Our take
A Christmas special built around a carol service for the BBC is a sly joke at the show's own expense, and the parish chaos around it is great fun. The real heart is a feud between two elderly nuns over tinsel and tradition, which turns into a genuine fright and a moving reconciliation. Expect measles, Regent Street lights and a choir. Not the most ambitious special, but one of the most comforting.
What happens
It is Christmas 1960 and festive cheer is in plentiful supply as Poplar gets ready. The BBC plans to televise a carol service from the parish, and Tom Hereward and Shelagh do all they can to make it work, but a measles outbreak among the children of the choir threatens to stop the broadcast until Shelagh finds a solution. Patsy and Barbara help Tom take a party of children to see the Regent Street lights. Sister Monica Joan falls ill and then has a bitter row with Sister Evangelina about Christmas decorations and the old ways, and afterwards she goes missing; the household fears the worst until she is found and the rift is mended. An unexpected surprise brings Christmas home for a grieving mother who has lost her only child, and Patsy's relationship with Delia carries on in secret.
Can the kids watch it?
No BBFC rating found. It was a Christmas Day family-time drama, but it includes births, illness and some sad stories, so best for older children watching with a grown-up.
Cast and crew
Starring
- Jenny Agutter as Sister Julienne
- Linda Bassett as Nurse Phyllis Crane
- Pam Ferris as Sister Evangelina
- Judy Parfitt as Sister Monica Joan
- Helen George as Trixie Franklin
- Bryony Hannah as Sister Mary Cynthia
- Laura Main as Shelagh Turner
- Emerald Fennell as Patsy Mount
Guest stars
- Charlotte Ritchie as Nurse Barbara Gilbert
- Victoria Yeates as Sister Winifred
- Stephen McGann as Dr Patrick Turner
- Cliff Parisi as Fred Buckle
- Jack Ashton as Tom Hereward
- Ben Caplan as Sgt Peter Noakes
- Rob Jarvis as Walter Willens
- Victoria Hamilton as Iris Willens
- Annabelle Apsion as Violet Buckle
- Adrian Scarborough as Barrington Swann
- Kate Lamb as Delia Busby
- Maxine Evans as Mrs Busby
- Vanessa Redgrave as Voice of Mature Jennifer Worth
Writer
- Heidi Thomas
Director
- Juliet May