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Series 2 is the second series of Call the Midwife and was originally broadcast in 2013 on BBC One.

Plot[]

Series 2 moving upwards from six to eight episodes continues Nurse Jenny Lee’s work in the East End and her journey into womanhood. By this point the streets of Poplar had become familiar and free of threat but life was still unfurling for Jenny and her young colleagues Trixie, Cynthia and recently married Chummy. They must help their patients living in dreadful housing with families of ten or more occupying them and Jenny sees many firsts that shock her such as a baby born with spina bifida, a woman dealing with the trauma of the workhouse, a Tuberculosis van coming to Poplar, a marriage with domestic violence and abuse and her first backstreet abortion. Beside that there is still meeting again with Jimmy who professed his love for her, he has since impregnated a girl and the pair are going to be married and Jenny struggles with her feelings through that. In the last episode she meets Alec Jesmond who was keen on her and after a bit of a delay falls for him and they begin a relationship.

Inside parish hall

Jenny is not the only one with a main plotline as friend Chummy Noakes’s dream used to be to do missionary work in Africa but she and her husband see Poplar as their true home but a temporary posting to Sierra Leone comes up and Chummy sees it as her last chance before a family arrives so she and Peter depart for Sierra Leone for a short while but return towards the end of the series. In her absence medical orderly Jane Sutton arrives who is painfully shy and used to be a patient at St Gideons institution but as her time came in Nonnatus she grew in confidence and became part of Nonnatus in her own right even finding love with a Reverend Applebee Thornton. The other midwives also have lots to do with patients like the Carter twins one of which is pregnant but the other won’t allow her to get help and Cynthia blaming herself for a baby she delivered dying.  

Nonnatus team 1958

The nuns were an ever-present presence in the community and for the staff nurses, but one nun Sister Bernadette struggles with her burgeoning feelings for local GP Doctor Turner and he for her. When she is diagnosed as having TB and must go to a sanitorium away from Poplar, when there she decides to renounce her vows in the order and she and Dr Turner, now calling each other by their names Shelagh and Patrick get together. In the finale a pregnant Chummy goes into labour and almost dies but is rushed to hospital and delivers a baby boy who she names after Fred and handyman. After the christening Jenny and Alec ride off around Poplar on a moped together.  

Episodes[]

See also: List of Episodes

Series 2 (2013)[]

Christmas special
No.

overall

Episode Directed by Written by Original air date UK viewers


(millions) [12]

7 Christmas Special Philippa Lowthorpe Heidi Thomas 25 December 2012 10.18
As it is Nurse Lee's first Christmas in Poplar, she is put in charge of caring for the destitute Mrs Jenkins alongside one of the sisters. Mrs Jenkins mistakes Jenny for her daughter Rosie, whom she lost when admitted to the workhouse. Chummy is busy preparing for the nativity play, which will be performed for the Mayor of Poplar, and all hands are needed to produce the ever growing number of costumes and props needed for the play. Meanwhile, a young teenage girl who helps her mother with her brothers is also secretly pregnant, and when a baby is left at the convent's front door, the infant's mother must be found.
Series 2
No.

overall

Episode Directed by Written by Original air date UK viewers


(millions) [12]

8 Episode 1 Philippa Lowthorpe Heidi Thomas 20 January 2013 10.79
Jenny is assigned a new patient, Molly Brignall, who has an abusive husband, and Jenny must handle the case very carefully. Trixie and Sister Evangelina are called to a foreign cargo ship docked in London and discover that the captain's daughter is about to have a baby after her father has brought her along and allowed various members of the crew to have sex with her as a way of relieving the tensions of the long periods spent at sea.
9 Episode 2 Roger Goldby Harriet Warner 27 January 2013 10.24
A baby delivered by Cynthia dies in mysterious circumstances soon afterwards. The police become involved, and other pregnant women refuse to allow the shy young midwife to attend them, bringing Cynthia to the verge of a breakdown. Chummy's decision to apply to undertake missionary work in Africa leads her to question her priorities. Meanwhile, a chance encounter returns former boyfriend Jimmy to Jenny's life, but she is surprised to find that he has a pregnant girlfriend.
10 Episode 3 Roger Goldby Heidi Thomas & John Martin Johnson 3 February 2013 10.85
Jenny is reluctantly seconded to the London Hospital and finds herself working on the male surgical ward under a stern surgeon with whom she finds herself clashing. In the absence of Jenny and Chummy, a new orderly, the shy and withdrawn Jane Sutton (Dorothy Atkinson), fills in at Nonnatus House. The staff deal with a formidable pair of twins who share a husband; one of them is now pregnant and the other refuses to allow her to be treated by the midwives. Jenny once again crosses paths with Jimmy, who has been hospitalised, and she helps to save his life when the surgeon misdiagnoses him.
11 Episode 4 Roger Goldby Mark Catley 10 February 2013 10.42
Back in Poplar, Jenny assists at the birth of a baby boy who is born with spina bifida. His parents cannot come to terms with their son's condition, which also affects Jenny. Meanwhile, the mousy Jane undergoes a somewhat hesitant romance with the Reverend Thornton Applebee-Thornton, an Anglican priest staying at Nonnatus House.
12 Episode 5 China Moo-Young Heidi Thomas 17 February 2013 10.15
Sister Bernadette suffers a crisis as she struggles to come to terms with her burgeoning romantic feelings for Dr. Turner. Preparations are underway for the annual summer fete and Trixie volunteers to enlist a celebrity judge for the baby show, but when she secures the services of a top television star, he turns out to have a darker side when he tries to force himself on her. Jenny meets an expectant mother who already has eight children and does not believe she will be able to cope with another. After Jenny's attempts to reassure her fail, she undergoes an illegal abortion which leaves her fighting for her life.
13 Episode 6 China Moo-Young Jess Williams 24 February 2013 10.26
Fearing an epidemic of tuberculosis, Dr. Turner arranges for a mass X-ray programme to come to Poplar. When Sister Bernadette undergoes a chest X-ray to encourage a reluctant girl, she is devastated to discover that she has the illness. Jenny encounters a dying pub owner who lost almost his entire family to tuberculosis, and must try to reconcile him with his only surviving child.
14 Episode 7 Minkie Spiro Harriet Warner 3 March 2013 10.68
Chummy and Peter return to Poplar, revealing the surprise that she is pregnant. Sister Evangelina and Fred try out a new scooter. Jenny tends to a Jamaican immigrant who struggles to deal with racial abuse from her neighbours even as she goes into labour, while Cynthia deals with a diabetic pub owner who bullies his wife. Sister Bernadette comes to a decision about her feelings for Dr. Turner.
15 Episode 8 Minkie Spiro Heidi Thomas 10 March 2013 10.38
As Chummy and Peter prepare to become parents, Fred has a visit from his daughter Dolly, who also has a baby on the way. Sister Bernadette's health crisis has passed and she will soon be free to leave the sanatorium, but she must now decide whether to return to Nonnatus House or leave the order. Jimmy reappears, accompanied by his handsome colleague Alec, having been tasked by the council to survey the buildings in the area. Alec seems keen on Jenny, and an evening out to a jazz club sees romance blossom. Chummy goes into labour and gives birth to a son whom she names Fred. Sister Bernadette resigns as a nun, and she and Dr Turner become engaged. But there is bad news for the midwives as Nonnatus House is earmarked for demolition.

Cast[]

Nurses[]

Nuns[]

Other[]

Guest Stars[]

Scarlett Archer as Molly Brignall (episode 1)
Zandra Andersson as Kirsten Bjorgsen (episode 1)
Kirsty J Curtis as Irene Kelly (episode 2)
Jenny Bolt as Sheila Cooke (episode 2)
Cassandra Compton as Francine Spencer (episode 2, 3)
Monica Dolan as Meg'n'Mave Carter (episode 3)
Anthony Calf as Aubrey Tracey (episode 3)
Leanne Rowe as Ruby Roberts (episode 4)
Jamie Thomas King as Douglas Roberts (episode 4)
Colin Young as Jacob Milligan (episode 4)
Sharon Small as Nora Harding (episode 5)
Mark Fitton as Bill Harding (episode 5)
Tristan Gemmell as Clifford Raines (episode 5)
Lisa Diveney as Julia Masterson (episode 6)
Karl Johnson as Mr Masterson (episode 6)
Nicola Sloane as Annie Lacey (episode 7)
Warren Clarke as John Lacey (episode 7)
Velile Tshabalala as Monique Hyde (episode 7)
Kaye Wrangg as Rita Bailey (episode 7)
Ella Smith as Dolly Smart (episode 8)
Leo Starr as Alec Jesmond (episode 8)

Reception[]

Coming soon...

References[]

Coming soon...

Characters introduced[]

  • Timothy Turner, Dr. Turner’s precocious son.
  • Jane Sutton, the extremely shy auxiliary nurse.
  • Patience “Patsy” Mount, a very dedicated nurse.
  • Alec Jesmond, Jenny’s boyfriend.
  • Freddie Noakes, Chummy and Peter’s son.
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