Radio Times: Review by:; Alison Graham

It’s what Christmas TV’s all about: wallowing in picturesque deprivation then turning over to watch posh people in the country. There’s no time clash with Downton Abbey, so get settled for nearly three hours of life in the past…

Christmas comes to poverty-stricken, late 50s east London as cheerfully grubby urchins crowd around a shop with a telly and a copy of Radio Times
placed reverently in the window, at the start of a heart-warming, tear-stained Call the Midwife special.

At Nonnatus House, the convent’s working life continues as normal and women are still giving birth in squalid tenements. But for one wretched old lady, Christmas is just another painfully lonely day. Jenny tries to help, and uncovers a story of lifelong sorrow and abandonment. If this all sounds a bit Ken-Loach-with-snow, fear not, because Chummy and some cute kids provide light relief with a chaotic Nativity play.

About this programme

The hit drama of the year returns for a one-off special, in which the nuns find a newborn baby on the steps of the convent. The discovery prompts the community to rally round, providing food and clothing for the unexpected arrival. But the question remains - who is his mother and why did she leave him there? While the investigation gets under way, Jenny gets caught up in the mystery surrounding semi-vagrant local Mrs Jenkins, and the newly married Chummy pulls out all the stops to mount a successful children's nativity play. Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, Pam Ferris and Jenny Agutter star.