea towel?

My dad couldn't find one.

Very well.

Now, are you ready, sheep?

- BOYS PLAYING SHEEP: Baa!
- Right. Now...

Angels. I don't want any
angels trying to flap their wings.

Arms outstretched,
but perfectly still.

That's it.

Lynnette, you're
drooping a little.

- Sorry.
- Bravo.

Nurse Lee.

(SHEEP MAY SAFELY GRAZE PLAYING)

BOYS PLAYING SHEEP: Baa!

No baa-ing, absolutely no
baa-ing until you get to the manger

and see the newborn king.

Gary Scofield!

I'm gonna poke you with that
crook, and I'll demote you to a bullock.

Right.

- Lynette.
- Lynette.

(PIANO STOPS)

Lynette?

Shall I call a doctor?

Ambulance.

Sorry. I'm really sorry.

What for?

I haven't told no one.

Do you think you can tell me?

She wants a clip round the
earhole, not chrysanthemums.

Mrs. Duncan.

Margate.

Easter week.

Some lad she met
queuing up for the waltzers.

He was staying in the boarding
house across the way from us.

Should've kept me eye on her.

But I was three months gone
myself, sick as a dog most days.

I should've noticed.

- I should have noticed.
- I'm her mother.

If I didn't notice,
there's no hope for you,

and if you didn't, there's
no hope for anyone.

CHUMMY: Mr. Duncan.

You know I'm a church warden.

Of course.

And she's a pillar of
the Mother's Union.

My daughter comes
from a respectable home.

Nobody's doubting
that, Mr. Duncan.

- But Baby Raymond...
- Who called him that?

We did. It's only temporary.

He's a bonny little thing.

- Quite the bruiser, in fact.
- When are the adoption people coming?

Friday.

Lynette's not signing any
papers unless we're there.

She ain't well.

No.

What are you bringing
me to a church for?

I'm not bringing you to
a church, Mrs. Jenkins.

I'm bringing you
to a church yard.

Hmm?

I've no objection
to a constitutional.

Mrs. Jenkins, I don't
know if you realize this,

but we're standing
by a public grave.

Is there many put in here?

Yes.

This is where they buried
the workhouse inmates.

I had too many.

And they're all here.

Together?

I was able to get
plans of the cemetery

and the graves

from the public records.

It's all written down.

Percy and May are
lying next to each other.

Just over there.

Alice is to the right.

I think in the summer that tree
must cast some shade there.

And George is by the cross.

And Rosie?

She's right here, Mrs. Jenkins.

Almost underneath your feet.

Will you help me to kneel down?

Of course.

I'd have liked her in with me.

To warm her feet.

But I can see she's
tucked up safe.

If Lynette signs the papers,

little Baby Raymond
will just be whisked away.

Camilla,

it's the family's decision
and none of our business.

It's Lynette's decision.

Or it ought to be.

I grew up with Pa and
Mater on a separate continent,

brothers at Winchester,
which was miles away.

But one always had an address.

We were given stamps at
the beginning of every term.

Poor little Raymond
won't even have that.

You've got your all-in
look about you now.

You sure you can't come home?

Peter, I'm on call.

I'll be quite all right
once I've had my Horlicks.

Besides, I rather enjoy the
odd night in my old quarters.

Young Raymond's
rooming in with Cynthia,

and I'll have an entire crepe paper
menagerie to keep me company.

Well, I shan't have any
problem counting sheep.

(CLOCK CHIMES)

Someone trying to keep you out?

Possibly. Or be locked in.

(WATER DRIPPING)

(GASPS)

CHUMMY: Oh, my giddy aunt.

- No.
- TRIXIE: The pipe must've burst.

CHUMMY: The costumes,
everything's utterly ruined.

It wouldn't happen
in bally Bethlehem.

Morning.

I could die of shame.

Come in.

The social worker's waiting with
Sister Julienne in the dining room,

so you won't be disturbed.

(BABY GURGLING)

He isn't sleeping.

You can pick him up, Lynette.

I'm scared to.

Why?

'Cause they'll make me put him
down again, and I've done that once.

This is cruel.

She's not old enough
to be a mother.

She's not mature
enough to be a mother.

(SNIFFLES)

It's flying in the face of
everything God ever wrote.

He's making milk come out of me.

I have no quarrel with our Lord,
in the general way, Mrs. Duncan.

But I think you'll find Mother
Nature wrote these rules.

Pick him up.

Come on, Ivy.

You're a mother, too.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.

(BABY GURGLES)

It's a bit late for that now.

She ain't saying it to us, love.

She's saying it to him.

(WHISPERS) Thank you.

MATURE JENNY: Like all the
things in life that are truly meaningful,

Christmas is never
about perfection.

In Bethlehem 2,000 years ago,
accommodation was makeshift,

the Wise Men followed
somewhat confused directions

and the shepherds gave the
nearest gifts that came to hand.

That year, in Poplar, things
were similarly compromised.

- (DOORBELL RINGS)
- But hope prevailed and

help came from
unexpected sources.

Just the person
we wanted to see.

Reinforcements.
How perfectly wizard!

(CHILDREN LAUGHING)

MATURE JENNY: Baby
Raymond was not lost.

Nor was his mother.

Their family
made the best of it.

And gave their thanks, in kind.

Here you go.

- IVY: Hello, dear.
- Morning.

Hi, Dad.

(CHILDREN CLAMORING)

Anyone who does not line up nicely
now will not get their entertainer badge!

(CHILDREN QUIET)

Thank you.

- BOY: Baa!
- Shh!

Please.

Right.

(CHRISTMAS STORY PLAYING)

(RUSHING) Many years
ago, in a town named Nazareth,

there lived a beautiful
young lady called Mary.

God has chosen you to be the
mother of a very special child.

You will have a baby,
and his name will be Jesus.

How can that be?
I have no husband.

ANGEL GIRL: It is a
miracle from the Holy Spirit,

and the child will
be the Son of God.

MATURE JENNY: It was a
Christmas as unique as any other.

For every year, the
mystery unfolds itself anew.

In later life,

I came to see that
faith, like hope,

is a rope and anchor
in a shifting world.

Faith cannot be
questioned, only lived.

And if I could
not grasp it then,

I felt its heartbeat,

which was love.

(CHRISTMAS STORY PLAYING)