My withdrawal symptoms from bingewatching "Call the Midwife" on #Netflix

I just finished 3 seasons of Call the Midwife on Netflix. *SIGH* I'd never ever thought I'd say I am starting to hate Netflix ... not in a bad way. Netflix can't keep up with my appetite for the good stuff (and by that I mean I want more seasons, pretty please). Call the Midwife is probably one the best series I've ever watched. I'd file this away with my all-time faves like Picket Fences, Six Feet Under, and Breaking Bad.

The series has been around since 2012 (have I been living under a rock?!) and it now Season 5. Canada's Netflix only has Seasons 1-3.

What it's about

This period drama follows the day-to-day lives of a group of young women with a handful of nuns of Nonnatus House (interesting trivia: St. Raimund Nonnatus was born by Cesarean section; Nonnatus means "not born" in Latin) . These young women are a force to reckon with, serving the midwifery, and often medical needs, of the slums of Poplar district, London in the 1950s-60s.

The main character is Jenny Lee, portrayed by actress Jessica Raine, the young lady in the middle of the poster). Having grown up a sheltered life, she is shocked by her own decision to work in her new profession of nursing and midwifery -- which turns out to be a life changing in so many ways. She finds a second family in her profession and becomes part of a humble yet generous community.

Why I love it

Can I just say because? Everything about this series appeals to me: it's funny, it's heartwarming, and it's real. It's about life and life lessons. It's about poverty and making the best of it. It's about motherhood, sacrifice and love. It's about the brutality and tragedy of poverty but also about the kindness and the beauty in humanity. And it's history not only of the UK during the post-war with its difficulties and challenges but also of the tremendous advances in medicine in general.

Each episode is special and memorable, typically involving the encounters of the much-esteemed midwives with a bevy of Poplar residents. An episode is a day-in-the-life of a resident. I have a number of favourite episodes (just keep reading).

Chummy learning to ride the bike (and she meets her
hubby-to-be by running into him - bike and all!)

Of course, a highlight in each one is a birth -- complete with a twist if drama and even some humour -- and with amazing cinematography with only days-old babies! It makes watching so much affecting. I can't help but feel myself holding my breath or feeling my heart racing during the difficult deliveries (too close for comfort). And babies ... well, whose heart doesn't melt a little bit with a baby?

The characters are all based on real people so it makes me feel like I have gotten to know some very worthwhile human beings in this series. Worth mentioning is my especial favourite, Chummy, who is played by Miranda Hart. What a wonderful character, immensely bighearted and just so loveable. There is a character for everyone, making the stories moreso relatable to watchers; I am sure you will find your own favourites!

Tuberculosis. Birth control. Family planning. PSTD. Mental health. Medicine has grown in leaps and bounds in the past 50-80 years that it is often difficult to imagine a time when these afflictions were little understood and effective methods and treatments were only just beginning to take shape.

I cannot not mention that the series is narrated by Vanessa Redgrave in past tense, evoking the memoir-style because ...

... of course, this is based on a book!

This series is based on the best-selling memoirs of Jennifer Worth also titled Call the Midwife. I have my eye on the trilogy. The series was *just*so*good* I can only imagine that reading the source material will make me better understand the difficulties folks of this era had to face.

Anyway, I believe in serendipity. Over a snack, I mentioned how enamored I was with this BBC series to a colleague and we had a lovely chat. AND she has a copy of the first book -- which is now in my hands and I am raring to go! You can take a peek into this book in my recent Friday 56/Book Beginnings post. Snippets sooo good ...!

A few favourite episodes

Season 1, Episode 2: Introduction of new midwife Camilla Fortescue-Cholmondeley-Browne, nicknamed Chummy (because what would this series be without Chummy?). She is a huge woman with a very charming old-world way of speaking and is a natural people person, making her wards very comfortable around her. Coming from a well-to-do family, she struggles to gain Sister Evangelina's approval. As the bicycle is the fastest means of getting around the community, it is a challenge for her to learn this new skill ... but it is instrumental in her getting to know her to-be-man local policeman Peter Noakes.

Jenny with Joe
(Photo from PBS)

Season 1, Episode 3: This episode was a double whammy and sealed the deal for me - I had to keep watching this series! Jenny is assigned to help with the medical needs of Joe, an elderly former soldier who lives in a condemned tenement block destined to be torn down. She goes over and beyond her nurse duties and becomes his fast friend. Meanwhile, midwives Trixie and Cynthia deal with the inexplicable anxiety of an older pregnant woman whose husband dotes on her throughout the pregnancy. A secret is revealed during the birth, with my heartstrings tugged every which way.

Christmas special (2012): The Christmas special shares the heartbreaking story of the destitute Mrs. Jenkins, a survivor of the workhouse. I had no idea of the appalling circumstances that the poor had to face in the workhouse, and the "workhouse howl" in the episode sent shivers down my spine. She keeps mistaking Jenny for her daughter Rosie whom she lost when admitted to the workhouse. Since this is a Christmas special, it also features the secret pregnancy of a teenage girl who is charged with taking care of her brothers. Fearing the ire of her parents, she delivers her child by herself and leaves the baby at Nonnatus house. The community is intent of trying to find the mother.

There were many more but I urge you to watch this series yourself.

Verdict

Looking for an amazing and worthwhile Netflix watch? I highly recommend Call the Midwife. You will laugh and cry and experience every emotion in between.

Book Depository

Synopsis of Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth: London's East End in the 1950s was a tough place: the struggles of post-war life - bombsites, overcrowded tenements, crime, brothels - bred a culture of tight-knit family communities, larger-than-life characters and a lively social scene.

It was into this world that Jennifer Worth entered as a trainee midwife. But docklands life was tough, and babies were often born in slum conditions. In funny, disturbing and heartbreaking stories, Jennifer Worth recounts her time among nuns, prostitutes, abortionists, bigamists, gangsters and expectant mothers, portraying East Enders' amazing resilience - and their warmth and humour in the face of hardship.

Written with affection and nostalgia, her midwife stories chronicle the lives, traditions and tales of a bygone era.

Links

• PBS Call the Midwife website 
• Call the Midwife Episode Guide (Wikipedia)

The series #MrSelfridge is inspired by a book!

Image from IMDB

After my successful bingewatching of The Paradise on Netflix, I decided to try something that Netflix recommended. It's eerily similar to The Paradise since it also features a department store. If you're from the UK or have ever visited the UK, you probably are familiar with Selfridge's. I've heard the name but never knew the story behind it ... it was just another department store to me.

This series by PBS focuses on the founder-owner of Selfridge's - Harry Gordon Selfridge. 

Initial ... errr ...

Poster of Mr. Selfridge

I watched the first episode and against my best intentions of not getting hooked, I ended up watching the entire three seasons available on Netflix over a few weeks.

My first impression with the first episode was "Ugh, I don't like Mr. Selfridge" or rather, I didn't like the actor, Jeremy Piven, who was so obviously acting - his turns of his head, the little grin - that it rather peeved me. I will not get into this too much because to have an instant dislike to the actor portraying the main character obviously overshadows everything else. To Piven fans, my apologies, but his characterization of Mr. Selfridge did not convince me.

But (a huge BUT), I was so charmed by the character Agnes Towelr - who was laid off from her job because she broke the rules by actually being a good salesperson -- to surprise, surprise, Mr. Selfridge. Let's continue with ...

What I did enjoy

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let me explain what I enjoyed about this series:

Like The Paradise, I was fascinated with the beginnings of the department store. Harry Selfridge was a fascinating man and his ability to innovate and challenge during a time where so many things were scandalous, taboo, or just "simply not done," shapes our shopping experience to this day. The series rather plays up his womanizing, gambling, drinking, his penchant for cars, and the trappings of being a moneyed gentleman of the day. A theatre man, someone who does everything with aplomb, bombastic! Perfect for a series, right?

Agnes Towler, played by Aisling Loftus
Photo from PSS

The series also depicts the history of the department store prior and post-World War, the emergence of the shopping culture, and the marketing and business savvy to keep it all going. Those who love their British history will admire how this department store stuck by its workers throughout this difficult time. I think that it is the sense of pride in family, of loyalty, and of taking care of its own is something that the Selfridge institution prides itself in.

What makes the series special, in my opinion, are the less glittery stories of the average working people that the store employed. There are a number but a few did make an impression on me.

Again, I have to mention that the story of Agnes Towler is what drew me in and made me stick through the three seasons. Her drive, ambition, hard work, and lovely persona made me highly empathetic to her as well as her brother. Throughout her career at Selfridge's, I silently cheered her on throughout a tumultuous family life, her discovery of her love for window dressing, and losing and finding love. Her brother, George, also grew on me, starting out as an awkward young man and gradually growing into his own.

Josie Mardle played by Amanda Abbington
Photo from PBS

Another character I loved whom I have to mention is Josie Mardle, the Head of Accessories. I immediately recognized her as Mary in Sherlock. (I mean, really, I'll watch anything Amanda Abbington is in as she's an incredible actress. If she's in this, I thought, it's got to be good.) Her character was that of the "other" woman, the mistress of Chief of Staff Mr. Grove. This secret life with the man she loved who was tied to an ailing wife was just tragic on so many fronts.

Characterization of society during the early 20th century shows a marked divide of the place of men and women in British society. The women in particular interested me because of the pressures of propriety, the rise of the suffragette movement, and the breaking in of women into traditionally male occupations due to the changing world.

Book inspiration 

This is based on the non-fiction book Shopping, Seduction and Mr Selfridge by Lindy Woodhead. I have not read this but think it must be worthwhile for a more realistic and less Hollywoody story. Or I maybe wrong. Sometimes I like to imagine things in my head but I worry now that I've watched the series that I won't be able to get the actors' faces out of my head!
 

About Shopping, Seduction and Mr Selfridge by Lindy Woodhead: The men who created the first department stores--what Zola called "great cathedrals of shopping"--made vast fortunes, but no one understood how shopping could become sexy as well as Mr. Selfridge. In 1909, his department store--London's first and built from scratch--opened in a glorious burst of publicity, spearheaded by the largest advertising campaign ever mounted in the British press. In his eponymous store, Harry Gordon Selfridge created nothing less than "the theater of retail." His personal life was just as flamboyant--one of mistresses and mansions, racehorses and yachts. In this revealing narrative, author Lindy Woodhead tells the extraordinary story of a revolution in shopping, depicts the rise and fall of a retail prince, and unravels a slice of social history that will surprise and entertain any woman who loves to shop.

Verdict

Overall, this series is an intriguing peek of shopping in the early 20th century and the theatrics of shopping innovator Harry Gordon Selfridge. I question how close the series is to the truth. I'd classify the series as popcorn worthy. The first and second seasons were pretty good but the last season went downhill for me. The fourth season is underway and I'll probably end up watching it when it makes it way onto Netflix.

Have you ever watched Mr. Selfridge? Your impressions? Would you consider watching this series or reading the book?

Look what I found on Netflix! Émile Zola's The Ladies' Paradise as a series!

Image from BBC

I've been trolling around on Netflix (Sherlock and The X Files have an undeniable pull) and I stumbled upon the series The Paradise. Described as "An intoxicating love story set in England's first department store in the 1870s," I got hooked and was quite disappointed that it only had two seasons and no more to follow. I've just finished it the entire series (16 episodes in all) and thought maybe you'll enjoy it.

It's Book-inspired!

I love it when I stumble across a movie - or in this case a Netflix series - based on a book! It was a pleasant surprise to learn that this series is based on Emile Zola's The Ladies' Paradise (translated in some editions as "The Ladies' Delight") with the following blurb:

The Ladies Paradise (Au Bonheur des Dames) recounts the rise of the modern department store in late nineteenth-century Paris. The store is a symbol of capitalism, of the modern city, and of the bourgeois family: it is emblematic of changes in consumer culture and the changes in sexual attitudes and class relations taking place at the end of the century. This new translation of the eleventh novel in the Rougon-Macquart cycle captures the spirit of one of Zola's greatest works.

I've never read any of Emile Zola's work, so this series piqued my interest and I'll be on the hunt for his books from now on.

What I liked about The Paradise

The Paradise was first broadcast in 2012. You gotta love Netflix for adding on lesser known shows; I'm finding it is quite the treasure trove and I've even got a whole bunch of recommendations of movies and series based on books now. (So this feature may become a bit of a more regular thing on Guiltless Reading if I end up watching and writing about them.)

The first episode opens with a young country lass, Denise, coming to northern England from Peebles, Scotland. She visits her uncle Edmund Lovett, a draper whose shop is right across the posh and prestigious The Paradise. It's evident that The Paradise is slowly killing away the smaller and decrepit stores around it. Denise applies to be a shopgirl in the women's fashion department and gets in easy.

Hooked? That I was.

The series explores themes that you'd expect of a soap opera: love and lust; and status, influence, and money; and plenty of scheming and politicking ... all in very proper (and not-so-proper) 1870s fashion. It's interesting that this series features the lives of the gentry as well as of the common folk.

With the novelty of the concept of the department store, I found the old-worldliness of The Paradise quite charming. Many marketing and promotions schemes were explored and put to the test, a reflection of today's advertising - mega-sales, in-store themed promotions, even leveraging the power of gossip (today's social media).

Denise in The Paradise (Photo from BBC)

I loved the main storyline showing Denise's ambition, her ascent in The Paradise because of her drive and innovative ideas, and her hidden desire to be Moray. Who doesn't love a strong heroine, especially when it seems the world conspires against her? Of course I was rooting for her, how could I not?

Love stories and its many complications abound: between Moray and Katherine Glendenning, between Moray and Denise (oh yes, but I was not liking this match-up), and even between two rather unlikely characters.

The Paradise had the feel of a family business. I really enjoyed the banter (and the jealousies) of the shopgirls, the hustle and bustle in the shop, the gossip in the kitchen, and so much happening that one can never really be bored.

Uh-Ohs

Now, right off the bat, I realized that the series is not the book; it's merely inspired by the book. For one, the original Parisian setting has been transplanted to England - which is entirely expected of BBC. As such, the are only references to the cultural openness and flamboyance of Paris hinted throughout the series. A little disconcerting was that all the names are Anglicized (Mouret becomes Moray). I am sure a lot of cultural references have been lost in this adaptation.

I loved the first season. The second season took on some strange turns and I wasn't quite happy with the ending ... but I could accept it. I just felt it was a little too predictable for my taste.

Verdict: 

A charming and endearing story of the first department store in England, replete with love story, the emergence of women's right to equality, and plenty of scheming. Gorgeous sets and costumes make this a sight for vintage fashion and history lovers. Go watch it while it's on Netflix!

Would you watch this? Have you read any Émile Zola?


Links:
The Paradise (TV Show) on Wikipedia