We've not read Jennifer Worth's memoirs on which the series is based. No doubt they're an absorbing social document of a specific time and place (late 1950s, London's East End). As dramatised by the BBC, think 'Casualty' meets 'Casualty 1900', bumps into 'The Royal', takes a detour through 'District Nurse' and ends up being very close neighbours with all manner of heartwarming post-war grubby England tales.
Is that unfair? Maybe after one episode it's too early to judge, and the performances and production values are all they should be, but... it's all so familiar: the young newcomer, years of tradition, the agonies and ecstasies of childbirth, the nostalgic look back at a bygone age and even the carefully chosen soundtrack. Granted, it has been made for the 8pm Sunday slot and it doesn't shirk from showing the less salubrious side of life. So far it's so-so, but for emotional impact and a recreation of the 1950s without the childbirth, see 'Vera Drake'.
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