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Series 3 is the third series of Call the Midwife and was originally broadcast in 2014 on BBC One.

Plot[]

Series 3 sees much change for the nurses, no change more than the location of Nonnatus House, after being put under threat of demolition the future of the order is put in doubt but after an unexploded bomb is found and detonated Nonnatus is damaged and a new location must be found. The characters find a new Nonnatus House and place to call home, they also find a new place for their maternity clinic in the community centre and a new surgery for Dr Turner. The characters quickly get back to work with new nun Sister Winifred joining the team as they get on their bikes to patients suffering from cystic fibrosis and Meniere's disease, a pregnant woman with Down’s syndrome, stillbirth and babies born in prison.

The new clinic

 The main plotlines for the main midwives are ones that mainly affect their personal lives. Chummy Noakes finds herself rather inept at most tasks she sets herself, while very happy with husband Peter and new baby Freddie she is best in life at midwifery and she is invited to return to Nonnatus House on a part time basis. Trixie Franklin meets curate Tom Hereward while both were working in a prison and he soon moves to Poplar and after a rough start they begin a relationship. Another former nurse trying to write her own rules of life after leaving the convent is newly married Shelagh Turner, both she and Patrick want to waste no time and start planning for a baby but the scar tissue from tuberculosis makes that impossible, in the end she and Patrick turn to adoption and adopt a baby girl.  

Jenny first goodbye

The biggest change for the series happen regarding Jenny, her relationship with Alec Jesmond is going wonderfully but after a workplace injury Alec dies very suddenly and Jenny is utterly grief stricken and leaves for a short while to stay at the mother house. She returns and is reacquainted with a nurse she met while on secondment to the hospital Patsy Mount who joined the team in her absence. Meanwhile Chummy Noakes’s mother Lady Browne who she always had a frosty relationship with is diagnosed with cancer and is given a short time to live, Sister Monica Joan who had a similar relationship with her mother helps Chummy nurse her through her final days. Jenny decides after Lady Browne’s death to switch careers and see life out of the world rather than into it. The whole cast joins together in waving off Jenny to her new life.  

Episodes[]

See also: List of Episodes

Series 3 (2014)[]

Christmas special
No.

overall

Episode Directed by Written by Original air date UK viewers


(millions) [12]

16 Christmas special Thea Sharrock Heidi Thomas 25 December 2013 9.16
Shelagh (formerly Sister Bernadette) agonises over her decision to leave the convent and marry Dr Turner, and when his son Timothy is diagnosed with polio the wedding is called off. Trixie tries to help a patient's husband who has been traumatised by his time fighting in the Korean War. An unexploded German bomb is discovered near the convent, forcing local residents to flee their homes. Ultimately Shelagh and Dr Turner's wedding takes place, but damage caused by the controlled detonation of the bomb advances the demolition of Nonnatus House.
Series 3
No.

overall

Episode Directed by Written by Original air date UK viewers


(millions) [12]

17 Episode 1 Thea Sharrock Heidi Thomas 19 January 2014 11.35
It is now 1959, and the nuns and midwives move into a new Nonnatus House, joined by new arrival Sister Winifred (Victoria Yeates), while Chummy struggles to adjust to life as a housewife. The weekly clinics are also at a new location and it proves hard to raise awareness until Chummy manages to arrange for Princess Margaret to make an official visit. Jenny and Dr. Turner find it hard to identify why a mother's two children are regularly ill, but an antique book belonging to Sister Monica Joan unexpectedly provides the clue that leads to a diagnosis of the then little-known condition cystic fibrosis. After delivering a baby in an emergency, Chummy is asked to return to Nonnatus House as a part-time midwife.
18 Episode 2 Juliet May Harriet Warner 26 January 2014 10.83
Jenny is promoted to the position of nursing sister over the more experienced Trixie, which causes resentment between the pair. After attending a lecture by a prominent doctor, Cynthia attempts to introduce more modern approaches to relaxation and pain relief during childbirth, but meets resistance from Sister Evangelina. Ultimately, however, her methods are vindicated when they help a young mother cope with a difficult birth. Jenny deals with Doris, a mother with an aggressive husband whose delivery will reveal her infidelity. She plans to abandon the baby but is persuaded by Jenny to follow the proper procedures for having the infant adopted. Despite their best efforts, Doris' husband discovers her secret, forcing a more hasty and distressing parting between mother and child.
19 Episode 3 Juliet May Liz Lake 2 February 2014 10.55
When the regular midwifery team at HM Prison Holloway is stricken with influenza, Sister Julienne and Trixie are drafted in to cover, and both find the conditions hard to deal with. Sister Julienne becomes involved with Stella Crangle, a heavily pregnant inmate who wishes to better herself and is afraid that after she has given birth the prison authorities will remove her child from her. Sister Julienne and Trixie meet Chaplain Tom Hereward while at the prison. Shelagh and Dr. Turner long to start a family and are devastated when it is found that, as a result of her earlier tuberculosis, she is unable to have children. Fred secures theatre tickets as a treat for Chummy's birthday but is left embarrassed when they turn out to be counterfeit.
20

|Episode 4

Juliet May Gabbie Asher and Heidi Thomas 9 February 2014 10.23
When Jenny's boyfriend Alec invites her to spend the weekend with him in Brighton, she is suspicious of his motives. Soon afterwards, he is involved in an accident at work and, although he initially seems to be recovering, he takes a turn for the worse and dies, leaving Jenny devastated. Sister Winifred helps an elderly Jewish woman who has not left her flat for twelve years. Shelagh attempts to find a new purpose in life by reviving the Poplar Choral Society. Jenny is persuaded to take compassionate leave and go to stay at the nuns' "mother house" for a time.
21 Episode 5|China Moo-Young Heidi Thomas 16 February 2014 10.15
With Jenny away and Sister Julienne taken ill, Shelagh takes over the administration of Nonnatus House and engages the services of new midwife Patsy Mount (Emerald Fennell). The staff are planning a jubilee party to mark the anniversary of Sister Evangelina having taken her final vows, but she is opposed to the celebration. An attempt to contact her family leads to an unwelcome encounter with her brother, an alcoholic derelict. Meanwhile, Sally, a woman with Down's syndrome, living in a residential home, has become pregnant. Her family are angry and believe that one of the staff must have abused her, but it turns out she has formed a relationship with Jacob, another resident at the home. The staff refuse to accept that the couple's relationship is genuine and, after the baby is stillborn, Jacob is removed to another home in Scotland. Jessica Raine retains top billing for this episode, even though she is only seen briefly in a non-speaking role.
22 Episode 6 China Moo-Young Damian Wayling 23 February 2014 10.49
Trixie is delighted when handsome curate Tom Hereward invites her to a cricket match, but is less impressed to find that they are taking a group of Cub Scouts to Clacton-on-Sea in a run-down old bus which breaks down en route. Patsy recognises a patient's mystery ailment as the legacy of a tropical disease contracted in a prisoner-of-war camp in the Far East, and reveals that she grew up in Singapore and was herself in an internment camp during the Second World War. Shelagh and Dr. Turner resolve to look into adopting a child. Jessica Raine does not appear at all in this episode.
23 Episode 7 Minkie Spiro Harriet Warner 2 March 2014 10.65
Jenny returns to work, but is seconded to the London Hospital, where she finds her approach to patient care hampered by strict regulations. Chummy is surprised to find that her parents have separated, and invites her mother to stay, despite the haughty Lady Browne's disdain for her daughter's lifestyle. Later, Chummy is devastated to learn that her mother is suffering from terminal cancer. Sister Julienne and Cynthia help a young mother who, after giving birth, displays increasingly irrational behaviour, nearly jumping off a bridge with her baby. She is eventually diagnosed with puerperal psychosis and sent to a mental institution for treatment. Shelagh and Dr. Turner's plan to adopt a child is threatened when background checks reveal that he spent time in a military mental institution after serving in the Second World War.
24 Episode 8|Minkie Spiro Heidi Thomas 9 March 2014 10.09
Shelagh and Dr. Turner are approved for adoption and become the parents of a baby girl. Chummy's colleagues rally round as her mother's condition deteriorates and Lady Browne eventually dies peacefully in bed at Chummy's house. The experience has a particular effect on Jenny, who decides that her vocation now lies with caring for the terminally ill, and she resigns from Nonnatus House, leaving midwifery behind to begin a new career as a Marie Curie nurse.

Cast[]

Midwives[]

Jessica Raine as Jennifer Lee
Vanessa Redgrave as Jennifer Worth
Helen George as Beatrix Franklin
Bryony Hannah as Cynthia Miller
Emerald Fennell as Patsy Mount

Nuns[]

Jenny Agutter as Sister Julienne
Pam Ferris as Sister Evangelina
Judy Parfitt as Sister Monica Joan
Victoria Yeates as Sister Winifred

Other[]

Stephen McGann as Patrick Turner
Laura Main as Shelagh Turner
Max Macmillian as Timothy Turner
Miranda Hart as Camilla Noakes
Ben Caplan as Peter Noakes
Cliff Parisi as Frederick Buckle
Leo Starr as Alec Jesmond
Elsie Marquez as Sheryl Torpy

Guest Stars[]

  • Gemma Salter as Merle Vickers (episode 1)
  • Tommy McDonnell as Billy Vickers (episode 1)
  • Clare Cathcart as Mrs Torpy (episode 1)
  • Seline Hizil as Doris Aston (episode 2)
  • Faye Daveney as Nellie Short (episode 2)
  • Roger Morlidge as Dr. Robert Latham (episode 2)
  • Lacey Turner as Stella Crangle (episode 3)
  • Hannah Tointon as Kathleen Baker (episode 3)
  • Orion Ben as Leah Moss (episode 4)
  • Beverly Klein as Mrs Tzirale Rubin (episode 4)
  • Helen Phillips as Kitty Chubb (episode 4)
  • Colin Young as Jacob Milligan (episode 5)
  • Sarah Gordy as Sally Harper (episode 5)
  • Amy Molloy as Phoebe Doyle (episode 6)
  • Killian Scott as Declan Doyle (episode 6)
  • Neal Barry as Maurice Glennon (episode 6)
  • Sophie Rundle as Pamela Saint (episode 7)
  • Emily Taaffe as Faye Rawle (episode 7)
  • Cheryl Campbell as Lady Browne (episode 7, 8)
  • Michelle Duncan as Jeanette Heckford (episode 8)
  • Stephen Ashford as Philip Worth (episode 8)

Reception[]

Coming soon...

References[]

Coming soon...

Characters introduced[]

  • Shelagh Turner (formerly Sister Bernadette), a kind and diligent secretary.
  • Sister Winifred, a kind and eager nun.
  • Tom Hereward, a thoughtful Reverend.
  • Lady Browne, Chummy’s uptight mother.
  • Angela Turner, Shelagh and Patrick’s adoptive daughter.
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