"'In the East End of the Fifties, 'families tended to be large." "'Somewhere far away 'scientists were working on a magic pill, 'rumoured to make pregnancy a case of choice, not chance.'" "Come here, let me sort you out." "Off you go." "'News of it reached us as from another galaxy." "'Meanwhile, other scientists were striving to send humans to the moon." "'To the mothers of Poplar, this goal must have seemed as reachable, 'and likely.'" "Morning." "Hello." "Hello." "'It is tempting to look back and say that all women were courageous, 'and that we met every challenge with courage and with candour." "'But it was not so.'" "Hello, princess." "Nothing doing?" "Nah, there's a banana boat due in tomorrow." "I've been promised a shift." "That's something, eh?" "I've been right through her chest of drawers," "Jane's gone to check the baskets in the laundry, and Trixie's looking outside, in case it was blown off the line." "When?" "It's not wash day till Monday!" "Absolutely no sign whatsoever." "It seems to have vanished." "It's only a prayer veil." "She can borrow one, from the mother house in Chichester." "We suggested that, but she just put her foot down." "Oh!" "Excuse me!" "What do you think you're playing at?" "Take that off this minute, before you go to hell." "Ah, leave him alone!" "He's only being Batman." "Now we've found your prayer veil, you're going to have a lovely holiday, Sister." "I have never understood this siren's call to idleness." "Work cannot be laid down, to work is to pray." "Ora et labora." "If we cease to work, we do not speak to God!" "Yes, but, Sister, you're going to miss the bus." "You and you, go and get on with your duties." "Morning!" "Morning, Mrs Clarke." "A vicar's wife." "In slacks?" "As I said to the vicar, helping lepers in Ceylon is all very laudable, however there are good causes here." "In Poplar." "Right on our own doorstep." "But the proceeds from the fete have always gone to the leprosy hospital." "The parish takes tremendous pride in it." "The parish council has agreed that we can divide the proceeds." "Half will go to St Anselm's in Colombo, and half to you." "Or, more specifically, to your antenatal clinic." "I see." "Well, that's exceptionally generous." "And obviously with two beneficiaries, we need to look at ways to raise more money than usual." "We thought perhaps the sisters could have a handicrafts stall and organise a baby show." "A baby show?" "Oh, it's the latest thing." "Well, they had one at St Mungo's, and the takings on the gate went through the roof!" "They didn't even have a famous judge, which is where I thought we ought to push the boat out." "I don't think we could attract a famous judge." "Nonsense." "No-one can resist a wimple." "Or a... or a pretty nurse." "Oh, I wish to goodness you'd straighten your face." "You'll be on the seafront with a ninety-nine before you can say knife." "What's the matter now?" "I think, I'm awfully afraid you must telephone an ambulance." "Oh!" "I'm sorry, I think baby shows are awful." "I saw the sweetest film of one on a Pathe newsreel." "Yes, but it's still a beauty contest." "There'll be more losers than winners, and I don't think that's right." "Nor do I, really." "All babies are beautiful." "And all mothers are competitive." "You've seen them round the scales in the clinic." "I think we should enter into the spirit of things." "We haven't much choice." "Sister Julienne says we've got to find a famous judge." "Oh, film stars are ten a penny in Poplar." "Deborah Kerr was in the Co-op only yesterday." "Enter." "I wondered, Sister, if I might speak with you... about something which is becoming a concern to me." "Of course." "'It's me." "I'm at The London.'" "Sister Monica Joan has collapsed." "'Oh what's happened?" "'" "Well, there seems to be a problem with her heart." "I'll come as soon as I'm able." "Sister Monica Joan." "What can I do to help, Sister?" "Change nothing." "Go nowhere." "Carry on exactly as you are." "I really don't think I can do without you." "Mrs Nora Harding?" "I would estimate that you're about seventeen weeks pregnant," "Mrs Harding." "As much as that?" "I can't believe it." "I can't." "Please don't be upset." "A late baby can be a shock, but I promise you, from experience, most mothers come round to the idea quite quickly." "And do most mothers have eight of 'em already?" "I've got one just a year old out there in the pram!" "Pass me me drawers." "Mrs Harding..." "I said pass me me drawers!" "Please." "Let me make you a cup of tea." "When you've had a sit down and a chance to collect yourself, we can go through the usual routine investigations." "Thank you very much, Nurse." "But I've had all the routine investigations I need!" "Open up!" "Open up, you thieving cow!" "Open this door before I report you to the police!" "Will you keep your voice down?" "This is a respectable house!" "It's a fraudster's house." "Two guineas!" "Two guineas you charged me, two months ago, and I am still in the family way." "I didn't treat you for being in the family way." "I treated you for stomach cramps with my mother's herbal remedies." "Your mother's cabbage water!" "If you don't know how to keep yourself out of trouble, you want to try keeping your legs crossed." "It's bad enough you lied to me, you keep your insults to yourself!" "And you can button your lip!" "Along with any other body parts you fancy." "I've a mind to turn you in to the police!" "I am a licensed herbalist!" "Nora!" "You'd be the one in bother, if you were trying to get rid!" "Nora!" "What are you doing?" "Don't ask me what I'm doing!" "Ask her what she didn't do!" "It would appear to be angina..." "if it's anything at all." "There's some suggestion that she's been acting." "I can't go on holiday now." "It would seem selfish." "If Sister Monica Joan was pretending to have a heart attack, then she's the one who's being selfish." "How can I go away with a clear conscience?" "You'll be worn to a thread, with me away, the clinic to run, and Dame Sybil Thorndike to dance attendance on." "I will manage perfectly well." "Which doesn't mean that we won't miss you." "Very well, Sister." "I'll catch the three-fifteen." "Thank you, Sister." "All right, Cinderella." "Let's see if the crystal slipper fits." "She took our money, Bill." "She took our money and it didn't work." "I'm still in the family way." "We'll talk about it when we get home." "It's not a home." "Well, it's all we've got, Nora." "We're all we've got." "I know." "Come on." "Did I tell you?" "I foresaw this when I cast my horoscope." "No." "We agreed to differ on matters astrological." "Well, I am proved the victor." "I knew my heart would buckle." "I have Aries rising and Mars in my fourth house." "You have angina, which can be eased by rest." "It was rest that undid me!" "Rest, and standing at the bus stop with more idleness in view!" "That sponge pudding looks awfully good." "If I eat it, they will consider me cured." "They will discharge me." "Yes." "And you will despatch me to Chichester because you have no use for me!" "It's spotted dick." "Desist!" "They will think I am restored!" "You are restored." "At least, as much as you ever shall be." "One way or another, you will be sent home to convalesce." "It's simply a case of who gets to eat the pudding." "Give me the spoon." "Mm!" "I'll tell you what," "I reckon you're going to need bobbies on horseback for that baby show." "My daughter Dolly entered her little Anthony and won ten bob and a year's supply of Toddilox." "What's Toddilox?" "It's like Brylcreem for babies." "Dolly always does Anthony with a little quiff." "I'm telling you, he looks like Elvis in a bib." "What are we giving as prizes?" "We won't need any prizes, if we can't find a judge!" "We're going to go through every copy of Photoplay and write down the name of every likely actress." "I don't think you should to ask a woman." "I think you should ask a man." "It's women who'll enter their babies." "And women like men." "And why's that, Jane?" "Do tell." "I don't mean..." "Trixie, you're an absolute beast." "Ignore her." "Perhaps we should ask the Reverend Applebee-Thornton to be the judge." "Trixie, that's enough!" "I'm sure he'd be glad to." "But he won't be able to visit for a while, because he's very busy with his parish." "He is going to visit though?" "In due course." "We're happy being pen friends in the meantime." "I can't knit." "I had a heart attack this morning." "You had a touch of angina, and gave us all a fright." "It won't do you any harm to finish off that puppet." "Poor Pinky's been dangling by his trotters for weeks now, and we could do with him for the handicrafts stall." "There's a whole colony of gollies in the tallboy, all in want of nothing more than stuffing." "You would do better to turn your attention to those." "I'll put the lamp on for you." "The evening sunlight can be very tricky." "Budge up, make room." "No funny business, I promise you." "Won't make any difference if there was." "Not now." "We'll manage, Nora." "We've always managed." "You call this managing?" "Why'd you think I want to get rid of it?" "Why did you agree to try Mrs Pritchard and her potions?" "Because we can hardly feed the eight we got." "But we tried!" "If it means we've got to feed nine of 'em, that's what we'll do." "Yeah, and then we'll have another one, and another one, and another one, until I dry up or throw meself out of that window!" "I'm sorry." "Oh, Bill." "It's not like you ever have to force me." "We have our fun, don't we, eh?" "That's half the trouble." "Yeah." "Almost all of it." "Look, Louis Jordain." "Doesn't he live in Paris?" "Long way to come." "Right." "Jenny, I've stashed a bottle of Advocaat under your pillow." "Thank you for telling me." "What is it?" "Just a rather naughty version of egg nog." "When you mix it with fizz, you get something called a Snowball." "Who's this group?" "We should ask them." "The Five Satins?" "That would certainly shake things up a bit." "A troop of tall, dark and handsome Yanks coming to judge the baby show." "What about Harry Secombe?" "He might sing." "Spike Milligan won't sing and he's tall, dark and handsome." "Gosh." "Is this alcoholic?" "Frightfully." "Have a Spam sandwich, if you need to line your stomach." "What about Alma Cogan?" "We agreed we need a man." "Cliff Richard?" "Oh, he's scarcely more than a boy." "The door!" "The nuns will hear, and it's supposed to be the Great Silence!" "Mrs Clarke." "One coconut shy, or the component parts thereof." "Your chap invited me to bring it for assembly." "I see." "What do you say to Sister Julienne, boys?" "Bob a job!" "I'm sure Fred will be very happy to reimburse you." "Run through to the boiler room." "Ah, now, I need you to talk to Dr Turner, and to tell him exactly what new equipment the clinic really needs and he can then submit the list to the parish council." "Surely we can see to that ourselves, save taking up his time." "It would have more authority coming from a doctor." "Oh, by the way, there is splendid news on the baby show front!" "There's going to be a publicity feature in the Poplar Echo." "A man with a camera will be at Tuesday's clinic." "Cheerio." "Hello, Mrs Harding." "We met at the clinic." "Nurse." "Bit of condensed milk on it." "Always makes him smile." "Anything containing milk is very good for the teeth and bones, but have you tried giving him a little cube of cheese to snack on?" "How many rooms do you have, Mrs Harding?" "Er, two." "We bunk down in here with the youngest and the others top and tail next door." "And your only tap's in here, and the lavatory's on the landing?" "Yes." "It's shared, but we've got it to ourselves now." "Everyone else has been rehoused." "Why haven't the council rehoused you?" "They say there's ten of us, and we have to have four bedrooms or we're legally overcrowded." "And they ain't building four-bedroom flats." "We'll book you into the Maternity Home." "The facilities are excellent, and you'll get a good rest." "Can't be easy, with eight children running round." "I don't want any more, Nurse." "Don't worry." "As soon as baby's born, we'll arrange for you to have the proper contraceptive advice." "On the National Health?" "The National Health doesn't cover contraception." "But, as you're married, we can refer you to the Family Planning Association, which is a charity." "But I tried sleeping with the kids." "You know, keep me out of his way." "Cos it costs no-one nothing, just... not doing it." "But the trouble is, you pay for that in other ways." "I'm sure you do." "Those are lovely curtains." "Oh, yeah, I had a cleaning job, when I only had my first two." "The lady of the house was throwing them out, and she said I could have 'em." "They're my better-time-to-come curtains." "Laughing at me now." "No." "Bleeding rat!" "You get away from my baby!" "It's bitten his face!" "It's drawn blood!" "Has this happened before?" "Would it make any difference if it had?" "Oh, darling!" "Shhh." "I think it's dreadful to waste your time like this." "Just tell me what you want, Sister." "We manage perfectly well, in spite of the clinic's limitations." "We take pride in it!" "If you can't tell me what you want, then tell me what you need." "Very well." "There are several screens in need of repair." "And there's never enough hot water." "Isn't there?" "We have to boil the kettle, for you to wash your hands." "So a water heater would be nice, above the sink." "And we struggle with these spirit lamps." "They're so old fashioned and so fragile." "They must break so easily." "Yes, and the wicks get damp, and they won't burn." "Dad!" "Yes, son?" "You're wanted at the surgery." "Hello, Sister Bernadette." "Hello, Timothy." "I believe you've put your name down for the three-legged race." "Yes, with him." "We've been practising but I'm much better." "Which is actually quite awkward." "Well, there's a crushing verdict!" "Come on." "Doctor, can you arrange for me to have my tubes tied?" "We have to work within certain guidelines, Mrs Harding." "And we can only sterilise in cases where it's medically essential." "Well, it is." "I could have another four or five." "And, well, it'd kill me!" "Mrs Harding, why don't you let the nurse talk to you about a Family Planning appointment after baby's born?" "She's already done that." "All right, darling, shhh." "We could sew them up and stuff them." "I think Perky's snout would still look quite peculiar." "Do you suppose she knows she's failing?" "Bandages." "Sister Monica Joan, have you hurt yourself?" "I could roll bandages!" "It is not a vexatious occupation, but it is essential." "Especially in this district, where every geriatric shin is pocked with ulcers." "Are you sure?" "Yes." "I don't suppose there's any chance of your phone number?" "No." "Not really." "Come on, you can do it!" "You should have given him some encouragement." "Girls do give men their telephone numbers nowadays." "The only telephone number I have, Trixie, is Poplar 459." "If a man rang up, he'd probably hear a nun saying," ""Nonnatus House, midwife speaking."" "I've always found it to be a rather good test of moral fibre." "As a matter of fact, the only moral fibre I'm testing at the moment is my own." "I don't want a boyfriend, I decided that a while ago." "Jenny, I know love has dealt you a blow, or two." "But I really don't think you ought to throw your entire life on the pyre." "I don't want to discuss it." "Oh, well." "That photographer actually gave me a rather triumphant piece of information." "ATV are using the Empire Theatre as a television studio." "And Clifford Raines is based there whilst they film his show!" "Who's Clifford Raines?" "He presents a variety show, apparently." "Although until the nuns get television, we'll just have to take it on trust." "♪ Robin Hood, Robin Hood Riding through the glen" "♪ Robin Hood, Robin Hood With his band of men... ♪" "Stop." "You need you to look as if you're riding those horses." "Like this." "♪ Robin Hood, Robin Hood... ♪" "But if I do that, the head comes off mine." "You need to treat it a bit more gentle, don't you?" "Otherwise I'll give it to Friar Tuck." "He's having to walk." "You should put him on a donkey." "Like Jesus!" "I'll have less of the blasphemy, thank you very much, this is a church hall that we're in." "Nurse Miller, if we could have a few more twiddly bits, that would be appreciated." "Twiddly bits?" "Yeah, like Nurse Lee does." "If we're performing at the fete, we need to aim for the highest standards." "♪ Robin Hood, Robin Hood Riding through the glen... ♪" "Evening." "Good evening." "I have a letter for Clifford Raines, do you suppose I could pop through and hand it in to someone?" "You can give it to me, I'll pass it on." "Oh, that's tremendously kind of you, but I'm a woman on a mission, and it absolutely can't get lost along the way." "Oh, I shall be going in in just a moment." "I only stepped out for a bit of air." "On rehearsal days, we don't see the light for hours at a stretch." "Like a pit pony?" "I do sympathise, I often work nights." "Nurse?" "Midwife." "That must be hard work." "Round here." "Oh, don't worry." "I never wanted to sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam." "Isn't that from a nursery rhyme?" "I must be spending too much time with the toddlers at the clinic." "I think it's called Curly Locks." "Oh, yes. "Curly Locks, Curly Locks, wilt thou be mine?"" "Are you wearing Panstick?" "Just a little, for the cameras." "Mascara too, if you look closely." "Oh, I daren't." "I might be dazzled by your gaze." "Give it to me." "You go and brighten up the lives of your patients and I'll make sure this ends up where it should." "I'm going down the Anchor, love." "I'll bring us back a bottle of stout." "Make it gin." "You don't drink gin!" "I'm drinking it tonight." "And I need a shilling for the metre." "I've got a bath to fill." "No, love, no!" "Would you rather I went back to Mrs Pritchard and gave her another two guineas we don't have?" "I'm going to get rid of it if it kills me." "Because if I can't get rid of it, I'm going to get rid of myself!" "Don't say that!" "Nonnatus House, midwife speaking." "'May I speak with Nurse Beatrix Franklin, please?" "'" "Speaking." "This is Clifford Raines." "Oh, how very kind of you to call!" "'But what I want to know...' is, is this Curly Locks?" "Why didn't you say it was you?" "One has to exercise a little caution." "But it would give me the most enormous pleasure to pass judgement on your charges." "On one condition." "And what's that?" "That you let me give you dinner." "Very well." "On one condition." "That I'm the only one wearing Panstick and mascara!" "♪ Have Mercy upon me Oh, God, after thy great goodness" "♪ According to the multitude of thy mercies" "♪ Do away mine of fences" "♪ Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness" "♪ And cleanse me from my sin" "♪ For I acknowledge my faults" "♪ And my sin is ever before me" "♪ Against thee only done this evil in thy sight" "♪ And shalt make me to understand wisdom secretly. ♪" "I need more hot water." "It's coming." "It's making you ill." "It's meant to." "Just..." "Dad, I need the lav." "Eric, you know where the po is." "And shut the door!" "How on earth did you persuade him?" "Oh, I offered him the irresistible enticement of tea with nuns." "And dinner with yours truly at the Dorchester." "We're meeting up in Mayfair, and walking round together." "Does Sister Julienne know?" "No." "And why should I tell her?" "What I do in my time off is my own affair." "Are you sure he isn't married?" "Marriage dissolved, as a matter of fact." "I stopped off at the library and looked him up in Who's Who." "All right, love?" "You stay here." "Do you know what the worst thing is?" "I can still feel it, fluttering about." "Hell's bells!" "It ain't worth it, Nora." "Oh, I'm trying Epsom salts next." "Then turps." "I once heard of someone who did it with a pickle fork." "I don't even know where you'd get a pickle fork." "It seems like such an elegant thing to have." "I will price the handkerchief sachets at a shilling." "Eightpence will not appeal to persons of refinement." "I have to say, I think that Nurse Franklin deserves a pat on the back for securing Clifford Raines." "I'm only sorry she's not here to be congratulated by me personally." "I'm sure she'd have enjoyed that very much." "But she's out on her rounds this afternoon." "We're all very busy at present." "Well, I always say, if you want something done, you should ask a busy person!" "We scarcely have time for our essential tasks." "Even I am put to the plough." "And others seek to find respite in prayer." "I am sure that's an overstatement of the case." "Not in any way." "You yourself are acquainted with the truth of it, for when you are not blanket stitching spout-holes you are on your knees in the chapel." "Quite aside from all the ordinary offices." "If I am, I don't see that that's of any concern to you." ""But now no face divine contentment wears," ""'Tis all blank sadness, and continual tears."" "Tea cosy - half a crown." "Gosh, it's a bit of a squeeze." "Well, I can't leave him outside now." "Can I offer you a cup of tea, Nurse?" "That would be lovely." "Mrs Harding, why are you taking Epsom salts?" "I had stomach cramps." "Sister Bernadette, I owe you an apology." "You asked to speak to me, and I was distracted, and now Sister Monica Joan has spoken out of turn." "I didn't want anyone to notice." "I didn't want to impose myself, to make any sort of demand on the community." "It is not an imposition, to ask for help." "And you did ask for help, and I have come to offer what I can." "The truth is that I hardly know what ails me." "I almost wish I was physically ill." "I want to be able to say, "This is where it hurts,"" "because if I could list my symptoms, you could offer me a cure." "But you can't." "Because I can't." "But we have made a start, Sister Bernadette." "We're having a conversation." "I think this is all that I can manage for today." "That doesn't matter." "You seem to be progressing nicely." "How much movement have you felt from Baby?" "Enough." "What happened here, Nora?" "Well I, um, I..." "I bumped myself on the handle of the pram, when I was getting down the stairs." "Nora..." "Mrs Harding, I don't know what you've been doing." "I don't know what you're hoping will happen." "But I do know that if you carry on like this, you're more likely to hurt yourself than harm the baby you're carrying." "That's a disgusting thing to say!" "Nora, it's a necessary thing to say!" "To kill a baby you practically have to kill the mother." "And you mustn't even consider going down that route because you have eight other children to think about!" "I know how many children I have to think about!" "What can you know about anything?" "I'm a nurse, Nora." "I don't have to experience things to know about them." "There's only one way you can deliberately terminate a pregnancy." "I know." "Through surgery." "And it's against the law." "Nurse." "Mr Harding." "Perhaps you could get your wife a cup of tea." "And try to make sure she doesn't injure herself again... dragging that pram up and down the stairs." "One pair of knitting needles." "One crochet hook." "We should've saved our money." "We're going to have to go back to Mrs Pritchard." "One, two, three." "One, two, three." "One, two, three." "One." "And one, two, three." "One, two, three." "One, two..." "Stop!" "I need you to look at him as though he's the most beautiful thing you've ever seen." "No, no, no." "It's no good." "Something's not right." "It's him, Akela." "He's supposed to be Maid Marian, he don't even look like a girl." "He looks like a Cub!" "They need costumes, Fred." "The intention was to convey the ambience of Sherwood Forest in its nuanced manner." "Their uniforms are green." "You don't want to wear a dress, do you?" "I want to wear a disguise." "Being Maid Marian's just embarrassing." "Fred." "This is one of those occasions where I find myself asking," ""What would Chummy do?"" "And she would say that they need costumes." "Oh." "Good afternoon." "Ten guineas?" "She says she always charges guineas." "Like proper doctors used to do." "We'll use the post office money." "It was supposed to be for furnishing our new flat." "We're never going to get a new flat, are we?" "And do you know what?" "We're £2 short!" "We've got nothing to sell." "Yes, we have." "No." "Would it make me any less of a wife to you?" "If we sell it, will we have enough?" "I'll bloody make sure we've got enough!" "Clifford Raines is certainly helping to sell tickets." "Mrs Clarke says we'll end up with much more than a water heater!" "I overheard Sister Julienne talking about a moped." "Moped?" "You mean motorbike?" "The midwives in Deptford are using them." "I don't like the idea of it." "Still." "Mothers and babies first, I suppose." "When do you suppose babies became so very precious?" "What do you mean, Sister Monica Joan?" "Well, once they played naked in gutters, or balanced on the hips of siblings scarcely older than themselves." "Are they more valued now because they can survive... or do they survive because they are more valued?" "I don't know, Sister." "It's heartbreaking." "She saw so much." "If only we could find her something real to do." "I don't know." "I put the hot water on, like you said." "We'll need you on the table." "Miriam, clear those plates off it and cover it with the rubber." "Then hang up a sheet, give the lady some privacy." "Let's get the unsavoury bit out of the way first, shall we?" "We did agree on guineas." "Lock and bolt the door, dear." "I need more of the knock-out potion." "That's the way." "Take the edge off." "On your back, knees drawn up." "Miriam'll keep you in the right position." "You let her lean her weight on you." "Get her onto the bed, and sort out a towel." "Did it..." "Did it go away?" "It will do." "Might take a day or so." "It won't live, will it?" "No." "You've worked up a lovely flow of blood." "Very cleansing." "Do let me take your coat." "My housekeeper's just had to nip downstairs, there's been some sort of contretemps over the hors d'oeuvres." "Aren't we going out to dine?" "Ah." "The, er, Dorchester was unable to offer me a private room tonight." "And people do rather tend to gawp, now that the show is doing so well on air." "Of course." "Besides, before all this," "I was a cocktail waiter at a rather discreet little place in Soho." "My Sidecars knock the Dorch's into a cocked hat." "I got them in that second-hand shop." "They were just being put in the window when I walked past." "It seems almost sacrilegious!" "The hooks and tapes are still attached." "Scarlett O'Hara made a lovely outfit from curtains in Gone With The Wind and nobody sent her to hell." "Gosh." "They're rather smart." "I know." "I paid over a pound." "Can I get you another?" "Perhaps not." "It was hardly one of those mimsy-pimsy affairs one can write off as mostly umbrella." "Well..." "I must say, you are looking rather fetchingly relaxed." "Move your hand, please." "That wasn't what I meant." "Oh, I think we both know you were being playful." "And you know how much a man must like that." "What happened?" "What happened?" "All the way home, I was running through the story in my head!" "What I said." "Where I sat." "What he said." "And I was stupid, and naive, and I hate myself for any part I played in it!" "You have nothing to be ashamed of, Trixie!" "I have plenty to be embarrassed about!" "Don't you dare take any sort of blame!" "I knew what was going through my mind, Cynthia!" "I felt special, because a man was paying me attention." "And I thought the power was all mine!" "Drink this." "And I can either put some Advocaat in it, or fetch you a couple of aspirin." "Advocaat." "And bring the whole bottle." "Perhaps we should run away and open a hospital together." "Matrons in Charge, Virgins of Iron." "Just don't ask me to go anywhere near the men's ward." "You don't mean it." "I mean it tonight." "Get the picture?" "We're going to be late." "If we're late for Robin Hood, Akela's going to clump you one." "Go on." "Go on ahead." "Can I have a go?" "It's mine!" "You've got to share!" "Love." "You look terrible." "It's the right sort of terrible." "It's working, Bill." "It's what we wanted." "I just wish we could tell someone." "No." "Take the kids out." "All of them." "Hello!" "Would you like a balloon?" "Where's your mummy?" "Her mother ain't here." "Isn't she well?" "I'm due to pop in on her later in the week." "You needn't bother." "She's entitled to weekly visits, Mr Harding." "She ain't going to need 'em." "Not now." "Sister Julienne?" "Sister Julienne!" "Nora?" "Nora, can you hear me?" "Nora?" "Has it come away?" "Yes." "Who did this, Nora?" "Have you tried to do it yourself?" "I didn't think it would work if I did it myself." "Spread a towel on the bed, and help me to lift her on it." "She's suffered a massive blood loss, and has a significant fever." "Whatever instrument was used, it was bound to have been filthy." "We're going to have to send for help." "But what she's done is illegal..." "Do you think I haven't seen this before, Nurse?" "Go to the fete, ask Dr Turner to come at once." "Tell him that a woman has had a miscarriage and that we need an ambulance." "♪ Robin Hood, Robin Hood Riding through the glen" "♪ Robin Hood, Robin Hood With his band of men" "♪ Feared by the bad" "♪ Loved by the good" "♪ Robin Hood Robin Hood, Robin Hood!" "♪ He called the greatest archers to a tavern on the green" "♪ They vowed to help the people of the king" "♪ They handled all the troubles on the English country scene" "♪ And still found plenty of time to sing. ♪" "I should have gone with her." "I was her midwife." "Dr Turner suspects a perforation of the uterus." "She needs specialist care, and we cannot afford to have her children come home and see any trace of what has passed." "Boil some water, so we can scrub the lino." "I knew, Sister." "I knew she wanted to get rid of it." "Nurse, the world is full of people who want to be rid of children they cannot afford to feed and haven't the energy to nurture." "We can only give love, and encouragement and warning, and pray they do not seek to buy the kind of "help" they really want." "She kept asking for help that we couldn't give her." "For contraception, for sterilisation, even." "I warned her against trying to do anything herself!" "I warned her and seem to have sent her straight to the butcher that did that!" "What should I have done?" "Should I have pretended I hadn't heard, that I didn't know what she was doing?" "Because that would have been easy!" "And she would have done it anyway." "Come on, Sister, come on!" "Come on, Timothy!" "Come on, Sister!" "We won!" "Timothy." "You can't go anywhere." "Now hold still!" "Thank you, Doctor." "You've hurt your hand." "Oh!" "Well, I'm sure there's no need to amputate." "If you'll excuse me." "Would you like me to have a look at that?" "Yes." "I'm sorry." "That was unforgivable." "Who is it who decides what is forgivable and unforgivable?" "I think you know that better than I do." "At this moment, I only know... that I am not turning my back on you because of you." "I am doing it because of Him." "And if I didn't accept that, I wouldn't deserve to live." "At a time when babies have never been healthier, stronger or better fed, it seems appropriate that they should only be judged by someone of the very highest calibre, which is why I am sorry to tell you" "that I have just received a telephone message saying that the television personality Clifford Raines is not able to be with us this afternoon." "Bloody beast!" "So we have therefore decided to pass the honour onto someone whose lifetime's work means that they're better qualified than anyone else alive to decide which of these beautiful babies should go home with a prize." "I give you Sister Monica Joan, of the order of St Raymond Nonnatus." "Come on, Sister!" "'In Nonnatus House, 'we were good at tending each other's wounds 'and there were times when I felt we were all each other's children." "'The butchered termination of Nora Harding's last, unendurable pregnancy 'gave her septicaemia, and left her in a coma." "'Her family were brought to her bed to say goodbye.'" "'Bill Harding reapplied to the Council, 'and was offered a new home in Harlow, 30 miles from London, 'where there were green fields and bigger houses.'" "Come on, you!" "We're nearly there!" "'Nora's life was saved by doctors who asked no questions." "'She never conceived again." "'Free, reliable contraception came too late to help her." "'But, in time, the scientists triumphed." "'Her daughters' and granddaughters' lives remain transfigured, 'long after man left fleeting footprints on the moon.'" "It's here!" "Oh, Lord!" "I lost all my children." "God left me with an icy cold wind." "Stop!" "I can't stand it." "Could we have some calm, please?" "Fred's coming up." "We'll get you out of there." "Might I see Sister Bernadette?" "I have something I need to discuss with her."