♪ ♪ Mature Jennifer: Miracles, like angels, are not rare.

Neither do they always fall into our lives as if cast down from heaven to surprise us.

Some, like Christmas, simply offer up their magic.

Some come in response to prayer or effort or extended longing... ♪ [Groaning] Mature Jennifer: and time and time again, we learn that miracles are something that we labor for and make.

[Baby crying] Ohh!

Ha ha!

See what you did?

[Baby crying] Oh!

Heh heh heh!

Maxine, do you want to come and look at Mummy's new baby?

Ha ha!

I told her Father Christmas would be bringing her a present.

I reckon she'd rather have a bike.

Ha!

Oh, oh, oh.

Now careful.

I don't want this scratched within an hour of taking ownership.

I drove nigh on 50,000 miles in Old Faithful.

At the end, it showed.

♪ Matthew: There.

It's perfect.

It has the most glancing relationship with the perpendicular.

Maybe it grew at that angle in the wild.

What do you reckon, Fred?

Fred: I reckon some of this soot's been up this chimney since the Queen Mum was a kiddie.

Mr. Aylward, what a magnificent specimen.

Thank you!

Oh.

You're most welcome, sister.

Is it quite straight?

Violet: There are 4 defaulters on the first two pages.

This is not how a Christmas club is supposed to work, Fred.

They are supposed to pay in every week, and then they get all the goodies at the end.

I don't know what's gone wrong with the Smiths, but the other 3 were all caught up in the train crash.

Well, why didn't you say?

They can have all the works.

Nothing's felt right since accident.

It's not that people have lost money or... even family.

It's like... we've all lost a bit of heart... or who we are.

Sister Frances: So Sister Hilda isn't coming back at all?

You heard Mother Mildred.

She is of the view that we can do very well without her.

She hasn't even iced the Christmas cake or marzipanned it, come to that.

I know.

I'll do it.

I've got my cookery O Level.

Thank you.

We'll manage.

♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Thou shall reign ♪ ♪ And thou are Lord ♪ Amen, amen, amen.

Praise the Lord.

Praise God!

Brothers and sisters, may we all keep the meaning of the season within our hearts as we watch and wait for the arrival of the child Jesus Christ.

Pastor, before you lead us any further, let us welcome Nurse Robinson home from her day of work and ask how the laboring mother fared.

She was strong, she was courageous, and she delivered the most beautiful likkle boy.

Amen.

Praise the Lord.

A boy in this the holiest of seasons.

♪ Welcome home, Nurse Franklin!

Oh, it's so good to be back!

Ha!

Ohh.

And for everything to be just as it was.

We have much to be grateful for.

But whatever kept you, lass?

We've been watching the clock for an hour or more.

Yeah.

We ran out of petrol just outside of Heathrow.

Sister Monica Joan: It falls to the wanderer to place the wreath upon our threshold.

♪ Ta-da!

Ha ha!

[Women shouting] ♪ [Door slams] Two cardigans gray, two dresses beige, prison-issue hose, shoes, and undergarments all present and correct.

They let me out early for good behavior.

Opposite of what got you in here.

I've served my time now.

Well, 3 month of it anyway.

It says here you're going back to live with your fiancé.

Yeah.

He's coming to meet me.

Right.

Off you pop.

♪ [Bang] ♪ Woman, on radio: ♪ Christmas is here again ♪ ♪ Christmas is here again ♪ Nancy, have you never heard Coco Chanel's adage "Elegance is refusal"?

What's that supposed to mean?

Refusal to indulge in every passing trend, refusal to overaccessorize, refusal to buy more clothes than you have room for.

Ha!

Now if that's not the kettle calling the pot black, then I don't know what is.

I had a complex roster of fashion requirements in Portofino and had to transition between seasons.

My clothes aren't just clothes.

They're assets.

And mine aren't just clothes.

They're bargains.

Can you not just hang some stuff on one of the picture rails?

Ha!

Woman: ♪ The sound of sleighbells ringing ♪ I'm going to ask Sister Julienne to provide us with a second wardrobe and an additional chest of drawers.

[Knock on door] 3 points of order.

All rounds, maternity and district, are curtailed this morning, a working luncheon of sandwiches is planned, and I have finally obtained the keys to the Florence Dean Hall, where we will meet at 12:30 precisely to set up for clinic.

♪ Women: ♪ Right now, we're waiting ♪ Good afternoon, ladies.

Hand your urine into the counter on your left.

I need your opinion of this mincemeat when you have a moment.

I threw caution to the wind and put a dash of Drambuie in it.

Mum!

Mrs. Turner when in clinic, please, Timothy.

Which one is Gravely, Joyce, down to the third, 38?

She must be near dead of diabetes.

What did she bring the urine in?

A rosehip syrup bottle.

Ohh!

Mrs. Turner!

I was hoping I'd see you.

We're so pleased to have you back with us.

I'll see to Mrs. Mullucks myself.

Of course.

This don't feel real, having a fourth at the age of 40, but...there and back with the sisters, I know it is.

Heh.

Everything seems to be in perfect order.

Oh, it is.

Every arm, leg, finger, and toe.

The hospital gave me an x-ray.

When did they give you an x-ray?

Uh, last week.

They said I needed extra reassurance.

Not one mother of a Thalidomide child has ever gone on to have another affected baby.

That drug will never hurt anyone again.

St. Cuthbert's said I--I couldn't know for sure.

[Sighs] Well, all the toys are in a bit of a mess today.

It's the first time we've been in this hall.

I like the doll's house.

I don't actually know where that is, but we've got dolls and quite a few teddies we can play with.

[Sighs] I'm hot.

Let's get that coat off you.

♪ Patrick: Rhoda, I really think the maternity home would be the best place for you to have this baby simply because of your age.

But...if I have the baby in my own bed, then I won't have to worry about Susan, and anyway, my oldest two are teenagers now.

They don't wear you out the same as the little ones.

It's all systems go for the Sunday school nativity in our house.

Two angels and a camel.

The camel has nearly broken me.

When I asked Mrs. Avis about it, she said the parts hadn't been assigned yet.

Why would she say that?

The children have been practicing since November.

On Sundays?

Susan's there every Sunday.

Angela and May said she just watches.

Oh, Rhoda, I thought you knew.

♪ [Baby crying] [Dog barks] Can I help you?

My fiancé lives here.

Not anymore he doesn't.

We've been here two weeks.

His name's Andreas Jorgensen.

Hmm.

There's a letter came and another one he left.

Uh, you may as well take them.

I don't want debt collectors coming around.

Um, wait.

[Baby crying] [Dog barking] Here.

I'm sorry.

I'll have to go.

The baby's murdering the dog.

[Crying and barking continue] ♪ ♪ Rhoda: I saw Dr. Turner's eldest in clinic today.

He's a medical student now.

Do you think they might let me help, Mum?

They'll like that when I apply for nursing school.

You two, wait here.

Mrs. Avis!

Oh, afternoon, Mrs. Mullucks.

I'm afraid I can't stop.

I've got to get this material dropped off urgently.

We've had two false starts with the 3 Wise Men.

I waited and waited to find out what Susan was gonna be doing in the nativity.

Susan joins in very nicely with the other children when we're doing our scripture, but it's not safe having her on the stage.

Not safe for who?

Well, she might fall over or get knocked down.

We're thinking about her safety.

You're thinking about what other people might think, Mrs. Avis, what it might look like to have her there on that stage, in that play, in the photographs like everybody else!

Susan isn't like everybody else, Mrs. Mullucks.

You've no idea how much she wants to be.

[Band playing] [Brake releases] Oh.

Mrs. Mullucks forgot her milk tokens, and Susan's entitled to free orange juice.

She's also entitled to an apology.

From whom?

From the scientists that created Thalidomide and from the drug companies that sold it.

Those pills took her limbs, Miss Higgins.

I believe some infants didn't survive at all.

When I had polio, the doctors were so powerful.

I thought all medicine was good, you know, but happened to Susan in the womb was obscene, and now I'm gonna be a doctor, I feel ashamed.

As a colleague, I don't disagree with a word you've said... but as someone older and wiser, I beg you never to say that to your father.

Poplar needs a treat, Violet, something that will bring everyone together.

Well, there is the small matter of Christmas on the horizon.

Fred: We need something else, something that will help raise money for the people affected by the train crash.

What do you suggest?

We book Flori Hall and organize a talent show.

A talent show?!

Yes!

With singing, dancing, magicians, and maybe someone will have a budgie act and knife throwing!

Yeah!

Knife throwing?

The police would shut us down before curtain up.

Oh, I can see it now.

Lights, music.

Ladies and gentlemen, "Poplartunity Knocks."

[Shivering] Fred: And then what we do is we turn the stage into a giant television set, put a frame around it and knobs so that you can turn the sound up and down.

The actual sound?

The--the actual sound of people performing?

Fred: I don't know.

Just got one-- Excuse me.

Violet: Yes, dear?

How can I help?

I'd like to write down some particulars from the window, but I haven't got a pad or a pen.

Thanks, fella.

You better get back to your job.

Your coat's not warm.

Last time I had this on, it were a summer's day.

♪ Let's just say that we want to do this.

What do we need?

Fred: Um, spotlights.

Violet: Spotlights.

A microphone.

A microphone.

Live band.

A live... ♪ Hello?

You all right, Reggie?

I was looking for someone who's cold.

Oh!

Ahh.

Ohh.

This really was the most remarkably nippy work by Sister Julienne.

A new wardrobe and a new chest of drawers in a single afternoon.

It's all your fancy man's doing.

You mean Matthew?

Yeah.

He makes sure the Order always has a cash fund for emergency purchases.

He never said, but then I suppose there's a lot of things he never says or doesn't show.

Like what?

His...sensitivities, his sense of fun.

I'd say he's quite good at concealing that.

I suppose it shouldn't matter if I know it's there, but I--I just-- I wish he'd let the world see.

It's his only flaw.

Come on!

Ayy!

Ahh!

[Chopping] [Rhoda sniffling] Are you crying?

No, love.

I'm chopping onions for the tea.

Evening, all.

Where's my beautiful?

Hey?

Hey?

Mm-wha!

And my gorgeous and my surprise of a lifetime-- Get off, Bernie.

[Sniffles] You been down the Hand and Shears?

There was nothing doing down the warehouse.

We're all getting laid off tomorrow, so...

There's not been a ship in that dock all this week.

Look, Susan.

Why don't you go into the lounge and play, yeah?

I'll come in in a minute.

Mm-hmm.

You see how fast you can go.

Go on.

♪ So the Hand and Shears.

Did you see your mate?

Immaculate, never used, one luxury doll's house, ours for a favorable price.

Picking it up in a couple of days.

Best thing in the world making that one smile.

Bernie, you've had another letter about the Thalidomide compensation, pushing for the families to settle.

Well, you know my view.

We should settle right now.

Susan needs all the help she can get.

And she'll need that help her whole life.

What they're offering is nothing in the scheme of things.

It's thousands.

The other parents, the ones who know about money, say we should stick together and hold out for more however long it takes.

The parents who know about money, they've got money, haven't they?

What they don't know is what it's like for families like ours.

Us falling out about it isn't gonna help matters.

Nancy!

Is this something to do with Matthew and his charity fund?

No.

I--I bought it for Colette for Christmas.

He says it's to go upstairs.

I thought me and her could sit on the bed and watch it together when she comes to visit.

It'll be good practice for when we get a place of our own.

Shall I take it up then?

Absolutely not!

There's no space left in that room.

Sister Monica Joan: My chamber meanwhile is a great deal more commodious, and also, it is on the ground floor.

This is only £2.10.

You said a pound a week for the room and that you'd only let me have it for a fortnight.

I've added a premium on account of you being female.

Women put more pressure on the facilities.

When you due?

Not till Easter.

You'll have to be gone before you have it.

I'm not having no babies on my premises.

Nurses, social workers, authorities all up and down my stairs asking questions.

You're self-contained.

You got your own electric meter.

The bath's down the hall, but you'll have to go use the outside lav.

Violet: We've got Miss Nadine's Dancing School doing a tap routine and the Stevedores Glee Club singing "In a Monastery Garden" Move over, Beatlemania.

I think it's very touching that so many Poplar organizations want to be involved.

My church choir will do something, I'm sure.

I'll telephone Mrs. Wallace.

Trixie: And it's high time that my Keep Fit ladies got back into their leotards and fishnets.

Oh!

I've got a backlog in fishnets.

The Cubs are already rehearsing for the Gang Show, and we have a decent Great War medley coming up to a rolling boil.

As long as Miss Higgins doesn't get her recorder out, we'll be laughing.

Oh!

Yes.

♪ I told Sister Frances I'd do it, save her a job, but when I went in the shed, the rats had got there first, and what they haven't chewed, they've weed on or...worse.

Yeah.

I, uh, think there's, in fact, some sort of... droppings stuck to Joseph.

Oh, flick it off with your finger.

Ugh.

Nancy--Nancy, may I ask a favor of you?

It's to do with Trixie.

I need to know her ring size.

What?!

You need to know her ring size?

Well, I can't propose in the correct romantic fashion if I don't have the appropriate piece of jewelry to hand.

Heh.

No pun intended.

I don't want to find I can't get it on her hand if... you know, she says yes.

Ah.

She will say yes.

Well...probably.

Yeah.

Well, look, I mean, could you riffle through her jewelry box, try to find out if she's a size L or a K or an M or however they calculate these things and without her guessing or finding out?

I have my ways, and in the meantime, I have something I want to ask you.

Haddo, Wittle Weed.

Uh-dub!

Ooh!

Ow!

Weed!

Hello.

Narrator, on TV: And there they both were... You watch your program.

I'll go and see your mum and dad.

OK. Heh heh.

Narrator: At last, they did find a way.

I'll get her reading books out in a minute.

She's too old for "Watch with Mother" really, but she had such a screaming fit over her artificial legs.

Shouldn't Susan be at school today?

It's an hour on the bus, and it's freezing, so.. And besides, when she gets there, it's all just playing with plasticine.

She's a bright kid, Dr. Turner.

The other children, most of them haven't got working brains.

It's not ideal.

It's criminal.

The other day when Rhoda rang the education office, they said that Susan has no legal entitlement to any education because she's handicapped.

I am going to speak to them and get that put in writing.

But what good's that gonna do?

It gives us something to fight.

And you've been fighting for Susan since the day she was born, Dr. Turner.

You walked the floors with her all night, and I'll never forget that.

Every baby deserves an gets the very best care we can give them, including the one you're having now, Rhoda.

I really need you to take these iron tablets.

Your blood tests show that you're mildly anemic.

No.

No, and we're agreed on this.

Nothing that comes out of a chemist's shop is going inside her body while she's expecting.

Rhoda, you don't have to punish yourself like this.

Yes, I do.

I think it's absolutely lovely that you want to help out with the talent show, Reggie.

You made everyone teas on the night of the crash, and working backstage is just carrying on like that.

I don't want to be backstage.

I want to be onstage.

Do you reckon Nurse Crane would let you join in with the Cubs?

I'm not a Cub.

I want to play my guitar.

Well, you haven't been learning for very long, Reggie.

Anyway, you've left it at home at the village for Christmas.

They can post it.

Man: If you don't know your National Insurance number, I'm afraid I can't be of any assistance.

Where would it be written down?

On a wage slip from your previous employer if you're no longer working.

I've never had a wage slip.

I've always worked for cash, and I'm not of no fixed abode.

I do have an address, and I thought that if you have address you can get help with housing.

If you have an address, you don't need help with housing surely.

Well, I need help to get things for the baby.

I heard about something called maternity money.

If you are referring to Government Maternity Grant, it is possible to make an application.

♪ [Knock on door] One red cardigan, one set of hair baubles, both retrieved from the parlor table.

What are you doing in Trixie's jewelry box?

I'm trying to... work out her ring size.

I think I'm gonna have to smuggle one to a jeweler's.

Why do you want to know her ring size?

[Softly] Don't you dare tell a soul.

I'll get boiled alive.

[Radiator rattling] Before I hand over a significant amount of welfare-related paperwork, might I inquire as to whether you are, in fact, a British citizen?

My father was an American, an American G.I., but my mother was English.

I was born in Bradford.

Well, you will be required to provide evidence of that.

Oh!

Good afternoon, Nurse Crane.

How very timely.

Dr. Turner has just gone into Mrs. Muhammad.

Forceps were required.

I should make a stop at the ulcer clinic while he's otherwise engaged.

Meanwhile, on a more frivolous note, I shall require your assistance with my performance at the talent show.

Your performance at the talent show?

Well, I will be playing my recorder, but I have devised and entertainment about the history of the woodwind instrument with a twist, and the twist is you.

Heh.

With all the "Poplartunity Knocks" committee members present and correct, including Lucille--stage manager-- Cyril--set designer-- and Timothy Turner-- musical director-- there are no apologies to receive, so agenda item one-- Can we start with item 5?

I'm item 5.

Most of the acts I got applied need all the musical help they can get.

How do you know?

Because I've heard most of them sing down at pub.

Fred, are you saying that nobody in the talent show has got any talent?

Timothy: If we want this to be like "Opportunity Knocks," we're gonna need to run it like "Opportunity Knocks" and have auditions.

I put a 5-piece band together, and some of the acts will need to rehearse with them.

Cyril: Uh, excuse me.

Did we agree we're going on to item 5 because item 2 is scenery, and if I'm going to turn that stage into a television, I need to get to planning.

Lucille: Do we have an exact date for this event yet?

Well, I have made inquiries, and the hall is booked for December the 30th.

Oh, I know exactly how I'm going to do it.

The frame of the stage is gonna be made of plywood, so I can round the corners off and make it look the exact shape of the screen.

I have to figure out how I'm going to do the, um, Clap-o-meter.

Heh heh heh!

Heh heh heh!

Cyril, it's snowing.

Will you just look at that?

Every winter, every time it snows, it's going to remind me of our wedding.

And it's going to remind me to buy you some flowers.

♪ Here we go.

Oh.

Is that cold?

You've got snow on you.

Ohh!

I'm gonna show you a snowflake through a magnifying glass because you never see two the same.

Did you know that?

Every single one is different.

What's a magnifying glass?

It's a little magic window on a stick that you look through.

Shows you how beautiful things are.

Heh.

[Men shouting] You doing business?

Yeah.

A quid.

♪ [Children screaming and laughing] Ha ha ha!

♪ Mummy!

You call that a snowball?

Come on, girls.

3 against 1, we might just beat her.

Uhh!

Ha!

Aah!

Nurse Crane, I need Sister Frances to help me look over the Christmas altar cloth.

Have you seen her?

No.

Neither have I seen the identical twin she must have if she's to fulfill all the positions on this roster.

She was down for twice the usual number of house calls.

I suppose we are fortunate that she's so available.

Unlike her secular colleagues, she never takes time off.

At least unlike her secular colleagues she isn't likely to go running off and getting married.

Who's getting married now?

♪ [Children giggling] Valerie Singleton: Diedre Curtis.

Diedre lives in Billingshurst in Sussex, and it's a snowman table decoration, and there it is.

The base of it or the sort of main part of it is a jar, and cotton wool is covering it all the way round.

Then the... Rhoda: Come on, Susan.

Left leg.

Right leg.

Swivel from your tummy like the physiotherapist showed you, OK?

Mm-hmm.

That's it!

That's it!

I'm too high up.

You've got to practice with these new legs, and no, you're not.

They're just making you the same as the other children.

[Door opens] Mum.

Hello, love!

Did you get good marks?

Top in woodwork again.

Ooh!

Can I go out and play?

How old are you?

Go on.

Tea will be at 5:00.

Can I go?

No.

I want you to try again.

[Water boiling] [Grunts] Watching.

All I need is a costume now.

Well, I was thinking what about a nice dinner jacket and a bowtie?

Old men wear bowties.

Hello there.

Hello again.

Is that yours?

I'm in "Poplartunity Knocks."

Reggie, why don't you take this upstairs, and then I can serve this young lady.

Just a couple more minutes, Susan.

Then you can take them off.

[Children laughing and shouting] Ohh!

Ha ha ha!

♪ Violet: My advice would be to start with the basics, so a shawl, some vests, some nighties, and a dozen terry nappies.

I can knit.

Maybe I should buy some wool and needles.

Of course, and I will throw in a complementary pattern.

[Cheering and laughter] Careful.

Does mum know where you are?

Careful, all right?

And step.

There we go.

Watch your step here.

There we go.

All right?

I want to play.

Please.

Stay there, Susan.

Ha ha!

Perry, help me!

Aah!

Susan!

[Thud] Bernie: Perry!

Perry!

What the hell's going on?

It wasn't his fault.

♪ Any news?

I feel like I'm in the French Resistance.

All I need is a beret and a belted Mac.

She's a K and a half, and now we have other work to do.

[Trumpet playing out of tune] [Hammering] There's novelty, colorful costume.

She's got charisma?

She's out of tune, Fred.

[Hammering] [Pop] Next.

[Playing somber music] I'm looking for spangles, showmanship.

This is like Dracula's night off.

Next.

[The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" playing] ♪ ♪ Girl, you really got me going ♪ She's got a very good... s-sense of rhythm.

We'll never get this past Lucille and Violet in a million years.

[Hammering] Cyril, Cyril!

This lady's an artiste.

Try and show a bit of sensitivity.

The Kinks: ♪ Oh, yeah, you really got me now ♪ ♪ You go me so I can't sleep at night ♪ ♪ You really got me ♪ [Playing "Frosty the Snowman"] The biggest challenge is going to be the sleeves.

Snowmen don't have sleeves.

They don't even have arms.

Patrick: Don't they just have twigs sticking out of their sides?

I'd have thought the biggest problem was going to be the carrot nose.

Angela: Can I go to bed now?

Don't wake the others.

Rhoda... Rhoda: She's had stitches on her head, Dr. Turner.

I know.

The night sister told me when she telephoned.

Visiting hours are long over.

I turn my back on her for one minute.

Rhoda, all children have accidents, and all expectant mothers need to steer clear of stress.

Now this isn't good for your baby.

You need to let me drive you home, and everything else can be worked out in the morning.

[Dog barks] [Groans] Shh, shh, shh.

You don't want to be born yet.

You're just restless.

Come back to bed with me.

We'll keep each other warm.

I can still smell the beer on you from here.

If you have the time and the money to go down the Hand and Shears, where's this doll's house?

My friend didn't know I was gonna be there.

You're always ruddy there!

I made Susan a little push with a hook so she can move the furniture about.

I want to try it out, see if it works.

Oh.

That's very thoughtful of you, I'm sure.

It's the thing he came top for in woodwork, Mum.

Well, was I supposed to know that?

No, because you never asked him just like you never ask anybody anything unless it's to do with Susan!

Bernie: Apologize to your mum right now!

Why?

You never do.

[Pounding footsteps] [Door slams] [Doorbell rings] Rhoda, baby's ticking over very nicely indeed, but we're really quiet in the maternity home just now, so Dr. Turner wants you to come in for a night or two of bedrest.

Oh.

What about Susan?

Susan is being beautifully looked after.

A break will help you to cope much better when the baby comes.

And it is coming, innit, just like Christmas.

Heh heh.

Yes.

Ahh.

You're going to help Santa Claus give out presents to sick children.

Do you not think you ought to wear some nice, bright colors?

Lucille, I've been poring over photos of Princess Alexandra.

She gives presents to sick children all the time, and she always looks elegant, poised, and restrained.

Why do you want to look like Princess Alexandra?

I shall be distributing gifts with a notable local businessman-philanthropist.

I need to look polished and dignified.

Bernie: "And does it not seem hard to you "when all the sky is clear and blue "and I should like so much to play to have to go to bed by day?"

That's sad.

Do you want to read a comic instead?

Yeah.

We love Susan, don't we, Katie?

Such a little sweetheart with her blue eyes, isn't she?

Aw.

Thank you.

Shame about her arms and legs, though, eh?

♪ [Bells tolling] [Knock knock] Enter.

Matthew: Heh.

You asked me to... pop in if I was passing by.

Is it about the dry rot?

Uh, no.

Uh, it's about Nurse Franklin.

I feel it necessary to issue a word of warning.

Warning?

No one can fail to see the depth of feeling between you, Mr. Aylward, and none can fail to be delighted by it.

Might I...ask if you intend to propose marriage?

Um...y-yes.

I--I mean, yes, of course you can ask, and, uh, my--my answer as far as that goes is...also in the... affirmative.

Oh!

Ha!

Of course, you know Nurse Franklin was once previously engaged.

Uh, yes.

Um, sometime ago to--to a clergyman.

God had other plans--heh-- I think quite rightly, but there is something you should be aware of.

Really.

She was extremely disappointed in the ring.

It was a family heirloom on her fiancé's side, but it came as quite a shock.

Oh, Gosh.

My mother always said to me never let a man surprise you with jewelry.

The advice wasn't pertinent in my case... Heh.

but do confer with Nurse Franklin before making any rash purchases.

Of--of course, of course.

♪ Merry Christmas, young lady.

There you are.

Happy Christmas.

Ho ho ho!

And Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas!

Father Christmas, let's see who we have here.

Oh, that is Susan Mullucks from Jubilee Place acting like a little tearaway!

Ho ho ho!

Merry Christmas!

Trixie: Ohh!

[Flash blub pops] What are you doing running around in your smalls?

I run a respectable establishment.

I'm not well.

I need a hot water bottle for my stomach.

That sprog's not coming, is it?

No!

I told you I'm not due yet.

You said Easter!

I may not be a churchgoing woman, but I know the difference between Easter and flaming Christmas!

I want you gone now!

Here's a refund on your second week's rent.

But I'm having a baby!

Not in here you're not.

That front door is barred to anyone representing the authorities!

I've got nothing to do with the authorities!

You will do if you don't shift!

This house has been condemned.

If the Welfare find out you got a kid, they'll take it off you.

Now go and get yourself an ambulance!

♪ I... Help me!

♪ Do you want me to say that you wrote this?

Oh, no.

Oh, no.

That would be rather self-aggrandizing.

I've asked Mr. Buckle to put it in the program.

Ahem.

Ahem.

"Now let us take you by the hand "into the far and distant land of history.

"When knights of old "a-approached their lady feeling bold, "first they bowed, and then implored her 'Listen to my sweet recorder.'"

[Playing "Scarborough Fair"] [Banging on door] Please...open the door!

Go away.

Please!

Go on!

Please.

Off it.

[Winces] "Hark to the bass so sweet and low.

Think of it played in frost and snow."

Millicent, is this meant to be you playing or me reading?

Reciting.

What?!

Reciting.

Well, you're going to have to learn it off by heart.

♪ [Breathing heavily] ♪ [Rattling doorknob] [Gasps] [Breathing heavily] I'm just of the view that before we move on to the stanza beginning... "Now we enter the age of Baroque," we need to stop and think about this from the point of view of a paying audience.

Of course, and I think you need to project your voice a little more.

Stage presence is everything.

Cindy: Help me!

Phyllis, did you hear that?

Yes.

Cindy: Help me!

Oh!

Aah!

[Sobbing] ♪ Hello?

Help me!

Over there!

Help me!

[Groans] Phyllis: Oh, my goodness.

Lass!

Poor lass!

Listen.

My friend and I are going to help you.

We're going to start by taking you somewhere warm and safe.

She must have been assaulted.

I'll send for the police.

Cindy: I'm sorry.

Ugh.

I'm sorry.

You have absolutely nothing whatsoever to apologize for.

It's a baby.

I'm having a baby!

[Sobs] There's loads of stuff in here, all the bedding, all the nappies.

It's like Mum knew there was gonna be another baby all along.

If one more person asks me if we think this one's gonna be all right, I'll swing for him, I swear.

I'm sick of fending them off, and I'm sick of people telling me that they were offered them pills and that they didn't take them.

Do you think that's true?

Well if it is, Perry, what's it say about your mum and me, hey, and what's Susan-- what's she gonna say when she's old enough to understand?

Dad, go and fetch the doll's house.

And come straight home.

[Groaning] All is well, Cindy.

You are warm, and you are safe.

Um, Sister Julienne was preparing to go into compline, but she asked to be kept informed.

Where will you send me now?

I don't think we'll be sending you anywhere.

I'm still confident an ambulance would reach us very swiftly.

Not swiftly enough.

I can't do it.

I can't.

I don't know what to do.

I know this is your first baby, but it isn't mine.

Can you think of something you once did for the very first time and you had no idea how to start?

I don't know.

I think--I think I can remember learning to knit when I were little.

Who taught you?

My mum.

I can remember her voice talking me through the stitches-- in, over, through, off.

And that's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to talk you through it.

Matthew: Do you remember Mummy, hmm?

Poor love.

And poor you, but it doesn't matter because she'll love you always.

[Groaning] The head is out.

Breathe.

Push down for the shoulders.

[Groaning] [Screaming] And you have a baby.

[Baby crying] A clean towel if you'll be so kind, Millicent.

[Crying] And mother may like a sip of water in a moment.

A little girl, Cindy.

♪ Oh, we have a very courageous mother here, sister, And a beautiful baby.

God love you all.

If you had crowns, you'd look like the 3 Wise Men.

Ha ha ha!

♪ On the first... day of Christmas ♪ ♪ My...true love sent to me ♪ ♪ A doll's house... under a tree ♪ [Indistinct chatter] ♪ Lad--oh--lads!

Lads, lads, yeah, yeah.

Oi.

Hey.

Come oh.

Ha ha!

Hey!

♪ I just came down for a biscuit.

I'd say, "What in the name of Jesus are you doing?"

but that doesn't look like a very religious act.

I've got to do the marzipan tonight.

Otherwise, it won't dry out in time for me to do the icing.

There'll be yellow stains seeping through the snow scene.

Sister, how do you do it?

Do what?

Keep on going.

Keep on being a nurse and a midwife and a nun and not just one nun but two because you're filling in for Sister Hilda and you're picking up the slack for Sister Julienne and the old one.

Well, I could shrug and say that God gives me the job and the strength to do it, but...

I made a rule for myself when I was still a postulant-- find the beauty, and that's what I'm doing now.

You're decorating a cake in the middle of the night.

Yes, and it will probably be on the sideboard for a week, being blamed for everybody's heartburn, but people are coming together around it.

That's its beauty... and where there is beauty, there is God.

Yeah, I believe you believe that.

It's funny to think you weren't a nun once, that you had a different name.

Me and Colette play a game where we try and guess what it is.

I'll tell you if you get it right.

♪ Cindy: How long can I stay here for?

10 days is quite usual.

Neither you nor baby are going anywhere just yet.

Hello.

Nursery for you.

Then you can get some sleep.

[Baby crying] Come on.

Baby.

Here we go.

Nurse...

I hardly got a wink of sleep.

I often have slow labors, but I'm starting to think there's something kicking off.

Right you are, Rhoda.

♪ [Door shuts] Mrs. Mullucks is in labor.

I need to call Nonnatus House and then get word to her husband.

I meanwhile have been to Cindy's lodging house and retrieved her belongings.

Is that all the poor lass owns?

These, the clothes in which she came to us, and her name.

The latter seems to be the only thing she hasn't lost along the way.

Her entire life appears to be an abject failure of the thing that matters most.

Love.

No.

Administration.

[Door opens] Dad's up.

Dad?

Where'd you put Susan's dollhouse?

♪ We need to find your birth certificate, your National Health number, and your National Insurance number, and from these, the rest will follow, including an application for supplementary allowance.

I can't do forms.

They all end up full of blanks.

They begin full of blanks.

Correctly completed, they become both record and representation of our lives.

Well, what if I don't want my life recorded?

My dear, it already is.

It's simply a matter of knowing where to look.

♪ You said there was a string of colored lights.

Dad!

Do you think you might have left it somewhere around here?

I don't remember, Perry!

I put it on a dustbin.

Where, Dad?

There.

[Clattering] ♪ Is that supposed to make it better?

Almost the first thing I can remember is when they took my mum away to the mental hospital.

Police woman stayed the night with me.

She gave me her pen to play with.

It were one of those biros with the button that you can click up and down.

Never seen anything like that before, and she opened up a paper bag for me to draw on or write, and I wrote, "Cindy Louise Dalvert."

Cindy being your given name, not an abbreviation?

Yeah.

Then I wrote, "Balaclava buildings, "Greenleaf Street, Manningham, Bradford, "Yorkshire, England, Great Britain, the Earth, the universe."

I had to keep on asking the police woman how to spell the words, but... as long as I kept my head down and only thought about my address, the world stopped spinning.

Next morning when it were light, she drove me to the council home.

She let me keep the pen.

Sometimes, one has to express kindness in the only way one can.

I lived in so many addresses after that.

Don't take this the wrong way, but...when's Mrs. Turner coming?

She'll be here any minute now.

We've got plenty of-- Shelagh: Mr. Mullucks, you can't just go barging into the delivery room!

Bernie: I just want to see my wife.

Bernie, get out!

Black with two sugars.

Don't suppose you got anything medicinal... to put in here, a...nip, something like that.

No, but I can--I can find some paracetamol if your head's aching.

It aches.

Every day.

Does drinking alcohol help with that?

Every day.

[Cup and saucer rattling] Mr. Mullucks, we don't know each other particularly well, but I think just at this moment I know what you're feeling and what you're thinking.

You're thinking that you're utterly alone, and you're not, I promise you that.

I can show you that.

I can take you somewhere where you'll never feel alone in this again, but you have to ask.

♪ [Car door opens] Bernie: What's this?

Alcohol-free champagne?

I'm so glad you're here.

Mr. Mullucks needs to go straight home.

I don't want this.

Oh, this is normal labor, Rhoda.

You've coped before, and you'll cope again.

I mean, I don't want this baby.

Rhoda, sweetheart, you don't mean that.

You can't mean that!

You mean can't as in it's impossible or...can't, like, that's not allowed.

It's neither of those things.

If that is how you feel, I respect that, and the thing that might help most is if you try to tell me why.

I feel like I'm betraying Susan.

She asks for nothing, but she needs so much, and now there'll be another child, another mouth, another body clinging to me, and I don't know how I'm gonna manage it!

You will manage, Rhoda, because good mothers do, and you are the best, most generous, most resilient, and most resourceful mother I have ever seen.

But it's hard, Mrs. Turner, and it--and it's gonna get hard for Susan.

She's going to get her nose pushed out of joint, that's for certain.

It happens to children all the time.

They learn to share, and they learn to budge up and make room, and one way and another, they learn that the most miraculous organ in a mother's body is her heart because it never stops growing.

You promise?

I promise.

♪ This is what drink does.

It batters down everything that matters.

Children were trying to mend it with Airfix glue, but it's completely destroyed.

If it can't be repaired, can it be replaced?

How?

The shops are already shut, and tomorrow, it's Christmas Eve.

You're not getting the forceps.

I don't want the forceps!

I'm just looking for things to do.

I'm feeling like a bit of a spare part.

Ohh!

Ohh!

That's the head, Rhoda!

Go with it!

Push!

Go with it!

Come on!

You can do it!

[Screaming] [Moaning] [Baby crying] ♪ Ha ha ha!

Looks like you have another son, Rhoda.

Born at two minutes past midnight on Christmas Eve morning.

Oh, it's a boy.

Ha ha!

Oh, then I've done it.

Girl, boy, girl, boy.

It all fits together, doesn't it?

He's beautiful.

Aw!

♪ Hush.

♪ Oh, and he's mine.

He's mine.

♪ Oh!

Oh, oh.

Oh, it's one of them after pains.

I think it might be the placenta coming.

Dr. Turner, will you take him, walk around with him in your arms?

You're good at that.

[Baby crying] I hope you don't think this is a liberty, Dr. Turner, but...I'd like to call him Patrick.

♪ Oh!

Hello!

Hello!

Ha ha!

♪ [Doorbell rings] ♪ Where'd this come from?

I could say that it fell off the back of a lorry, but I'd be fibbing.

♪ Merry Christmas.

♪ ♪ [Children laughing] Aah!

Ooh!

Heh heh heh.

♪ [Doorbell ringing] Merry Christmas!

Come in out of the snow.

[Indistinct chatter] Is it Gillian?

No.

Colette: Is it Amanda?

No.

Nancy: Is it maybe Maureen or Doreen?

No!

[Children giggling] I'm afraid there's been a call-out for a woman in labor, not a name I recognize.

♪ Here.

♪ Is this where your auntie lives, Yusuf?

♪ [Woman shouting in native language] You must be Gulsan.

Don't be afraid.

Please don't be afraid.

I'm here to help.

Is this your first baby or perhaps your second?

Is this one or two?

So bad.

[Speaking native language] Oh, Gulsan, Gulsan, please don't worry, OK?

We are going to make this beautiful.

Go on Susan now.

Hold the baby.

Let's see.

You're a big sister now.

Aw.

Ha ha!

We're all changing, Bernie.

Got to change, too.

♪ Sister Frances: Shavash said there'd be no time to get you to the hospital.

Hey.

Hey.

Come here.

Can you feel that?

That's baby's head.

OK, OK, baby's coming now.

Baby's coming.

Just breathe.

Just breathe.

It's OK. Just breathe for me.

Just breathe and let it go.

[Baby crying] ♪ It's perfect.

[Music playing on TV] Heh heh heh.

Announcer: And now, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we present for your entertainment "Alladin and his Wonderful Lamp."

Ha ha ha!

♪ Gulsan, just gonna pull very gently on the cord to see if the afterbirth has come away.

[Baby crying] ♪ Ha!

[Telephone ringing] Lucille, the delivery was straightforward, but the placenta hasn't separated.

Did you give her syntometrine?

Yes.

Yes, but then the cord just snapped right off.

I--I tried doing the Crede's maneuver on my own, but we need to try again, the two of us.

I'll get there as soon as I can.

♪ Aah!

[Bird caws] Agh.

Ahh.

Ahh.

[Grunting] Ohh.

[Breathing heavily] O Lord, in thee have I trusted.

Please never let me be confounded.

♪ [Sighs] [Footsteps] ♪ Penny for them.

Have you ever had that feeling that somehow in spite of everything in the world that's fractured or imperfect or out of joint you're exactly where you belong?

Yeah.

He's in the hallway now.

I was trying not to look, but I could see the ring box in his trouser pocket all through tea!

Oh, no, no.

You can't go down there.

Sorry.

I...used to look at the map of the East End on my father's office wall, at all the pins stuck in it, which meant that we owned this tenement and--and-- and that warehouse, and it... it was just the geography of money.

I never guessed I'd look at it and think that those streets, those buildings that is where my life is.

And is it?

Trixie, I'm not a man that's never known love, but... here...

I've seen what love is in all its hardship and its glory.

Hmm.

I see it, too.

And I--I want to go on seeing it together and--and--and through your eyes.

Trixie... Oh, Mr. Aylward, I'm so sorry, but Jonty's just been very, very sick.

It's mostly selection box, but it's all over Sister Monica Joan.

Heh heh heh.

Heh.

Heh heh.

Lucille, voice-over: We're going to do the Crede's maneuver.

I'll work internally, and you take the abdomen.

Sister Frances: OK. That way, you only need to use your good hand.

I'm sorry, precious.

My hand might be a little bit cold.

[Speaks Gulsan's language] All is well.

Ready?

Mm-hmm.

Prepare to apply pressure.

It's all right.

[Moaning] Am I pushing hard enough?

Have you managed to get hold of it?

Yes.

The placenta has separated.

I can feel it beyond the cervix.

It's coming.

[Breathing heavily] ♪ A second injection of syntometrine.

Then I'll check to ensure it's complete.

Gulsan can't stay here.

It's filthy, and--and she doesn't have adequate support, and she needs to go to hospital.

I've already sent for an ambulance, and there'll be room in it for two.

I think you've broken your shoulder.

I'd like to speak to Nurse Franklin, please.

Of course.

Come in.

♪ Did I have an operation?

You sustained a nasty double fracture, the top end of the humerus and the clavicle.

The bones had to be reset under general anesthetic.

The Order is in the wars, isn't it?

First you with your ribs, and as soon as you're better, it's my turn.

I wonder what God wants from it.

I think God wants the Order to take better care of its sisters, not work them like mules or to assume that where there's the will there's limitless strength.

I'm all right.

There's plenty I can do one-handed.

We'll be arranging for help from the agency until Mother Mildred sends someone to replace Sister Hilda.

You are to go to Chichester until your arm heals.

You need rest and the privilege and discipline of prayer.

You mean... just be a nun?

Yes, for a while.

It is your right, and you have earned it.

That's moss stitch unless I'm mistaken.

You've done well, lass... and so has Miss Higgins.

Approved for supplementary allowance, assigned a social worker, and offered a long-term place at a hostel for mothers and babies on the Essex coast.

I pursued a connection I have at a private charity.

You've done all that for me?

♪ [Sighs] My name is Bernie.

I'm an alcoholic.

Well done.

I could say that I'm here because I'm ashamed... because I'm an idiot, but the friend... who brought me here said I could talk about anything, and I want to talk about love because no one ever does where I'm from except if it's your wedding day or someone around you is dying... but no one tells you that love can... be a knife, that it can twist inside of you and you can't tell no one that you're bleeding.

My little girl is so beautiful to me that I can't describe it.

Thalidomide took her arms, took her legs, and I want the world for her, and she'll never get it.

She'll never have a job.

She'll never have a husband.

That's what they say, and I don't know whether I drink to drown them out or to stop myself from screaming.

I think...

I must... hide in it, in the glass or in the bottle, but does that mean I'm hiding from her?

♪ I don't want to be a coward.

I just want to love without it hurting.

I want to love like my little girl does.

I want to love... like it's easy.

like I don't know any better... and I can never be... innocent again, but I can change, I can stop, I can stop.

I can stop.

[Sniffles] Then I can love.

♪ [Indistinct chatter] [Band playing] ♪ That looks good.

Do not let yourself be distracted by the wolf whistles in the audience.

It's extremely important we follow the beat of the music at all times and the other way.

Hello!

Hello, Susan!

Perfect timing.

♪ Do re mi fa sol la ti do ♪ [Children laughing] I still think you should have worn your lounge suit.

Hughie Green always wears a lounge suit, and that's why I'm wearing mine.

I mean that most sincerely, folks.

Fred, I am not getting up on that stage in front of half of Poplar looking like I'm preaching or I'm civil engineering.

Wear it.

No.

I want to feel like I'm in show business.

A tuxedo is show business.

Violet says Reggie's forgotten his bowtie.

I'm not wearing it.

Reggie, I think you're feeling a little bit like how me and Fred are feeling-- a little nervous and a little bit wondering why we said we'd do this.

Overtures and beginners, please.

[Band playing] Hey, hey!

Ho ho!

Ladies and gentlemen, lords and lasses, welcome one and all to this evening gala performance in aid of the Train Crash Relief Fund.

You bought tickets to see Nurse Nancy and Matthew Sinatra!

"Poplartunity Knocks!"

"Knocks"!

♪ ♪ I know I stand in line until you think ♪ ♪ You have the time to spend an evening with me ♪ ♪ And if we go someplace to dance ♪ ♪ I know that there's a chance you won't be leaving with me ♪ ♪ And afterwards, we drop ♪ ♪ Into a quiet, little place ♪ ♪ And have a drink or two ♪ ♪ And then I go and spoil it all ♪ ♪ By saying something stupid like "I love you" ♪ ♪ The time is right, your perfume fills my head ♪ ♪ The stars get red, and, oh, the night's so blue ♪ ♪ And then I go and spoil it all ♪ ♪ By saying something stupid like "I love you" ♪ ♪ I love you ♪ ♪ I love you ♪ ♪ I love you ♪ [Cheering and applause] Bravo!

Bravo!

Oh, ho ho ho!

But just remember, folks.

The Clap-o-meter's just for fun.

It's your votes that really count.

[Microphone feedback] [Playing out of tune] ♪ [Feedback] [Applause] Fred: I think the Clap-o-meter must be broken.

You've broken the Clap-o-meter.

Come on, Colette.

Give it a helping hand.

Yeah.

Um, how about we give the two lovely ladies a cheer instead?

Yeah.

Hip, hip hooray!

Man: 5 minutes till curtain up.

That's 5 minutes till curtain up.

Hello.

Reggie, isn't it?

I'm Cindy, and this is Melissa.

Nice baby.

Looking forward to you playing your guitar.

I'm not.

Why not?

Too many people, and I'm not gonna do it.

Can be a bit overwhelming, can't it, a bit much when there's lots of strange faces.

Yes.

Sometimes, all it takes is knowing that there's just that one person, that one person rooting for you.

I'll root for you.

You can look out and see my face, and I'll be smiling.

But you'll be too far away.

[Cheering and applause] Up next we have a wonderful young man who needs no introduction to many of you.

He is East End born and bred, and it is my pleasure and my honor to call him a friend.

This evening, he is going to play his guitar for us, so please give him the warmest welcome.

Tonight, Poplartunity Knocks for Reggie Jackson.

♪ [Audience humming along] ♪ [Cheering and applause] Fred: And in a change to our advertised program, Angela, May, and Teddy Turner will be joined onstage for their rendition of "Frosty the Snowman" by their friend Susan Mullucks.

[Cheering and applause] Children: ♪ Frosty the Snowman ♪ ♪ Was a jolly, happy soul ♪ ♪ With a corncob pipe and a button nose ♪ ♪ And two eyes made out of coal ♪ ♪ Frosty the Snowman is a fairy tale they say ♪ ♪ He was made of snow, but the children know ♪ ♪ How he came to life one day ♪ ♪ There must have been some magic ♪ ♪ In that old silk hat they found ♪ ♪ For when they placed it ♪ ♪ On his head ♪ ♪ He began to dance around ♪ ♪ Oh, Frosty the Snowman ♪ Aw!

♪ Was a alive as he can be ♪ ♪ And the children say he can laugh and play ♪ ♪ Just the same as you and me ♪ ♪ Frosty the Snowman had to hurry on his way ♪ ♪ But he waved good-bye, saying, "Don't you cry" ♪ ♪ "I'll be back again someday" ♪ [Cheering and applause] [Indistinct chatter] You have it.

For being my friend.

Now you take as much rest as you need.

Nurse's orders.

You come back now.

Colette... do you want to know a secret?

Are you going to tell me your name?

It's Rosemary.

Heh heh heh.

Bye.

♪ [Horn honks] ♪ I love the river at New Year.

The first time I ever heard the bells ring and the ships sound their foghorns, I thought I'd never heard anything so alive.

For years when I was in the grip of drink, it was--it was as though the racket was inside me.

Trixie...

I love you.

Hmm.

I love you for who you are.

I love you for all the places that you've been and come back from.

I love you for all the things that you've shown me and all the places we have yet to go, so will you just come with me, Trixie?

Will you come with me as my wife?

♪ [Gasps] Oh!

I mean, I--I can get you a sapphire if you'd rather or an emerald or a ruby.

I--I--I don't really care about the diam-- I don't care about the diamond-- I don't know what to say!

All I care about is you.

[Crying] All I've ever cared about is you.

Oh!

Ohh!

Wait, Trixie.

Wait, wait!

Trixie!

Be careful!

Careful?

Careful?

You just threw a diamond the size of Big Ben into the Thames.

I suppose you could say it's the ultimate London experience.

I know I've said it several times already, but I really do love you, Trixie.

I love you so much that I'm doing this in a brand-new pair of suede shoes.

Oh, gosh!

Ohh!

Ahh!

Ha!

Will you marry me, Trixie?

Yes.

Yes!

♪ Crowd: ♪ And never brought to mind?

♪ ♪ Should auld acquaintance be forgot ♪ Mature Jennifer: Love your miracles as if they are your children.

Whether you make them or whether you find them, cherish them, name them, hold them close.

♪ There will always be others.

There were miracles before, but each is as complete as any that proceeded it, as perfect as any that will ever come again... and each is as fragile as a single flake of snow.

♪ ♪ ♪