‘Call the Midwife’ Season 12 Episode 5 recap

Call the Midwife is back in the UK with a new season!

The BBC’s long-running period drama series about a group of nurse midwives in the East End of London celebrated a decade on air last year.

Following last month’s Christmas special, a twelfth season of Call the Midwife is now airing on Sunday nights on BBC One.

The eight brand new episodes are set in 1968, and they’re due to premiere in the US this spring on PBS.

Watch the trailer here:

Familiar faces will include Jenny Agutter as Sister Julienne, Linda Bassett as Nurse Phyllis Crane, Judy Parfitt as Sister Monica Joan, Helen George as Nurse Trixie Franklin, Leonie Elliott as Nurse Lucille Anderson, and Laura Main as Nurse Shelagh Turner, with Vanessa Redgrave once again providing the voice of narrator Jennifer Worth.

Also returning are Megan Cusack as Nurse Nancy Corrigan, Cliff Parisi as Fred Buckle, Annabelle Apsion as Violet Buckle, Zephryn Taitte as Cyril Robinson, Daniel Laurie as Reggie Jackson, Stephen McGann as Patrick Turner, Georgie Glen as Miss Higgins, and Ella Bruccoleri as Sister Francis.

Joining the cast this year is Rebecca Gethings as newcomer Sister Veronica.

Here’s a plot recap for Season 12’s fifth episode, which premiered on BBC One at 8pm on Sunday 29th January 2023:

Nancy oversees the care of Jill Mellor and her newborn baby, Mylene, a child she has had out of wedlock with Spencer Wray, a young man from the West Indies.

Jill and Spencer live with his kind-hearted mother, Florence.  Not long after the birth, Spencer’s behaviour starts to raise concerns as it becomes increasingly erratic.

Worried, Nancy calls on Dr Turner who refers Spencer for an urgent psychiatric review, but as Spencer’s condition deteriorates more rapidly, things take a very unexpected and shocking turn.

Dr Turner and Sister Veronica arrange a men’s health talk at the surgery to discuss male contraception and a new procedure, the vasectomy.

At the same time, Dr Turner and Nurse Crane care for Annette Berkley, who has rheumatic heart disease and has gone against doctor’s advice and fallen pregnant again.

When Matthew’s father, Sir Brigham, visits Poplar, relations between father and son are somewhat frosty at best.

Matthew’s opinion of Poplar is markedly different from his father’s, as he has grown fond of the area and its residents over recent years.

Matthew wants to invest more money in the borough, whereas Sir Brigham wants to sell up.

With relations at an all-time low, Trixie is left to deliver Matthew some heartbreaking news.

Season 11 is available on DVD on Amazon.