♪ ♪ Jennifer: Once upon a time, the season that is new today was old and closed and packed away.

Advent had erupted into Christmas, darkness retreated in the face of light, and the wheel of the year kept turning.

But once again we gather as the sky grows cold.

The leaves have tumbled.

The fresh snow falls.

Pages turn as new doors open time and time and time again.

-Merry Christmas, Fred.

-Merry Christmas.

♪ Medical supplies packed and labeled and ready for hand delivery to the branch house.

Hibiscus Clinic?

Do you think you should write on it in Chinese?

Hong Kong is a British colony.

I'm quite sure everyone is competent in our mother tongue.

I detect a want of enthusiasm in your visage.

When adventure beckons, you should embrace the call.

This trip is a wonderful opportunity for Violet to see her son.

And the sisters at the clinic will be so grateful for these supplies.

I'll just be glad of a chance to run an errand, if I'm honest with you, Sister Julienne.

There's talk of cocktail parties.

Boys: ♪ Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer ♪ ♪ Had a very shiny nose ♪ ♪ And if you ever saw it ♪ ♪ You would even say it glows ♪ ♪ All of the other reindeers ♪ ♪ Used to laugh and call him names... ♪ Kevin, I've told you before, Stay inside the lines.

The lines represent the edges of the lorry.

You, too, Teddy.

We don't want you falling off the float and getting run over.

Do you think they're gonna need bigger holes for their mouths, Mrs.

Turner?

I'm worried that they're gonna be deprived of oxygen.

Oh, please, please.

Don't anyone stop singing on my account.

♪ Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer... ♪ Hello, Diane.

♪ You'll go down in history ♪ [Applause] Now, pack, what do we say when a very important lady like Mrs.

Buckle, our mayor, is kind enough to come and visit us?

Boys: Good evening, Mrs.

Buckle.

Thank you, pack.

Now off you pop, and work on your knots.

It's all set out on the tables.

One piece of cord between two.

I've bought a dozen pairs of brown tights for the reindeer.

I managed to get them on a special order.

You're not getting likes of this age to wear tights, Mrs.

Buckle.

Well, you'll have to tell them that it's in a good cause.

I mean, the whole Christmas carnival is in a good cause.

And elastic... black felt squares... and sleigh bells... and WD-40.

What's that for, to oil the sled runners?

Fred needs to do the paper-shop bell before we leave.

Mrs.

Buckle, go.

Go to Hong Kong, and do not give the Christmas carnival a second thought.

♪ Mrs.

Buckle!

I'm sorry.

Oh, I'm sorry, Mrs.

Turner.

I'm not quite sure which way is up this evening.

I wondered if you could take a tiny parcel to Hong Kong for me.

It's a letter and some photographs for May's mother.

We haven't heard from her for over a year.

But the sisters say they still see her from time to time with her little boy.

Of course I'll take it.

It must all be, well, such a worry.

I used to fret about my Derek when he was in the Navy, but now he's in the Hong Kong police.

They have to wear guns, sister.

It makes me nervous.

You'll be back by Christmas with wonderful memories.

And we've got Reggie coming home.

I'm already hoping that it will be snowing for him.

[Laughs softly] Whoever guesses the mystery ingredient in this year's chutney gets to eat the first mince pie and make a wish.

I'm getting definite top notes of tamarind.

No.

Have you been on another cooking course?

No.

Matthew took her to Antigua for their wedding anniversary.

It's mango!

-Ah!

-Yes!

[Laughter] It's good to hear you're moving back to London at last.

Matthew has to stay in New York until autumn, and Jonty is starting pre-prep at Easter.

I needed to get him home and settled.

Sister Julienne, I will be free for midwifery duty should you be short-staffed.

We very seldom are at present.

Things have been remarkably quiet.

I have offered her a receptionist's role at my new osteopathy practice on Harley Street, but no dice apparently.

You're only there four hours a week.

Nevertheless, his couch sees a constant parade of celebrities, by all accounts.

Celebrities?

Coming to you with their crooked necks?

I hope you're going to name names.

Professional discretion is my watchword.

Have a mince pie.

♪ Oh!

Oh.

Fred, have you seen the time?

We're gonna miss the plane!

The party was running late, and I didn't want to disappoint the kiddies.

Get in the car.

You can change out of your costume on the way.

♪ [Airplane passing] ♪ Please, let me knot my hankie and put it on my head, Vi.

No.

We'll get you a nice, smart Panama hat as soon as we've left these parcels with the sisters.

[Ahem] We're looking for a sign that says "Hibiscus Street."

Derek says it should be written in Chinese as well as English.

♪ [Indistinct] ♪ There it is!

[Excited voices] ♪ [Speaking Cantonese] Man: The building has collapsed!

Go back, please!

The building has collapsed!

Please stay back!

[Speaking Cantonese] [Coughing] ♪ There must be fatalities.

I'm sorry to intercept you, sister, but Mrs.

Buckle has just telephoned from Hong Kong.

It's about the branch house.

♪ How on earth can an entire building just collapse?

I never heard of anything so colonial.

There were rumors that the ground in that area was unstable.

But whatever the cause, it's the consequences that are truly shocking.

Sister Alice and Sister David were both killed... Oh, no.

Along with a doctor who worked with them.

Some of the children in the nursery did not survive.

Meanwhile, the maternity ward has been destroyed, the sisters are homeless, and the people who depend upon them are scattered across Kowloon.

Once they have overcome this, they will need somewhere to live and carry on their work.

Now they need a doctor.

They need nurses, and they need midwives.

In short, sister, they need us.

I keep thinking we should be making Christmas trees for the carnival, not palm trees.

The theme of the float is a Caribbean Christmas.

There's going to be a steel band playing carols and a gospel choir.

♪ Love and-- ♪ [Knocking and door opens] Are these the palm trees?

Mm-hmm.

I'm starting to think we should be making Jacarandas.

So... what's this letter you wanted to talk to me about?

♪ If 10 days on the ground in Hong Kong means that we can get them through this crisis, I am more than happy to put a locum in the surgery.

And Sister Veronica, you must go.

You were three years at that branch house.

You're the only one with even a glancing knowledge of the way things work out there.

I will go wherever I'm told.

I will do whatever I'm told.

Very well.

Dr.

Turner will go, as will Nurse Crane, Sister Veronica, and myself.

So, this man, this...Mr.

Fischer, who writes with an educated hand from an address in Belgravia, wants to rent this flat with immediate effect?

For a period of time that he is unable to specify for an amount that we are free to name.

Well, call me ruthless if you want to, but, Pastor Robinson, what I make of it is money for the church.

Running a church is always going to cost somebody something.

I'll find somewhere else to lay my head for a week or two.

The truth is, I'm more worried about me missing you over there than I am about me being missed over here.

You were vital to everything when we were in South Africa.

And I came home with Teddy on the way.

Ha.

Look, Timothy is quite old enough to hold the fort if you came to Hong Kong.

He's home on study leave for a month.

Patrick, I'm needed here.

[Door closes] That's the last box, Miss Higgins.

Okay.

We've done it.

Dr.

Elyse Watkiss is our first choice for locum cover.

She's young but has excellent GP experience.

I will attend to the necessary paperwork.

Timothy, you might call the pharmacy regarding the export forms whilst I see to this.

Yes, Miss Higgins.

The posters have turned out an absolute treat.

I found a photo that must have been taken years ago.

And you'll never guess what.

You can see it clear as day, now it's blown up life-size.

Mum, look!

Look!

It's May as a baby, before we even knew her.

I would recognize her anywhere.

Come on, ladies.

Dig as deep as you can.

Merry Christmas.

Thank you very much.

Every penny counts.

Don't be shy.

♪ Some of these clothes are ours, mom.

Yes.

I went up into the loft, and there bags full of woolies that went back years.

This was mine.

I remember this.

You had it when you first arrived from China.

♪ Would you rather we didn't send it off?

The radio reporter says, "Ready when you are."

Man: Ten-year-old May Turner has a special reason for helping with the appeal today.

Can you tell the listeners what it is, May?

I was born there.

A photograph of May aged 12 months and held safely in the arms of an Nonnatus nun features on posters for the rescue mission.

As the Nonnatus sisters of Poplar head east to help, do you have a message for people listening, May?

[No audio] Please give all you can... ♪ Because... ♪ Some of the children there have nothing.

Sister Hilda will be joining the Nonnatus party at Heathrow.

At least that's only one plane we have to meet, Fred.

Derek, you're eating the lime marmalade.

I'm not gonna lie to you.

I've laid awake at night dreaming of this stuff.

Thanks for bringing it.

And the mustard.

Proper taste of home.

It's even got "English" written on the tin.

Fred and I were wondering about popping over to Kowloon to see if there's anything we can take the poor sisters.

Mum, Kowloon is in the East End.

Nobody pops over there, not to that bit of it anyway.

Hibiscus Street is about as dodgy as it gets-- drugs, prostitution, smuggling.

Makes you wonder why the sisters are so keen to stay there.

Well, it's the same as Poplar, isn't it?

Bad things happen.

Good people sort it out.

The best people in the world couldn't sort Triad out.

What is Triad, Derek?

Organized crime.

It's invisible, and it's everywhere.

Oh.

Got used to Tim not being here because he's at medical school.

What I can't get used to is him not being here because he's in the pub.

Mom and dad.

You should be in bed, Tilly Mint.

We've been talking.

It's very late.

We've all been talking.

And we all want you to go to Hong Kong, mom.

Do you?

Yes, and I want you to take this.

Oh.

Oh.

♪ And that was confirmation that you can refer any health visitor business over to Miss Haines at the Stepney Clinic.

If I say so myself, the plan is impregnable.

You, meanwhile, are the only one I trust with my Rolodex.

I will guard it with my life.

And Nurse Aylward considers herself on call at any time should you require her support with any administration.

I'm also available for midwifery duty.

You only have to pick up the phone.

Thank you.

It's most unlikely that it will come to that.

♪ This is a mercy mission.

It's also a mercy dash, and we'll be home soon.

By the time we all gather here again, we will have left our friends in Hong Kong in a place of hope and of comfort and of joy.

Thank you, all of you, for helping us to help them.

[Applause] ♪ I am reminded of Spitfires streaming overhead, to skies and fights half-known but undetermined.

♪ They'll all be home by Christmas.

That was our motto... in a different war.

♪ I still don't like the idea of you living in a bedsit, like you just come off the boat.

It's a better bedsit than I had in those days.

It's got fitted carpets and hot water.

♪ [Door opens] Ah.

You, I take it, are Pastor C.A.

Robinson of the Shining Tabernacle Church of God?

And you must be Mr.

Fischer.

Please, come in.

♪ We got rid of the electric meter to stop the lights going out when people were testifying.

And this is the bedroom.

♪ We put up thick curtains so the trains won't bother you in the night.

The trains won't bother me at any time of day.

♪ [Door opens] ♪ I thought you'd be saying Lauds in your room, Sister Monica Joan.

In Hong Kong, they will be saying the afternoon office, and the Psalm does not vary, no matter from which corner of the globe we offer up our praise.

I shall raise my voice with yours and theirs.

Sisters: ♪ My help cometh even from the Lord ♪ ♪ Who hath made heaven and earth ♪ ♪ He will not suffer thy foot to be moved ♪ ♪ And he that keepeth thee will not sleep ♪ ♪ Pra-a-a-aise ♪ ♪ The Lord ♪ ♪ ♪ Pra-a-a-aise ♪ ♪ The Lord ♪ [Woman groaning] [Indistinct voices] ♪ [Whistle blows] [Man speaking Cantonese] The thing is, Dr.

Turner, you just have to keep your nerve.

I haven't lost my nerve, Fred.

I have lost sight of the van containing all of the medical supplies and the donations.

I told the driver at the airport.

I said they were to follow immediately behind us.

I wondered what you were saying.

You sounded commendably forceful.

We just have to hope you said what you thought you said.

If we have any problems whatsoever, my Derek has told me which police station to go to and to use his name.

[Man speaking Cantonese] ♪ That's one of our sisters.

♪ Oh!

Oh!

Sister Edith!

Oh!

♪ I greet you in Lord Jesus Christ's name.

We greet you likewise.

[Gasping] ♪ There is much to be considered.

Seven days I have them upstairs, sick nuns, sick children!

And we could not be more grateful.

Thank you.

Say that to her in Cantonese.

"Thank you" I know.

Thank you not important.

Trouble.

I know also you have trouble.

Come.

Uh.

[Child crying and coughing] They can't all be living here.

Ooh.

Onward.

I can hear the child crying.

[Child crying] [Engines rumbling and horns honking] ♪ I believe Sister Simon will need to go to hospital and have her wrist reset under anesthetic.

And I suspect Sister Prudence has a broken collarbone.

We're gonna have to stand them all down and send them for hospital treatment.

♪ When did the diarrhea start, before the cough or after?

Doctor, I know what ails me.

I have tuberculosis.

Are you sure, or do you simply fear it?

Miliary tuberculosis, the worst kind.

Tuberculosis is so very contagious.

It has spread from my lungs throughout my body.

I have little time left to live.

When were you diagnosed?

The day the clinic collapsed.

I was told by our doctor, Dr.

Li.

I took myself out for a walk whilst she arranged for me to go to a sanitorium, and when I returned, there was no clinic and... and no doctor.

♪ No bed in the sanatorium.

And no choice but to carry on handling the children.

[Sighs] ♪ Oh.

Oh.

You are kind, nurse.

Just doing my job, love.

Hmm.

At least the main treatment for preeclampsia is bed rest.

Both these ladies have had that, rudimentary though the beds may be.

Once we've unpacked, I'll ask them to oblige me with some samples and get the dipsticks out.

♪ This is infected.

I don't think it's been properly cleaned.

Is it any wonder, with them all huddled up here without even the barest essentials, not to mention ignoring their own injuries?

If you ask me, the sisters worked miracles enough just keeping everyone alive.

And now it's our turn.

This place reminds me of a cash-and-carry.

There must be a gross of tinned bamboo shoots in this box and enough soy sauce to float a battleship.

Do you reckon Mrs.

Ma would mind if we move stuff about?

We'll have to ask her, Fred.

I know she's a Christian convert, and she has been very accommodating, but these are her premises.

I need the labeled crates of medical supplies, Fred.

We have to run urgent TB tests on everyone.

Over here, doc.

Ah, excellent.

Excellent.

No.

Oh, no, no, no!

These have been forced open.

[Hinges creak] [Sighs] It's all gone.

[Sighs] Veronica: Is that the new New Vista Sanitorium?

Goy.

I have a very sick lady who requires urgent admission.

[Speaking Cantonese] You have been charity itself, Mrs.

Ma.

I'll hold.

You took the sisters in and gave them food and shelter.

Only till rescue.

You are rescue!

Now you all go!

But we have nowhere else to go.

We will find a new clinic.

We will find a new convent.

But we cannot do that today.

It's not safe!

Why is it not safe?

♪ You stay.

Stay now, but go soon!

And use back door, not front.

♪ [Telephone rings] [Ring] Nonnatus House, midwife speaking.

Can I bring my wife to the maternity home, please?

Of course, sir.

What name is it?

She says, "What name?"

Diane Mary Edgar!

Diane Mary Edgar.

♪ I made myself a cup of coffee, Miss Higgins.

Do you want one?

Thank you.

I generally keep myself in check until elevenses.

Your white coat should be hanging on the back of the door of the consulting room.

Would you like me to fetch it?

It's fine.

I don't need it yet.

We've got bad coughs coming in at half past 9:00 and 10 past 10:00 and at 11:00, all in the over-50 age group.

Have these patients been referred to the East London Chest Clinic?

I'm sure they have, if Dr.

Turner considers that appropriate.

Excellent.

I'll have a quick rummage through their notes just to make sure.

The files are through here, aren't they?

They are indeed.

No fluids in the filing room, if you'd be so kind.

♪ [Groans loudly] [Breathing heavily] Perfect work.

You certainly know what you're doing.

Oh, I feel terrible about bringing those reindeer heads.

I'd have never gotten finished otherwise.

Good morning.

May I help you?

My name is Queenie Forsyth.

My daughter is in childbirth.

We arrived last night.

[Breathing heavily] That's six massive pushes I've done now.

It's not budging, nurse.

Let's get you back on the bed, and then I can examine you.

We'll soon have a better ideal of your progress.

I'm telling you now, there hasn't been any.

This one's not playing the same game as my others.

[Children laughing] ♪ [Woman groaning] ♪ [Woman groaning loudly] Oh, mommy!

Catherine: Midwives calling.

Good gracious.

It's like the first day of the sales in here.

Can we open one of those windows and let in a bit of air?

How long have you been feeling that you need to push, child?

I don't know!

And every time they yell at me to push, I try!

Five hours.

Five hours she's been at it.

Okay, honey, until we know what's what, you must not push.

Do you hear me?

You must not push.

I am not a bossy woman, but I am being bossy now.

[Groans softly] How much did your other babies weigh, Diane?

Seven pound six and eight pound nine.

Darren was like giving birth to a sofa.

This one feels like a ruddy three-piece suite and a coffee table.

I think baby might be on the bonny side, but I don't think he's read the book that tells him how to line up nicely for delivery.

Doctor, could you pop across and speak to Dr.

Watkiss?

It's R.O.T.

[Breathing deeply] A right occipital transverse?

And quite a big baby.

But my dad, Dr.

Turner, always attends in the event of any transverse position.

Well, I'd better come through then.

That poor girl started pushing long, long before she was ready.

Has she damaged her cervix?

It's not torn, but it's so swollen I can actually see it at the entrance to her vagina.

No baby's going to get through that unless we bring that swelling down.

We need ice.

Ice?

I think I saw a refrigerator.

If we don't make this work, she'll need a Caesarean section.

Diane, don't cry.

There are all sorts of things we can do to get things moving.

Would Dr.

Turner try the ventouse, do you think?

No.

He always uses forceps in a transverse position.

♪ In which case, we'll continue with trial of labor.

♪ We'll transfer you to St.

Cuthbert's if we get no joy.

[Diane crying] [Gasps] [Breathing deeply] Timothy, this won't do.

Monica: Nonnatus House.

If you pursue midwives, they are all abroad or otherwise at large.

Is there nobody there at all?

Nurse Clifford has a multiparous woman in obstructed labor, and the locum doesn't know how to use forceps.

Supply the details, and I will provide the advice.

You're going to be grateful to me in the long run, but I'm not going to lie to you and say this ice pack is the nicest thing you ever had slip underneath your covers.

[Catherine laughs] Are you allowed to laugh at things like that?

I don't get the chance very often.

Ah!

[Gasps] It's freezing!

Serves you right for being disrespectful.

[Groaning] Diane, we need you head-down and with your bottom in the air.

This position will stretch your pelvic ligaments and give the baby enough room to adjust its head position.

I hope you have that on good authority.

The best authority you can possibly imagine.

♪ Let her have a little nap.

Is there anything else wrong with her?

I don't think so.

But, Queenie, women need skilled help when they're giving birth.

Especially when it's their first.

I took her to the doctor when she first knew that she'd fallen.

We were up in the far north then.

You forget where you've been.

Haven't decided where you're going.

And besides, I went to the hospital with me last one.

I wouldn't venture that again.

Brr!

I'll examine her.

Let's hope it's worked.

♪ Oh, I just want to lie down.

The baby has shifted position, Diane.

All we need to do now is make friends with gravity.

[Groans] I'm gonna have to push!

That's all right, Diane.

You give it everything you've got.

This is the bit where I'm glad I did the enema.

[Knock on door] I feared verbal instructions alone would not suffice.

Verbal instruction has done more than you could possibly imagine.

Baby's head is beginning to crown.

[Groaning] The swelling has gone down, Marie, but I need you to do exactly as I say.

Listen to Nurse Highland.

On the next one, I want your chin on your chest and a slow, quiet, steady push.

Slow.

Slow... Together: Quiet, steady.

Aah!

[Groaning] We've got the head!

[Diane groaning] Come on.

You can do it.

Keep it coming!

Keep it coming!

Ah!

[Baby crying] Is it a boy or a girl?

I'm afraid I can't tell.

I've got something in my eye.

[Baby crying] Can you see, Sister Monica Joan?

I can see every aspect of the miracle.

You have a daughter.

[Baby crying] ♪ Aah!

The stinging will end soon, Marie.

Just breathe.

Just breathe.

And we have a head!

Well done, honey.

We also have meconium.

The midwife says we need an ambulance!

Oh!

Go on!

[Baby crying] ♪ Ah!

[Sighs heavily] ♪ You've a little boy, Marie.

Can I hold him?

All will be well, Marie.

I promise you, all will be well.

[Gurgling sounds] ♪ [Baby cries softly] He must be baptized...now.

There will be a chaplain at the hospital, Queenie.

This is his home, and he is not leaving his mother's arms until he is baptized.

[Soft laughter] Well, Dr.

Watkiss' curriculum vitae stated very clearly she is fully trained in obstetrics.

She has now revealed that in almost five years of GP practice, she has only delivered two babies, neither with any complications.

That's the way it is these days.

We're all trained in obs and gynie, but the expectation is almost every baby will be born in hospital.

Dr.

Watkiss wanted to continue trial of labor, but we couldn't countermand her because she's more senior.

And next time, we may not have Sister Monica Joan to call on.

Any wisdom I have was hard-won in the days where there might have been no doctor to send for.

We were wise out of necessity.

And you are skilled in your own right.

Nevertheless, I will not permit this to happen again.

I am sending for Nurse Aylward.

♪ Lord Jesus Christ, who took little children in your arms and blessed them, hold this infant, Luke Michael, in your matchless love today and always.

Fill his mother and father with your peace, and cherish him according to thy will.

Amen.

All: Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

[Kiss] [Distant voices] I keep thinking... May's mother was a nanny for a British service family.

Is it worth asking if the army have any record of her?

She would have just been cheap, casual labor.

[Sighs] Right after she lost the job, she must have been desperate.

And where would desperation take you in a city of this size?

We have to find out.

Esther Tang gave us the greatest gift we've ever had.

And we can't abandon her.

No, we can't.

♪ Sister Hilda?

Are you lying awake for the same reason that I'm lying awake?

I don't know.

Well... I'm lying awake because we've flown halfway around the world on a rescue mission, and if we get thrown out of this place by Mrs.

Ma, we're going to be in as much need of rescue as anyone else.

The injured and the sick sisters are leaving in the morning, Sister Edith to the sanitorium, and the other sisters to the Roman Catholic Hospital.

We have orphans to care for and expectant mothers, any one of whom could have caught TB.

And out in the street, there are prostitutes and addicts who will look to us for help.

I know there are, but we will pray, and we will wait to see what love can do.

[Sighs] ♪ ♪ I'm sorry, Miss Higgins.

I've been through all of these cases, and there are at least half a dozen who should be at St.

Cuthbert's and not here.

Well, Mr.

Parry himself expressed satisfaction with our care.

Good afternoon, ladies.

Dr.

Watkiss I presume.

Nurse Aylward?

Sister Aylward, as it happens.

I've accepted a promotion during the absence of Dr.

Turner, under whom I'm worked for 16 years, ever since I qualified.

♪ So, we have three mothers over 40, two gestational diabetes, and Maureen Santoro.

I know already.

She had her first set of twins with us.

Second set isn't unheard of.

I've never handled a multiple pregnancy, sister.

Well, there's always a first time.

Dr.

Watkiss and I will call ourselves Cubicle One.

Send them all to us, and we'll see how we do.

♪ Hello.

Queenie!

Have you brought Marie?

She's still above in the hospital with the baby.

He's after taking the antibiotics.

She's doing grand.

It's me that needs to see you.

Are you expecting, Queenie?

Under this coat, I'm having me ninth.

You don't shout about it when you get to my age.

But I heard what you and the other nurse was saying.

I need skilled help.

If you want it, we'll make sure you get it.

I do want it.

My last was a stillborn, even though I had it in hospital.

I'm so sorry that happened to you, Queenie.

♪ We're going to walk beside you now.

I'll start by filling in your co-op card.

[Doorbell jingles] Ooh.

Ah.

A tin of Carnation milk, if you please.

And, um...a quarter of humbugs, if you'll be so kind.

No, no, no, no, no.

Perhaps just two ounces.

I do not consume them at any conspicuous pace.

You don't want them all turning sticky at the bottom of the bag.

No.

[Rattling] Ah.

I thought I heard that.

It catches.

Doesn't it?

I think Mr.

Buckle was supposed to oil it before he went away.

He must have forgotten.

Well, then, I... I thought I'd imagined it.

Ha ha!

[Laughing] Ha ha ha ha ha!

It catches.

It's all very well and good, complaining that all the people who can deliver babies have gone to Hong Kong.

I'm more concerned that all the people who can sew have gone to Hong Kong.

You're always waving your magic wand and producing costumes, Geoffrey.

And no one's going to see the details.

It's for a carnival.

Everything's going to be moving past at speed.

Well, moving past.

I'm an ideas man and a contacts man.

I'm not a needle and thread man.

And it was not my idea to dress up the midwives of Nonnatus House as angels complete with ostrich-feather wings.

I thought we could do it with just a bit of cutting and sticking, like Rosalind and her Christmas trees.

They're palm trees.

I heard rumors the sewing machine was out.

Angela just tried on her spoon costume and ripped it.

You look like you could do with a Snowball, honey.

Do you want a maraschino cherry in it?

I'll have two.

What sort of wounds have they taught you to suture at medical school?

Oh, well, highlights include closure of incision after two appendectomies.

And I did a rugby player's scalp once.

Needle, thread.

If you want a cocktail, you're going to have to earn it.

♪ [Man speaking Cantonese] This is not the way I intended my service to end, as a patient in a sanitorium.

You have given all you can, Sister Edith.

That is enough and more.

It was the children I lived for and loved the best.

I remember your daughter well.

May?

Oh, she's 10 years old now.

And so many children pass through the orphanage.

Hmm.

I took medicine to her mother, Esther.

♪ Three months ago, she was living out on Tau Street, number 122.

The number's daubed on, on the door.

Sister Edith, do you think she might still be there?

She was there once and not too long ago.

Beyond that, I cannot say.

♪ The sooner we are able to move into the premises, the better it will be for all the people in our care.

We can even overlook the pigeon infestation, well, for a small reduction in the rent.

Downpayment will be 2,000 Hong Kong dollars.

The sisters have the funds for that, and there will be ongoing support from a number of private philanthropists plus the Rotary Club of Hong Kong.

♪ Very well.

We shall prepare the documentation.

Ah.

Ha ha ha.

Thank you.

[Speaking Cantonese] Dr.

Turner: Let's hope the army can help with our medical supplies.

The collapse of that clinic barely made the news here.

And, of course, we're delighted to assist, now that we know there's a rescue mission on.

The sisters need all the help they can get, sir.

It's not disinterest because buildings fall down all the time.

It's avoidance.

Because it's going to happen more and more.

Everybody knows that, and there's nothing we can do.

Because of the overcrowding?

Because they just keep building upwards on insecure foundations.

One misplaced mudslide could obliterate Kowloon.

At least we can improve on the human side of things.

[Knocks loudly] Morning, major.

Morning, corporal.

I'm coming with my best party manners and a begging bowl.

♪ [Trolley bell dinging] ♪ It really is extraordinarily kind of you to accompany us, Mrs.

Buckle.

♪ I thought it may be necessary to tell untruths, sister, and I thought, if that was the case, then better me than you.

Mrs.

Buckle, have you told untruths?

No!

I may have slightly preempted one or two realities, although I'm sure the Rotary Club will be only too pleased to offer their support once I make contact and explain the situation.

I daren't even ask about the private philanthropists.

One of them is me.

And I'm sure there will be others.

[Indistinct voices] [Man speaking Cantonese] It's not just the TB kits and penicillin I'm grateful to the major for.

It's use of the army labs for processing the tests.

It's all well and good, the sisters having faith in God.

But I reckon the military beat him every time.

The military is certainly better organized.

Well, I suppose they have to be, same as the police, especially with all this Triad malarkey.

It's just like the Kray twins, and then some.

I've stitched wounds inflicted by the Kray twins.

They never bothered us nor Nonnatus House.

In fact, the sisters were revered.

Well, I don't reckon the Triad revere the sisters here.

If they did, they would help them.

I think you're right.

You know, Violet's Derek says there's someone in Triad in every street that people have to answer to or pay.

And Mrs.

Ma is living in fear of someone.

[Siren passing] Ah.

[Knocking] [Hinges creaking] Oh, I'm searching for a young lady called Esther Tang.

She used to live at this address and has a young boy about the same age as this little one.

♪ I wonder if you or your wife might know where she moved to.

She has gone.

She will not return.

[Door slams] ♪ Miss!

Miss!

Esther left one week ago.

Did she say where she was going?

She was sick, and she was afraid.

Don't look for her, please.

Can I ask your name?

Grace.

Don't look.

♪ [Christmas tune playing] ♪ Bing Crosby: ♪ Have yourself a merry little Christmas ♪ ♪ Let your heart be light ♪ ♪ From now on, our troubles will be out of sight ♪ ♪ Merry Christmas ♪ ♪ Merry, merry Christmas ♪ ♪ Have yourself a merry little Christmas ♪ ♪ Make the yuletide gay ♪ ♪ From now on, our troubles will be miles away ♪ ♪ All your troubles soon turn into bubbles ♪ ♪ Once again, as in olden days ♪ ♪ Happy golden days of yore ♪ ♪ Faithful friends who are dear to us ♪ ♪ Gather near to us once more ♪ ♪ Once more ♪ ♪ Through the years, we all will be together... ♪ Joyce, Trixie is supposed to be doing our makeup, but there's no sign of her.

She's not the only one who knows what to do with a bit of eye shadow.

And if she doesn't turn up on time, our float is leaving without her.

Isn't it going to look a bit feeble with just the three of us?

We are midwives, not the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Pack, pack, pack.

You are all to visit the toilets now and come straight back here as soon as you have washed your hands, right?

Now, Harry, who has arrived from university just in time to help us tonight, is now going to hand out cough candy to help us all with our singing.

[Boys shouting excitedly] -I want one!

-I want one, sir!

Promise me you'll always have me home for Christmas.

We're going to be late, Geoffrey.

If you were content with boarding a carnival float wearing improperly attached angel wings, well, I can assure you, I wasn't.

Oh, for pity's sake, pushing this pram through snow is like dicing with insanity.

What's that?

It's a walking stick.

It's actually rather elegant.

I think it's got a solid silver top.

Oh, no, no.

Sis, I know this.

This belongs to one of my Harley Street patients, Maurice Templemore.

He was an enormous film star when the talkies first came out.

What's it doing here in Poplar?

Also, if there's one thing I do know, if you find a walking stick lying on the ground, you're likely to find its owner nearby and lying in a similar position.

Sir!

No, Maurice Templemore cannot be in Poplar.

I doubt he even knows where Poplar is.

He must have been burgled.

Sir?

Sir?

Man, weakly: Over...here.

♪ I'm terribly sorry.

I seem to have rather overstretched myself.

Thank you.

Mr.

Templemore.

Please don't call me that, not here.

[Onlookers cheering and clapping] [Steel drums playing Christmas music] ♪ Merry Christmas.

♪ Merry Christmas.

[Marching band playing Christmas music] ♪ What are you doing in this insalubrious part of town?

You're in the same insalubrious part of town.

But you're not well.

I know that because you said so when I was sorting out your fibrositis.

A blood disorder you told me.

What kind of blood disorder?

A malignant one, but I didn't tell him that.

♪ [Groans] I was born in this flat when the paper shop was a green grocer.

My father came all the way from Russia, straight off the boats.

All he knew was beets and turnips, and so he made a life from that.

And you made a life out of different things entirely.

Yeah.

Little Manny Fischer became Maurice Templemore.

New York, Hollywood, and then home.

Well... London's West End instead of the East End and a life full of comfortable obscurity.

But...everyone had gone.

Your family had gone?

♪ Here.

Here.

[Keys rattling and lock clicking] ♪ All manner of humanity that I once loved had gone.

So, I've come home to die.

Mr.

Templemore, you live in Belgravia.

Not anymore, and I'm no longer "Mr.

Templemore..." if ever I truly was.

♪ He needs medical care, sis.

And I'll arrange that in the morning.

But at this precise moment in time, we have a carnival to catch.

Come along!

[Indistinct voices] [Baby crying] Oh, no.

No.

A baby left to be found.

[Baby crying] ♪ This happened all the time at the Hibiscus Clinic.

A girl.

I don't put her at more than two days old.

And the cord looks to have been chewed through.

Come here.

Come on, lovely.

Oh, it's okay.

Oh... [Man speaking Cantonese] [Door rumbles] ♪ What do you mean we can't have the house on Half Lotus Street?

We have the keys, and we have paid the deposit.

It is not suitable.

Julienne: It's extremely suitable, and we can move there immediately with the children and our adult patients.

The man who owns the building say no.

Give me the keys.

[Baby cooing] ♪ If we are to return them, it can only be in exchange for the money we have paid!

[Crash] Give me the keys.

[Baby cries] Keys.

♪ ♪ We don't get snow in the Caribbean, but nothing's ever perfect.

I don't think it could be more perfect.

Keys.

Hilda: Money.

I'm afraid it really is that simple.

Bullet is simple.

We have paid a deposit on that rental.

You mistake our intention, sir.

We're a religious order, and we've come here to do good, not harm.

[Baby cries] Crane: We're doing women's work.

I'm surprised it's of any interest at all to men, with guns or without.

The other sister said they were doing Jesus' work.

And Jesus' work belongs to devil!

Give him the keys.

[Baby cries] ♪ Geoffrey: Wait, wait, wait.

Trixie: Wait, stop!

Get up, get up, get up.

[Applause] ♪ [People cheering] He take your money.

All of it.

Do not be kind to me.

Julienne: You were at least as frightened as we were of that man.

And I suspect you have been so for a great deal longer.

Has he been here before, Mrs.

Ma?

Many time.

I pay him to keep my business safe.

I think you need to pay someone to keep you safe from him.

Mrs.

Ma, what has happened here tonight is not acceptable.

If we have brought trouble to your door, that is not acceptable either.

And we will move on as soon as we are able.

You keep holding her close while I check her temperature.

[Cries] Do you think she's opioid addicted, Sister?

You've more experience of that than me.

It's a different type of cry.

I think she's cold and hungry.

Feels the want of her mother's arms around her.

Babies are not ignorant creatures.

Ladies, Nurse Clifford and I were wondering, since everything's now running smoothly, whether we might be permitted to have a little seasonal gathering here at Nonnatus House?

I love the idea of a seasonal gathering, but it's certainly not up to me to give permission.

It would really just be ourselves, plus a few of our friends from nursing and hospital circles.

Will there be popular music playing and will there be dancing and the presence of young men?

Well, Cyril will be coming, and we thought we'd invite Harry Chopra and Timothy.

I consider myself persuaded.

Life is short.

And Christmas, as we are so frequently reminded, comes but once a year.

Morning.

I'm looking for Queenie.

She's in her caravan.

Queenie, I know it's hard to talk about what went wrong with the baby that you lost.

But not talking might make it harder, in a different way.

I think this Windolene has dried.

If you pass me a rag, I can get ahead with it.

♪ They said I wasn't to see it.

Even though I heard it crying.

Queenie, if you heard your baby cry, it wasn't stillborn.

It was a girl.

They told me that.

I said I wanted her baptized, but they said that the priest came too late.

If you don't feel like eating, then you must try and keep up your liquids.

Soup would be particularly good.

Soup?

I never cared much for soup.

When I was a child, soup was a sign that ends were not meeting.

But now, soup is a sign that I am meeting my end.

[Laughs] You don't have to joke about this, Mr.

Fischer.

Not unless you want to.

Nothing really matters now but your comfort, and there are things we can do with regard to that, even though there are things that we can't change.

Isn't that right, nurse?

That's absolutely right.

What would you most like to happen over the next few weeks, Mr.

Fischer?

I came here because I wanted to come home, but I failed to allow for the fact that home is where your family are, or... or were.

Mine are all gone, so... [Coughs] Ghosts are good companions for the heart, but they're not company.

Are you saying you don't want to be alone?

Yes.

♪ I asked the midwife what happened to the baby.

All she would say was she had the biggest eyes, and she said "biggest" like it was a compliment.

She was kindly.

Two other nurses came in and washed me.

Two of them.

Like I was dirty.

I heard one of them say that my baby had no head.

[Cries] But I knew they were lying because the kindly midwife said that she had the biggest eyes.

I wish I could tell you what happened to your daughter, but I can tell you the truth, that she was loved.

[Laughs] Loving's not the same as being baptized, though, is it?

I believe it's very similar.

[Cries] Mrs.

Ma: More hot water.

Now you have to give her a name.

Chinese and English.

What your name?

I'm afraid it's not very with it.

It's Phyllis.

It is too hard say.

We sisters all have two names too.

The one we were born with and the one we took when we gave our lives to Jesus.

What yours?

Pamela.

Semi-classical with rather a nice ring to it.

Mmm.

[Stammers] Sister Julienne was baptized Louise.

I know two bar girl call Louise.

You born name?

Uh, Beryl.

Beryl Burrows.

Although the surname isn't relevant.

Beryl's a precious stone, isn't it?

And we can't say this one isn't a little gem.

Beryl it is.

[Giggling] [Phone rings] Dr.

Turner's surgery.

Oh, Miss Higgins.

I've been offered half a dozen shifts on male surgical.

At St.

Cuthbert's?

Yes.

I'll be supernumerary, but it's under Mr.

Borelli.

Mr.

Borelli is held in the very highest regard.

Oh, I assume, however, that if you take up this chance, it may threaten the stability and security of the children's routine.

It could be devastating.

[Cheers] Queenie's had no complications at all in this pregnancy.

Apart from mild anemia, despite her age and despite the fact that it's her ninth.

But she is desperately anxious.

Well, does she think the same disaster might be visited again?

How can I tell her it won't?

If I don't know what happened either.

Oh, that's clever.

It is a better use of this contraption than the plucking up and putting on of shoes, which is supposedly its purpose.

Sister Monica Joan, I wondered if I might ask for your help.

Is good?

Certainly stable.

You're doing well, lass.

What is "lass"?

Oh, it means "girl."

It's what we call "a term of endearment."

It's a way of being kind.

My mother used to say "Lolo."

Where is your mother, Yuechan?

In our village, in Guangdong.

If she still alive.

Could you write to her?

A letter?

She not know how to read.

I not know what to say.

How I come here.

How I have a baby.

We need you to stay well and happy until this baby comes.

I'll be your mother until then.

Mmm?

♪ Hibiscus Street isn't part of my division, but it's notorious, even within Kowloon.

There are four branches of Triad active in Hong Kong and they run everything.

Gambling, prostitution, drugs, the whole nine yards.

Which is why our work there is so essential.

The old clinic came under a branch run by a crook who calls himself the Cormorant.

The Cormorant?

He's a Liverpool Chinese.

Born there, deported here during the war.

Never went back.

And why should he?

He's made a decent living over here.

Runs a nightclub called the Crimson Lantern and other rackets.

How come you know all this, but crime's still running rampant?

Knowing what Triad are doing doesn't mean we can stop them.

We don't want to put you in a difficult position, Derek, but the sisters need advice.

My advice is they should look for premises outside the Cormorant's area.

They've done something to offend him and he won't let it go.

♪ Oh, Esther.

♪ [Door closing] Mr.

Fischer: Oh, where did you appear from?

I've seen entrances on stage like that.

But generally they involve a... a trap door.

The landlord provided the key and the district nurse hung it on a string inside the letterbox.

Huh!

What year were you born?

1897.

Ah.

Then you cannot be the child I delivered in this chamber.

I did not arrive in Poplar until 1903.

My brother, Sammy, he was born in 1903 and the others came after him.

Then... you must be the child with the large round eyes that sat on the bed and watched as I bathed this infant sibling.

You had a remarkable gaze.

Even then.

Yes, I remember that.

And I hope I remember you.

I am most grateful for your assistance.

Good day.

Harry.

Yes, Auntie?

Miss Higgins.

Thank you.

Just while we're in the surgery.

Now, take Dr.

Watkiss her coffee.

Then I need you to go to the Records Office for me.

Hilda: All right.

And that was our kindly supporter at the British Army base informing us that Sister Prudence also tested positive for tuberculosis.

And so have two of the children.

This is a really vicious strain.

Thank goodness we've all been vaccinated.

We will have to get them transferred to the sanatorium, then fumigate their room as well as Sister Edith's.

Patrick, there's something you need to see.

Hello, Teddy dear.

♪ Teddy, whatever happened to the Christmas tree?

Petula knocked it down.

Where are the girls?

In their bedroom.

Playing with nail varnish.

Nail varnish?

Angela and May Turner!

Both: Hello, Miss Higgins.

I have brought savory mince and a peach blancmange.

You will come and eat it.

After which, we will re-erect the Christmas tree, erase all evidence of these manicures and discuss a plan for the remainder of your parents' absence.

There are photographs and letters in this bag that we sent to Esther from England.

There are also what look to be her personal belongings.

There's a comb, and lipstick, and underclothes, and a child's shoe.

Mrs.

Ma, Esther is a very, very important person to our family.

This is her daughter, May, who is our daughter now.

You make good life for this girl.

But Esther has another child now.

A little boy.

A little boy who is missing his shoe.

And possibly missing his mother.

Mrs.

Ma, we don't even know if they're together anymore.

Sister Edith know.

You ask Sister Edith.

[Sighs] Mrs.

Forsyth, the midwife who attended your little girl's birth took great care to record her birth and her death in the proper way.

I said she was kindly.

And it seems that your daughter was born with a condition called anencephaly.

The top of her head hadn't developed in the womb as it should have done, and her brain would have been very badly affected.

Could it have hurt her?

No.

But I heard her crying.

All babies cry, Queenie.

It's a sign of life.

And it's beautiful.

Even if that life doesn't last very long.

Was it something I did?

No, Queenie.

It wasn't.

I can promise you that.

All I want is to hold a live child in my arms and to tell her that it's mine.

That other child's name is Christopher.

She will protect him with her life.

His father wants to take him from her.

And his father is a criminal.

A gangster?

Of the worst kind.

He has offspring by numerous women.

But Christopher is his only son.

What has Esther done to make him turn on her like this?

Every time she conceived, she came to us.

Aghast that this had happened again.

But all she ever wanted was love.

It happens the world over.

I've seen it time and time again.

No, you have not seen a man like this.

They call him the Cormorant.

He has ordered her and her child to be hunted down like dogs.

At one point, we persuaded Mrs.

Ma to hide her.

But, Sister Edith, it's as though they have both vanished.

There is one place she thought that no one could ever find her.

Will you tell me where it is?

I must.

Or when I die, the waters will close over her.

What does that say?

I think those two pictograms together mean "for auction."

We won't be going down that route.

We won't be going down the rental route or the purchase route either, Sister.

That gang have taken every penny you possess.

We're quite accustomed to poverty.

Yes, we gave up money when we gave up men.

Hilda: What about this one?

It says "Dancing Girls."

You've dropped off property and drifted into nightclubs.

Well, I can read this one.

It says "Police."

Ha!

[Raining] ♪ We've got no apartment number, no floor number.

We just have to keep on going.

Keep on looking.

How can she even survive like this?

[Baby crying] ♪ I want to find her.

I just don't want to find her here.

[Baby crying] ♪ Esther?

Esther?

Esther.

Can we talk to you?

I have Mrs.

Turner with me.

♪ [Sobs] Hello, you.

You must be Christopher.

I've been waiting to meet you.

♪ Do you keep forgetting that it's Advent?

Yes, and it's not even the absence of cold that I marvel at.

It's the absence, the absolute erasure of weariness.

Do you feel it too?

I've never felt such energy in years.

You have to let us get you out of here to somewhere where you can be nursed, and given food and shelter.

I don't go out.

I stay here.

I always stay here.

The altar in the corner is beautiful, Esther.

I pray always for you and for the souls of my parents.

They have no sons.

Christopher's father wants him very much, doesn't he?

He would give him a wicked life.

Make his child a criminal.

Sisters, I don't doubt your sincerity, and I do accept that you and your associates have been targeted by local undesirables.

Triad.

Let's call a spade a spade, shall we?

We have been targeted by Triad.

The Order of St.

Raymond Nonnatus have given shelter to abandoned babies, provided medicine and alternative employment to street girls, and persuaded addicts to turn their backs on heroin.

That, according to Mrs.

Ma, is our crime.

A young man enslaved to drugs is at the mercy of his masters.

He will do whatever he is asked to do in exchange for the one thing that will give his body peace.

But, if he's freed from addiction, if he finds there is a better way to live, he will turn his back on crime itself.

They become free men.

And, sometimes, police informants.

I'm not going to deny that.

Then you cannot deny the fact that we are doing you a service, and, in so doing, warrant your protection.

And how do you propose that we provide that?

Hilda: Properties vacant.

Third column across, fourth paragraph down.

This was an annex of the old training school.

No longer in use, standing empty, and, crucially, still in police possession.

I can't believe we're leaving them.

We are coming back tomorrow with food.

They're both sick, Shelagh.

But I need to run some tests on the little boy.

There's something very, very wrong with him.

♪ Mind your fingers!

Everything's under control.

Oh!

I need tasters.

Joyce, you can pronounce judgment on the whiskey cream punch.

Sis, I want your opinion on the coconut frappe.

That's going to give my snowballs a run for their money.

I know, it slips down like a tart's stocking, doesn't it?

Sis?

It's divine.

Call me a miracle worker.

It's mainly condensed milk.

Oh, Geoffrey, that's going to make it very calorific.

It's Christmas, I have personally declared an amnesty on slenderizing.

[Phone ringing] [Glasses clinking] Nonnatus house, Midwife speaking.

Timothy: Hi, Trixie.

I've just been observing a bowel anastomosis.

That's nice.

I asked around the canteen.

I've drummed up a few more for the party.

And Miss Higgins is staying the night with the children.

Everyone's bringing a bottle.

[Chuckles] [Phone ringing] Nonnatus House, Midwife speaking.

Nurse Aylward, are you able to come to the maternity home?

Queenie Forsyth has just arrived.

[Moans] Hello, Mom.

Oh.

Busy again?

[Chuckles] I've managed to persuade Hong Kong Rotary Club to offer a modest grant to the sisters to set up a new clinic.

I'm trying to work out if it will stretch.

Chin up.

Sun's over the yard arm.

Violet: Derek, gin and tonic?

Madam?

Derek: Thank you, Grace.

I'm not sure, I wouldn't normally imbibe when I've got the ready reckoner out.

Mom, please, take a break.

Please stop doing stuff.

Stop doing sums.

It's all I can ever remember.

You with your head in a column of figures.

It's who I am, Derek.

I know.

I'd love it not to be.

Just for half an hour.

Just while we have a drink together in the sun.

Shall we do something together tomorrow?

All right.

[Baby crying] Very good.

[Christopher cries] ♪ [Sighs] Esther, I think Christopher may have a problem with his kidneys.

I need to take him to a hospital.

No.

We stay here.

Will you let doctor examine you now, Esther?

We can talk about Christopher after that.

Esther.

You have breast milk soaking through your clothing.

You don't still feed Christopher, do you?

No.

There is no baby.

Not here.

Have you given birth to another child, Esther?

If there is another baby, will you tell us where it is?

I leave my daughter where she will be safe.

I leave her with sisters.

On step of the restaurant.

In a box.

Oh.

Two copies of the Pickwick Papers.

One, from the Poplar Public Library.

The other, from mine own shelves.

Oh.

I am driven from my hearth by the frivolities of youth.

I have fond memories of the frivolities of youth.

The appreciation of such pleasures passed me by.

Any regrets?

That is between myself and the Almighty.

[Chuckles] We can take you back with us, Esther.

We can reunite you with your baby.

I cannot go back to Hibiscus Street.

My daughter is safe there.

My son is not.

Esther, have you had to choose one child over the other?

My son's father only want him.

He will kill for him.

Is this man, the Cormorant, your little girl's father too?

I made new life.

I thought it was a better one, a better man... I was wrong.

["I love love" playing] Woman: ♪ More than the sun and the moonlight ♪ ♪ More than the sky ♪ Oh!

You're a better mover than I expected.

[Laughs] ♪ I love love ♪ [Laughing] ♪ More than my dreams and emotions ♪ ♪ And I'm glad that you are mine ♪ When do you think it's a good time to start party games?

I don't think it's ever a good time to start party games.

Oh, Cyril.

This house is full of nooks and crannies.

It's just crying out for a game of Sardines.

[Shouting] [Talking at the same time] I've tucked Marie and baby Luke up for the night in the side ward.

Both fast asleep already.

[Sobs] Catherine: Nurse Aylward, could you listen to the baby's heartbeat for me?

What's wrong with his heartbeat?

Nothing's wrong, Queenie.

We just like to keep an eye on things.

I want to go home.

I'm not good here.

I can't do it here.

Holy Mary Mother of God, I can't do it.

Sweetheart, this is where you need to stay as calm as you can and save as much strength as you can.

You're going to be able to start pushing this baby out soon.

[Moans] The heartbeat's dropping and she's exhausted.

We need to get her to hospital.

All: Sardines!

Sardines!

Sardines!

Sardines!

Sardines!

Sardines!

Sardines!

Sardines!

Fan out and disperse as soon as you get to the landing.

All of the lights will be turned off.

Twenty minutes doesn't count as rapid transfer in my book, I'm afraid.

The practice doctor is not answering her telephone and the flying squad are not available.

We need an ambulance as soon as possible.

I hoped I'd find you.

[Giggles] Mmm.

[Giggles] Now, this is a good party game.

[Laughs] It's bedlam out there.

There are three medical students in the airing cupboard.

Why don't we just go to your bedsitter for a bit?

This is all getting so raucous.

As long as we don't do anything improper.

We never do anything improper.

The rules of the studio couch are very firmly established.

[Laughs] If you haven't got the strength to push, just pant, Queenie.

[Pants] [Moans] The ambulance is on its way.

Queenie, would you like us to wake Marie?

And she could come and hold your hand.

No, I'd be after worrying about her.

I have seven children alive and living in the world, but the only one I can think about now is the one inside of me.

I need to hold it in my arms.

We've had half an hour of second stage contractions and there's been no descent of the head.

I'm going to deliver this baby now... by forceps.

But only doctors deliver by forceps.

Sister, we don't have the luxury of making that distinction.

This baby's heartbeat isn't picking up and, if we delay, we're going to lose it.

I'm not sure I know what the rules of this game are.

I mean, we are sat in a cupboard with no drinks and there's no room for dancing.

So, we have to wait to be discovered.

And then the next person who discovers us has to squeeze in.

And the next one and the next one.

Right.

[Door opens] Found you.

[Door closes] [Sighs] What do we do now?

We wait, apparently.

[Door opens] Oh, well, to misquote Captain Oates, I'm coming in.

And I may be some time.

[Chuckles] Oh, can I smell old clothes?

Yes.

My whole childhood's flashing before my eyes in here.

I can see the jumper I wore in grammar school.

Oh, I see nurses uniforms.

And a nun's habit.

Ow!

Sweetie, I know you're tired, but three women are stronger than one on her own.

We're going to work together to get this baby out and in your arms.

[Pants] [Moans] Together.

Queenie, do you hear that?

We're all going to join forces.

♪ Will you tell me when you... when you can see its head?

Geoffrey: [Laughs] Geoffrey Franklin, Timothy Turner, Harry Chopra, what are you doing in my bedroom?

Geoffrey: Good things come to those who wait.

Geoffrey!

Try to bare down, Queenie.

As soon as you feel the next contraction, bare down.

[Moans] Now.

[Screams] ♪ [Screams] [Screams] I can hear the ambulance.

[Pants] [Gasps] And it's out.

No ambulance required.

♪ [Gurgles] [Cries] Catherine: Do you hear that, Queenie?

Isn't that a beautiful sound?

Glory be, but I love you.

You are mine.

[Cries] And you are complete.

And you are mine.

And you're crying.

[Laughs] They didn't even tell me if you're a boy or a girl.

Oh, sorry.

I forgot.

It's a boy.

[Cries] [Laughing] Woman: ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Baby love, my baby love ♪ ♪ I need ya, oh how I need ya ♪ ♪ But all you do is treat me bad ♪ ♪ Break my heart and leave me sad ♪ ♪ Tell me, what did I do wrong ♪ ♪ To make you stay away so long ♪ ♪ 'Cause baby love, my baby love ♪ ♪ Been missing ya, miss ki... ♪ "How many old recollections "and how many dormant sympathies "does Christmas time awaken?

"Year after year, we met on that day "a merry and joyous circle.

"Many of the hearts "that throbbed so gaily then have ceased..." "Have ceased to beat.

"Many of the looks "that shone so brightly then "have ceased to glow.

♪ "The hands we grasped "have grown cold."

"The eyes we sought "have hid their luster in the grave.

"And yet the old house, the room, "the merry voices and smiling faces, "the jest, the laugh "crowd upon our mind "at each recurrence of the season, "as if the last assemblage had been but yesterday.

"Happy, happy Christmas "that can win us back "to the delusions of our childish days."

That said, I'm Jewish, Sister Monica Joan.

Well, that does not prevent us from being companions in nostalgia.

Christmas is but one instance of a glimmer into the darkness.

Yes.

We have our Feast of Lights too.

Hanukkah.

[Coughs] It falls almost on the same date as Christmas this year.

[Coughs] ♪ Joyce.

Mmm... I'm dressed as a nurse.

If it's any consolation, you weren't the only one.

Is there anything else I need to know?

♪ It's all right, honey.

I think we're safe.

♪ [Exhales] [Metal clanks against metal] ♪ Geoffrey: If that unholy racket you're making is supposed to be my punishment, I accept it.

As long as it's followed by strong black coffee.

Oh, you'll get coffee.

And it will be accompanied by a dustpan, a brush and a pair of rubber gloves.

I suppose we ought to roll up our sleeves.

"We"?

"We"?

Geoffrey, I have been up all night delivering a baby.

And I've been wielding a bucket for this poor lamb.

Florence Nightingale's got nothing on me.

Good morning, Rosalind.

Or should I say Nurse Clifford?

I'm sorry.

I stayed the night at Cyril's.

Morning orders will take place in three minutes.

[Sighs] [Phone rings] Nonnatus's House, charlady speaking.

Has no one observed that I did not sleep in my accustomed bed last night?

Sister Monica Joan, this morning that is scarcely cause for comment.

Our charge, Mr.

Fischer, fell into a decline before midnight.

I assisted him to his bed, then deemed it inexpedient to leave him.

[Door closes] Oh... Oh, good morning, Harry.

The cloud of cologne on which you enter does nothing to reassure me.

Would you like a cup of coffee, Harry?

♪ Merry Christmas.

And thank you very much to all concerned.

♪ Singers: ♪ Chase your rainbow anywhere you find it ♪ ♪ And maybe you'll find it tomorrow ♪ ♪ Love is a rainbow to light up your life ♪ ♪ It's a strong wind that blows away sorrow ♪ ♪ When you walk along a lonely road ♪ ♪ When you're down, and all the world can see ♪ ♪ When you want to run away ♪ ♪ And hide ♪ [Cries] I was afraid both Christopher and his mother would test positive for TB, but I was wrong.

They're clean.

You weren't wrong about this, though.

Unilateral renal mass.

Right hand side.

Mmm.

There isn't a scrap of fat on him.

I could feel it on palpation.

Soft tissue x-ray can be quite equivocal.

Nothing equivocal about this, though.

Wilms tumor.

Haven't seen a Wilms in general practice for nearly a decade, but... Yes, cancer of the kidney.

And he's two years old.

Well, there's nothing here for him.

I know that.

But nine months ago we did have a REME sergeant whose daughter had it.

We got the family sent back to the UK on compassionate grounds.

Did they lose her?

Far from it.

There's a new chemotherapy being trialed at one of the London hospitals.

Brutal.

But spectacular.

Is it working?

Yes.

I had a penny, a bright new penny, I took my penny to the market square.

I wanted a rabbit, a little brown rabbit, and I looked for a rabbit 'most everywhere.

For I went to the stall where they sold sweet lavender.

Only a penny for a bunch of lavender.

"Have you got a rabbit?

'cos I don't want lavender."

[Door closes] They... [Baby coos] They didn't have a rabbit, not anywhere there.

You must be baby Beryl's mommy.

Esther would like to feed Beryl.

Sister, do you think she's hungry?

Well, most certainly.

She is a peckish little thing.

[Baby coos] ♪ [Sobs] I can remember lying in bed and seeing exactly this view of the snow falling.

There were four of us under the eiderdown.

David, Sammy, Isaac and me.

I have often pondered what it must be like to share a bed with others.

It's warm.

Geoffrey: Knock, knock.

Oh, it's not that Complan of yours again, is it?

No matter how often you gussy it up with those paper umbrellas of yours, I'm still bored of it.

It's actually a whiskey cream punch.

A recipe that proved so efficacious at our Christmas party I'm thinking of applying for a patent.

Oh, is... Is it?

Is it the 22nd today?

It's the 21st, Mr.

Fischer.

Oh.

Then it's tomorrow.

What's tomorrow, old chap?

The first night of Hanukkah.

The Feast of Lights.

[Coughs] Rosalind: Would you like me to find a rabbi for you, Mr.

Fischer?

It wouldn't hurt.

Can you just take a kiddie halfway around the world, doc?

If he needs life-saving medical treatment and his mother gives permission, yes.

But you don't have to adopt him?

[Grunts] No, thank God.

It took us years to adopt May.

Christopher won't have years.

He may not even have months if we don't act fast.

It's good of the army to donate stuff.

I just hadn't reckoned on there being so much of it.

We need a taxi.

[Whistles] We're in luck.

[Horn blaring] Hibiscus House, 79 Elgin Gardens, please.

Fred: Blimey.

[Chuckles] You know, Mom, you've done great things.

Here?

In Hong Kong?

Here and at home.

I've only heard about you being mayor in Tower Hamlets.

Now I've seen you being someone, doing something in a city I can barely get to grips with.

All I've done is raise a bit of money and got people who can help talking to people who need help.

It's what I do.

Perhaps because it's all I can do.

Well, that's not nothing.

I'm sorry.

I needed evidence before I could respect you for it.

There's no need to be sorry for anything, ever.

You're my son.

[Knocking on door] Hello, Grace dear.

Do you need something?

Mr.

Fred and the doctor are in trouble.

What sort of trouble?

Worse than trouble.

They in danger.

Please, don't ask me how I know this.

If you don't tell me, I can't act on the information.

My husband works for the Cormorant.

I hear talking on the phone.

♪ [Laughing] ♪ You're not taking my son to England.

If we don't, he will die.

You don't know that.

You've given me no proof of that.

Or any proof that you're even a doctor.

I can assure you his credentials are totally bona fide.

I'm even a Scouser.

What school did you go to?

Liverpool Institute.

My father had an ironmonger's shop in Cornwallis Street.

I probably walked right past it.

When war broke out, they took me to a ship to be deported.

I had an English wife I never saw again.

Sometimes you lose people.

Sometimes they're stolen.

Or you are.

Are you a gambling man, Dr.

Turner?

No.

I am.

If you want my son, you have to play me for him.

How about Ma Jong?

Or cards?

Poker, Chemin de fer, Blackjack?

You choose.

♪ Baruch atah Adonai ♪ ♪ Eloheinu melech ha-olam ♪ ♪ Asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav ♪ ♪ V'tzivanu l'hadlik ♪ ♪ Neir shel Chanukah ♪ Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

♪ [Sobs] Thank you.

Thank you.

Is he allowed to choose a deputy?

I could play on his behalf.

I don't think that would help, Fred.

You can play as many games as you want.

With cards, with words.

With me.

But if Christopher's life is lost, who will pray for him at your altar?

Who will pray for you?

Who will carry on your family line?

You could have all of those things.

I can find a Chinese doctor for him.

I could be the one that saves his life.

Or you can just have your pride.

It doesn't matter who saves his life as long as it's saved.

And, if it is saved, I guarantee I will send him back to you.

[Gunshots] [Men speaking Cantonese] Let's continue this conversation elsewhere, shall we?

Go.

Doctor.

Take the kid.

Yes.

[Screaming] Tell them to give him a chance.

[Moans] Let him breathe as nature intended him to breathe.

There is no consolation for him now in artificial air.

♪ Better, old chap?

[Moans] [Paper breaking] Oh!

[Chuckling] [Paper breaks] [Gasping] [Chuckling] [Paper breaks] Oh!

It will take time to rebuild, but the foundations have been laid.

Are you happy to be staying on?

Yes.

Because I don't doubt our purpose here.

Are you happy to be going home?

Yes.

Because I'm more convinced than ever that our work is vital, wherever we are called.

Where do you imagine we'll be called next?

I daren't imagine.

But I will go and do whatever I am asked.

Things are ticking along like clockwork, doctor.

Well done, Yuechan.

Pre-eclampsia isn't easy, but you did everything you were told.

To lie down is not hard work.

Good lass.

Good lass.

I'm glad this baby is arriving before we leave, but if it's the first baby born in the new branch house, it seems to me it should be brought into the world by one of the sisters.

Yes, it should.

♪ Oh.

I'm keeping people waiting.

They're all just as they were... when they were here.

When we were all at home.

♪ [Screams] [Baby cries] A little girl, Yuechan.

Congratulations!

Look at her.

[Cries] Just look at her.

Oh, lass, she's gorgeous.

[Baby cries] You have been my mother.

Now I'm hers.

I give her name that always bring your face to me.

We all agreed that Phyllis was too hard to say.

Not Phyllis.

Lass.

Lass is easy to say.

And happy to remember.

[Baby cries] I have seen death before.

It is terrible.

And it can be beautiful.

I think today it was that.

I have seen lovers come to fetch the dying.

I have seen mothers come.

But I have known no lover, I have borne no child and my parents spurned me.

I have asked myself, more often of late than in years gone by, who will come for me when my time on earth concludes?

Your sisters will come for you.

Those you knew in life.

Those who coached you through the novitiate.

Those who knelt beside you in prayer.

And by the beds of everyone you served.

So many sisters will come.

God can't have you yet, Sister.

We can't spare you.

We should perhaps turn our attention for the return of those we love.

The Hong Kong party?

Let us light lights with the living and marvel at them while we may.

[Door opens] Christopher, you're going to give your mommy a kiss.

Please, keep him warm.

I've a coat to put on him as well as this cardigan.

It used to belong to his sister.

I like that.

♪ Bring him home soon.

♪ Fred: Make sure you're smiling.

Look!

Smile!

[Chatting and laughing] [Camera clicks] [Cheering] The little boy will get better, won't he?

There's every chance he'll get better.

Till then, we just have to take care of him.

And be his family.

[Door opens] Higgins: Oh, they're here!

I missed you.

Oh, Miss Higgins.

Haven't they managed well.

Dr.

Turner: And this is Christopher.

May: He looks so sweet.

Baby Christopher.

Teddy: Isn't he small?

[Laughs] His hair feels like mine.

[Laughing] May: Christopher.

Oh my goodness, I've been dying to see your face.

[Laughs] Christmas can start now, can't it?

Yes, it can, because I've made tea and you're home.

Oh!

♪ Jennifer: Does Christmas come at the end of the year or does it provide its turning point?

Is it the moment where we close the door on all that has passed in the months that have preceded it?

Or is it the time where we open our arms and say, "Come, we're ready.

We will embrace it all"?

Christmas begins with a baby.

Therefore, Christmas is all that is unknown.

All we must cherish and all we must shield from the winds of fortune, like a candle flame.

♪ O come, let us adore Him ♪ ♪ Christ the Lord!

♪ ♪