17 Little Known Shows To Stream When You’ve Run Out Of Ideas
By Sundi Rose
Photo: PBS
Call the Midwife
If you love a period drama, and Downton Abbey has worn it’s welcome out both upstairs and downstairs, Call the Midwife can scratch that itch. Of course, the period of post-World War II England isn’t quite as glamorous as some others, but it’s still damn interesting.
Call the Midwife is a funny, colorful tale of midcentury East End midwives and their, sometimes super disgusting, adventures in women’s health. The plot follows newbie Jenny Lee as she joins other midwives and nuns at Nonnatus house and learns the ropes of a community that she doesn’t initially have much in common with. Although their primary work is to make sure the zillions of babies born each month arrive alive, they also have to administer all sorts of healthcare to the neighborhood patients.
Adapted for BBC One and PBS by Heidi Thomas from the best-selling memoirs of Jennifer Worth, this show is really about female friendships and coming into your feminine own, with the help of a sisterhood that isn’t necessarily by blood. Jenny forms bonds with the eccentric and varied group in the house, and follows them as they bond with the people they’re charged to help.
All five seasons of Call the Midwife are available on Netflix.