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Timothy Turner is the only child of Patrick Turner and his late wife. He was delivered by Sister Evangelina. He is portrayed by Max Macmillan. He aged as the program went on from a small lovable boy to a growing young man.

Overview[]

Timothy does not appear in Series One. He is first introduced in the 2012 Christmas Special as Dr Turner's mischievous, though kindhearted and understanding, son. As Series Two goes on, it is apparent that he is very fond of Sister Bernadette, particularly when she helps him win the three-legged race during a fete. He sends Sister Bernadette letters during her stay in the sanatorium as she is treated for TB, and sends her a dead butterfly in a match box, hoping to learn the cause of its death. Timothy frequently shows a fascination with medicine and the human body. He is also skilled in playing piano and violin.

When Sister Bernadette leaves the Order and reverts to her birth name, Shelagh, Timothy knows that his father is in love with her, and approves. He goes with his father to pick her up from the sanatorium, and, when Patrick decides to propose, he writes a note saying "Please will you marry my dad?" wrapped around the ring box. During the 2013 Christmas Special, he contracts polio before his father's wedding and nearly dies. Shelagh is distraught and feels responsible, but is comforted by Sister Julienne and visits him with Patrick. Neither show any blame towards her.

Timothy pulls through his illness, but polio subsequently damaged his legs, requiring him to walk in braces. Shelagh becomes fiercely protective of him during this time, especially after she finds out she cannot have children of her own. She does not want him out playing rough games with other boys, but Patrick insists he is an eleven year old boy who needs to have freedom to grow. Shelagh loosens her hold, but she still shows her worry for Timothy occasionally. Timothy is soon able to walk again without the braces.

TimothyWalks
Timothy and Angela

When the Turners get word from the adoption agency that there is a baby waiting for them to adopt, Tim is excited but says that the way the baby is coming to them (a teenage mother forced to give it up by her parents) is horrible. Timothy shows to be a very good brother to his new sister, Angela, never treating her different or showing signs of jealousy. He loves both Angela and Shelagh dearly.As Tim gets older, he shows an increasing interest in medicine. He often reads his father's copies of The Lancet and frequently draws his father's attention to articles relevant to conversations or cases that are happening at the time. In the 2016 Christmas Special, Timothy and Angela are left in the care of Granny Parker while their parents go to South Africa to save a struggling hospital from closure. At Shelagh's request, Sister Monica Joan sends them Timothy's old leg braces which Patrick gives to a boy with polio to help him walk. After they return, Shelagh discovers she is pregnant despite previously being told she couldn't have children. Shelagh tells Patrick she wants Timothy and Angela to know first before anyone else, but Timothy has already figured it out, noting that Shelagh is suddenly eating a lot more biscuits than usual, she turns green at the mention of sardines, and she's not even allowed to pick up a teapot can only mean that he and Angela are getting a baby sibling. At the end of Series Six, Shelagh gives birth to son Teddy, and the family are later shown bathing their new addition. In series 9, Timothy has been sent to boarding school, and phones his family from school.

The older turners

In Series 10 Timothy returns from school after finishing his A levels hoping to get into medical school, In S10 E05 he finds out he has been offered a place at Edinburgh University, one of the oldest and finest medical schools in Britain. He ends up pitching in at the doctors surgery and he and his father talk about all the things he will see as a doctor like new vaccinations and much better record keeping (the surgerys medical records had almost been destroyed thanks to a leaking pipe). When working one day he meets an old friend from cubs Glen Witton who's girlfriend Jeanette was pregnant at that time. When the baby who they name Oliver is sent away to be adopted the two have a moment of wanting to go back to their days of little boys in cubs. However Timothy goes on and prepares to leave for medical school, Miss Higgins gives him the gift of her favourite pen and his younger siblings put on a little play to let him know how proud they are of him. His parents Patrick and Shelagh are apprehensive at him leaving and wish there was one last thing they could do, they decide to sew up his doctors coat just as Shelagh did to tell him to fly as high as he can.

In Series 11 Timothy returns to his parents with a case of glandular fever, also known as the kissing disease prompting questions he was not prepared to answer. He is put on bed rest but still overdoes it with his continuous studying, his father tries to talk to him about it but this prompts an argument between them both about how he finds his fathers cheery anecdotes annoying him as it seems like he’s forgotten how hard he has to work in his class and how he is tired of being treated like a child by both parents. Despite Timothy speaking very harshly his father still defends him when Shelagh hears and she tells him just that as his father would die for him if he needed to, and that he should apologise. His father along with Sister Julienne and Nancy Corrigan take a train to a midwifery conference, on the train ride back the train collides with another and derails, Nancy gets off but the other two are still trapped inside.

Train crash rescue

Timothy is guilt ridden and his terrified mother is no help as she rushes over to pray at Nonnatus. Timothy goes on a mission when he is mistaken for a doctor straight into the fire and the wreckage where he finds his father and Sister Julienne alive, being only a student doctor his father who is suffering from a head injury must coach him through the crisis. Everything gets ten times worse when Sister Julienne appears to be suffering from a heart attack, he rescues both of them but he has no idea if they will make full recoveries. When at the hospital his dad is okay, Timothy feels bad for what he said but his father only jokes and tells him to get himself a chocolate bar as a reward. When his father gets home his three little siblings play doctors and nurses around him and Sister Julienne is told she simply went into shock and that mimicked a heart attack. Both are well thanks to Timothy.

Timothy returns from medical school and begins helping out at the new location for the maternity clinic, the Florence Dean Hall. When there Rhoda Mullucks appears expecting her fourth child, Timothy helps her daughter Susan affected by the drug thalidomide with her coat. After clinic was over he says to Miss Higgins he believes Susan is entitled to a formal apology from the people who made the drugs containing thalidomide, and when he was in hospital with polio he was in awe of the doctors and thought that all medicine was good but seeing Susan made him feel ashamed of his future profession, Miss Higgins while not disagreeing with him asks him never to say that to his father. He also helps out with the talent show Fred is organising Poplartunity knocks, he played the piano as his three younger siblings dressed up as snowmen with Susan Mullucks and sang frosty the snowman.

He returns in the summer and Miss Higgins congratulates him on coming second in his year, he helps out at the clinic again but when he is working the maternity home is quarantined because of an outbreak of gastroenteritis, all five of the new babies are infected, Timothy, his parents, Trixie Franklin and Sister Monica Joan camp out and care for the new-borns and mothers suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea. One of the Khatri twins stops breathing and Trixie swiftly saves the babies life. The baby is taken to the hospital and Timothy asks his father how him and the midwives working can just go back to working after something so extraordinary and he says in a job like that he will get used to extraordinary things happening all the time. The quarantine ends and Timothy is last seen outside in the garden playing with Teddy and May in the paddling pool. Timothy decides to get some paid work and gets a job giving baths to elderly men, Matthew Aylward joins him for ten days experience, when in Lisbon Buildings a fight breaks out between Cyril and a man suffering from schizophrenia, Cyril is stabbed with scissors but Timothy hastily examines him and while his jacket was ruined Cyril would be fine. When he gets home Shelagh says she was always afraid of him being in danger and would be no matter how old he would get. In the end of the episode Timothy attends his sister May's cowboys and indians themed party. In the finale he attends the wedding of Trixie Franklin and Sir Matthew Aylward.

Quotes[]

"Dad! There's a woman in the wrong clothes and I think it's her!" (Series 2 Episode 8)

"Brylcreem" (Xmas Special 2013)

"This, Angela, is them doing their mushy stuff. You really need to get used to it." (Series 4 Episode 4)

"Dad, they wanted to because they care because whether or not you believe it, you're a good doctor. If I'm half as good as you one day, I'll be proud." (Series 4 Episode 5)

"When you have a paper round, helping old ladies becomes an occupational hazard." (Series 5 Episode 4)

"You can both have every shilling I have. You're my world." (Series 5 Episode 5)

"Mum, the fact that your biscuit intake has rocketed, you turn green at the mention of sardines and Dad won't even let you pick up a teapot leads me to only one conclusion, as does the embarrassed looks on your faces. Angela and I are getting a baby sister or brother, aren't we?" (Series 6 Episode 2)

"I think a policeman would describe me as loitering with intent." (Series 6 Episode 4)

"I like that we're complicated." (Series 9 Episode 6)

Trivia[]

  • Timothy is a fan of The Rolling Stones though his parents didn't like their reputation and were pleased when he became a fan of The Beatles, partially because Paul McCartney's mother was a midwife.
  • The first time he tasted wine at his boarding school there was a picture of a nun on the bottle and so didn't get very far with it as it made him think of what Nonnatus House would say.

Gallery[]

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