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Sister Evangelina O.S.R.N (birth name, Enid Atwood) (1885/1886-1961) was an Anglican nun of the Order of Saint Raymond Nonnatus and a resident of Nonnatus House. She was portrayed by Pam Ferris.

Overview[]

Her given name was Enid. She had a younger brother named Vincent and an unnamed older brother who had died prior to the start of Series One. Sister Evangelina grew up in extreme poverty which set her apart from her other Sisters-in-God.

Sister Evangelina revealed in one episode that her brother Vincent was the first baby she saw being born and that was the event that helped her decide on her chosen path in life.

Biography[]

Sister Evangelina is an extremely skilled midwife as well as a devout nun.

Series 1[]

We first meet Sister Evangelina at the beginning of the first episode when she finds two policemen trying to break up a fight in the street between two women. She asks, "Which one of you ladies is my patient?" One of the women, Pearl Winston, is pregnant and Sister Evangelina doesn't seem at all surprised. PC Noakes gives Sister Evangelina his tunic which she places around Pearl's shoulders as she escorts her home. Back at Nonnatus House she informs Sister Julienne that the pot in which they had hidden a cake is empty, save for a few crumbs. Sister Evangelina naturally suspects Sister Monica Joan due to her love of cake, but Sister Monica Joan lies to her, saying their newcomer (the newly arrived Jennifer Lee) was hungry.

Series 2[]

In the 2012 Christmas special Jenny and Sister Evangelina see to elderly lady Mrs Jenkins who lives in squalor, the sister remembers her as a woman who always somehow knew when a birth was taking place. At first Sister Evangelina is critical of Jenny who Mrs Jenkins calls Rosie but Mrs Jenkins ends up slapping her in the face. It turns out Mrs Jenkins was in the workhouse and lost all of her children to its conditions, Sister Evangelina counsels Jenny not to be caught up on past tragedy and turn her mind to the one Mrs Jenkins is going through, Jenny takes Mrs Jenkins to the places her children are buried finally giving her closure after so many years.

In Series 2 new medical inventions are brought to Nonnatus, gas and air and a new maternity home. Sister Evangelina is dismissive of both but especially the gas and air not thinking women need it, but the younger midwives are adamant women deserve pain relief in labour. When called to a delivery with Trixie Franklin on a ship Sister Evangelina hurts her arm and Trixie who the sister had little faith in delivers the baby and stays with the sister who ends up eating her own words when demanding gas and air in the ambulance. In the next episode she sees midwife Chummy Noakes off to six months in Sierra Leone.

Dr Turner and Sister Bernadette convince the board of health to send a TB van to Poplar, Sister Monica Joan suggests having Sister Evangelina be in charge of the que as her voice was like a “fog horn” according to the elderly sister. Nonnatus House gets a new moped for the carrying of gas and air, at first Fred insists the midwives do training but Sister Evangelina realises he hasn’t a clue how it works and decides to take him out on it. She welcomes Chummy back from Africa now pregnant, but when Chummy goes into labour she is no less reluctant to give her an enema. Tragically Chummy has a placental abruption and is rushed into hospital, Sister Evangelina comments that she has seen numerous families anxiously waiting for news but she never knew what it felt like. Luckily Chummy pulls through with a little boy she calls Fred.  

Series 3[]

In the 2013 Christmas special an unexploded bomb is found having been left over from the war, streets of Poplar people are uprooted in the middle of the night to a community centre. Sister Evangelina slips right back into her time during the war and takes charge accepting no nonsense. The bomb explodes and the damage is not as bad as was feared, unfortunately the bomb ripped through the foundation at Nonnatus house. Sister Evangelina comments it had been a while since she wanted Adolf Hitlers guts for garters. The nuns move into a new (now present) location of Nonnatus House in the first episode of Series 3, which also becomes the new location for the clinic.

In S03 E05 her jubilee, the anniversary of her religious vows comes up and Shelagh Turner is charged by Sister Julienne to plan her celebration. Despite that Sister Evangelina is adamant there would be no celebrations. She shows slight animosity at Shelagh for lecturing her on the religious life when she herself left it. A lemon meringue pie is stolen from Nonnatus at first Sister Evangelina blames Sister Monica Joan but in the dark night Peter Noakes sees a nun running around in the dark. At first he thinks it’s Sister Monica Joan but he finds Sister Evangelina with a man, this man is Vincent her brother. Vincent was a drinker that she assumed was dead, they both hated the lives each other chose. The irony of it was that it was Vincent’s birth and first cry that made he know she wanted to be a nun and midwife. her jubilee goes ahead, and she is gifted with new shoes her old ones being worn out. She then gets flowers from the grown up babies she delivered including Timothy Turner.

In the last episode of the Series she sees nurse Jenny Lee leave Nonnatus House to change careers and work with the dying. Sister Evangelina sees her off.

Series 4[]

At the start of Series Four, Sister Evangelina begins showing signs of ill health such as pushing her food away at mealtimes and putting her hand to her back in the chapel when the nuns stand to pray, These signs don't go unnoticed by Sister Julienne who tries to persuade her to see a doctor, but Sister Evangelina stubbornly refuses to admit she has a problem. Soon enough, though, Sister Monica Joan catches on to Sister Evangelina's suffering and warns her that she faces disqualification from work if she doesn't see a doctor. Sister Evangelina finally relents and asks Shelagh to make her an appointment with a female doctor. Sister Evangelina is diagnosed with fibroids and is told she requires a hysterectomy, but she refuses to have the surgery because it would mean putting herself out of work. She also initially clashed with new nurse Phyllis Crane, whose officious manner got under Sister Evangelina's skin, although she soon warmed to Phyllis after Phyllis showed her kinder side when she helped Barbara and Patsy with a particularly difficult birth. At this point, Sister Evangelina finally agrees to the surgery, after which she was sent to the Motherhouse in Chichester to recuperate.

Sister Evangelina only appears briefly in S04E05 in which she tells Sister Mary Cynthia she better hurry if she wants to catch her train. She gives Sister Mary Cynthia her suitcase and waves her off as she makes her way back to Poplar. Sister Evangelina returns in S04E06, but soon after her return, a fire breaks out at the maternity home and in the commotion, Sister Evangelina manages to mix up two untagged babies and gives each one to the wrong mother. She is absolutely devastated when she realizes her mistake.

Series 5[]

'In the 2015 Christmas Special, Sister Evangelina gets into a heated quarrel with Sister Monica Joan which leads to the elderly Sister running away from Nonnatus House. Everyone fears for her safety, and Sister Evangelina feels extremely guilty about her outburst. When the body of an elderly woman is found washed up on the banks of the River Thames, everyone fears the worst. Sister Evangelina and Sister Julienne go to the mortuary to identify the body, only to discover it is not their Sister, and Sister Evangelina bursts into tears and says "Poor, poor woman".

Later at Nonnatus House, Sister Evangelina converses with Phyllis who reveals that Sister Monica Joan, who had been suffering from delirium recently, said that everyone should go home for Christmas. Suddenly, Sister Evangelina realizes where she has gone, and after searching through the files for Sister Monica Joan's old address, she has Fred drive her to the grand estate in Berkshire which is now dilapidated and abandoned. She finds Sister Monica Joan there and brings her home.

In S05E02, Sister Evangelina voices her opposition to formula milk, insisting "breast is best.". A young woman, Connie Manley, who has recently had her first child, tries to tell Sister Evangelina she can't breastfeed, but she won't listen, and Connie refuses to use formula due to Sister Evangelina's opinion. This causes Connie lose confidence in her own abilities and, when Sister Mary Cynthia checks in on her, she notices Connie is bleeding and the baby is severely dehydrated. On returning to Nonnatus House, Sister Mary Cynthia gently but firmly reprimands Sister Evangelina telling her the consequences of her stubborn attitudes.

Devastated, Sister Evangelina goes to Sister Julienne's office and tells her she wishes to leave Nonnatus House for at least six months to spend time with the Sisters of the Blessed Infant Christ, an enclosed order that maintains silence throughout the day. Sister Julienne puts her request forward to Mother Jesu Emmanuel who gives her approval, and Sister Evangelina bids farewell to her fellow Sisters and midwives for the time being.

In S05E07, after six months, Sister Evangelina comes back, much to the delight of her fellow Sisters. But it doesn't take long before Sister Julienne realizes something is wrong as she soon notices Sister Evangelina isn't using her left arm. Sister Evangelina admits she had a stroke two months into her retreat, revealing she couldn't move her arm at all at first, and her mouth and speech were also affected, but she got all that back within six weeks, jokingly adding "Even though, most of the time I had nobody to practise with".

In S05E08, Sister Evangelina helps Barbara to care for an expectant mother about to give birth. Sister Evangelina is out of the room when she hears the newborn baby crying, and while Barbara tends to the new mother, Sister Evangelina, despite the limited movement in her left arm, gives the newborn a bath. After she and Barbara return to Nonnatus House, Sister Evangelina sits down in her chair in front of the fire and drifts off to sleep. The next morning, Fred accidently knocks over the tools by the fireplace and apologises to Sister Evangelina, who is still in the chair, but she doesn't respond. Fred then turns to look at her, he soon realises that Sister Evangelina has died.

The news of Sister Evangelina's death spreads quickly, plunging all of Poplar into a state of mourning. Mr. Crelin, a young undertaker, comes to Nonnatus House, and offers his company's services free of charge. He tells Sister Winifred that he was born two months premature and nearly killed his mother during birth; Sister Evangelina bathed him in olive oil, wrapped him up in lint, and sat by his mother's bedside for seven days, and this is his way of repaying her for her care.

When Sister Mary Cynthia checks on expectant mother Noelle, she sees that she doesn't have a proper wedding dress, and so the midwives give her Sister Evangelina's wedding dress that she wore when she took her religious vows. Almost immediately after Noelle marries fiancé Mitchell Anselm, she goes into labour, giving birth to a baby boy. Noelle's mother-in-law Tessie says the dress is ruined, but Sister Mary Cynthia says that it's just had the best day of its life.

Seemingly all of Poplar turns out for Sister Evangelina's funeral. Sister Monica Joan gives Mr. Crelin Sister Evangelina's shoes to place on the coffin, saying "They mark her spirit as well as any bloom, and deserve their rest as much as she".

Personality[]

Sister Evangelina is brash, opinionated, and quite ready to give anyone a tongue-lashing if she feels it is deserved (typically several times a day). Her no-nonsense attitude can intimidate the younger midwives upon first meeting her and is often at loggerheads with her fellow sisters. Despite this, Sister Evangelina is extremely caring, dedicated, and gentle towards her patients and towards anyone going through a legitimately hard time at Nonnatus House. She is brave, fiercely devoted to her job, and extremely difficult to intimidate. She was closest to Sister Julienne and is a rock for all to cling to when times are difficult.

Trivia[]

  • Despite her death, Sister Evangelina's name has cropped up a few times since her passing. In Series Six, Sister Monica Joan tells new midwife Valerie Dyer that she and Sister Evangelina both tended to her mother when she was giving birth to her.
  • Pam Ferris previously worked with Linda Bassett (Phyllis Crane) in the TV mini-series, Our Mutual Friend in 1998.

Relationships[]

Sister Julienne: Out of all the Sisters, Sister Evangelina was closest to Sister Julienne.

Sister Monica Joan: Sister Evangelina had a very contentious relationship with Sister Monica Joan who would often provoke her to breaking point. Despite this, she truly loved Sister Monica Joan and feared for her safety when the elderly Sister went missing in the 2015 Christmas Special. When she realized Sister Monica Joan had returned to her (now empty) childhood home, she had Fred drive her there and they brought Sister Monica Joan back.

Phyllis Crane: Sister Evangelina initially clashed with Phyllis when she first arrived at Nonnatus House. Phyllis' officious manner rubbed Sister Evangelina up the wrong way, but after her kinder side showed during a particularly difficult birth, Sister Evangelina warmed up to her.

Quotes[]

"Right Which one of you ladies is my patient?"
- Sister Evangelina's first lines
"She may be my Sister-in-Christ but I swear, she would drive a Methodist to drink!"
- Sister Evangelina about Sister Monica Joan
"For two pins, I'd have every mutt in Poplar put down!"
- Sister Evangelina, after she discovers dog-dirt on her shoe.
"It's a baby, not a lubricated penguin!"
- Sister Evangelina to Peter Noakes during Chummy's labour
"She can put her Christmas Tree up on Easter Sunday as long as we get her back!"
- Sister Evangelina when Sister Monica Joan runs away from Nonnatus House at Christmas Time.
"It's been on for 10 minutes and it's about as hot as the North Pole"
- Sister Evangelina when the autoclave at the new Nonnatus House isn't working (Series 3 Episode 1)
"You mark my words - the joy of midwifery never dims"
- Sister Evangelina when having a discussion with Sister Winifred (Series 4 Episode 6)



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