Call the Midwife-Series 3 (2013)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Drama	Interviews-Cast & Crew
Rating
Year Of Production	2013
Running Time	540:00
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Philippa Lowthorpe
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Jessica Raine Miranda Hart Jenny Agutter Pam Ferris Judy Parfitt
Case	Amaray-Opaque
RPI	?	Music	Peter Salem

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     The BBC has done it again, turning out another high quality drama. This series which has now completed its third season on the ABC here in Australia is a wonderful production, emotional, heartfelt and touching. The show is set in the East End of London during the 1950s, a time of great poverty amongst the working classes. The show centres on an institution called Nonnatus House, a local medical service with a focus on midwifery. The House is run by a group of nuns who are assisted by a number of young secular nurses, whom the stories tend to focus on. The show is based on a series of memoirs by a nurse, Jennifer Worth, who worked in the East End during the 1950s, however many of the storylines in this latest series were not from the memoirs. Her books were bestsellers and the series has a realistic quality to it which reflects the reality of the situation faced by nurses at the time.

     The main character Jenny Lee (Jessica Raine) is based on the author Jennifer Worth and is a young midwife from the better parts of London who arrives in the East End in Season 1. By the beginning of Season 2 she is well established at Nonnatus House with her colleagues, Camilla 'Chummy' Noakes (Miranda Hart), Cynthia Miller (Bryony Hannah) and Trixie Franklin (Helen George). These four are all young midwives who work with the nuns who include Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter), the leader of the group, Sister Evangelina (Pam Ferris) a curmudgeonly older nun with lots of experience in midwifery and Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt) an older nun who is growing slowly less and less able. There is also a doctor who supports their work, Dr Turner (Stephen McGann). In Season 2, one of the younger nuns, Sister Bernadette (Laura Main) fell in love with Dr Turner who was a widower and they are now married.

     This third series kicks off with a Christmas special, which was previously released and reviewed separately here. The special is also included in this three disc set along with the 8 normal episodes of Season 3. Despite not being directly taken from the memoirs always, the stories in this third season keep up the very high quality of the show to date, with the emotion, humour, drama and romance we have come to expect from this excellent show. This season is probably a bit more emotional than the previous ones with a few tragedies and poignant story lines. Some new characters are introduced including a new midwife, Patsy Mount (Emerald Fennell) and a new young nun, Sister Winnifred (Victoria Yates). They both take some time to adjust to life at Nonnatus House, which has now relocated to a new building. Dr Turner and Shelagh are trying for children, Chummy is struggling with her mother, Jenny starts a new relationship and Trixie is attracted to the new curate, Tom Hereward (Jack Ashton).

     An excellent third season of a high quality English drama series set in 1950s London.

Video

     The video quality is very good.

     The series is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio for this show. It is 16x9 enhanced.

     The picture was reasonably sharp and clear. Shadow detail was quite good.

     The colour was generally very good however there is some obvious light colour bleeding.

     There was also some mild motion blur.

     There are subtitles available in English for the Hearing Impaired which are clear and easy to read.

     There are noticeable layer changes during playback.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio quality is good.

     The discs contain an English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 2.0.

     Dialogue was clear and easy to hear and understand. The soundtrack had a nice full presence in the room (for a two channel track) and drew you into the show.

     The music used was from the period and suited the show well.

     The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menu included music and motion.

Cast Interviews (12:24)

    This series is basically in the same format globally.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall