Our take
Made in a year when Christmas felt fragile, this special leans into spectacle and kindness: a circus parade, a trapeze and a long-lost hope for a mother who has suffered too much. Peter Davison's ringmaster is quietly devastating, and Linda Bassett gets one of her best moments. A little sentimental even by the show's standards, and none the worse for it. It won the non-royal Christmas Day ratings in 2020.
What happens
The circus comes to Poplar, parading past Fred and Violet's new general store. Reggie is desperate to see the polar bear on the posters, which turns out to be long dead. When a gas tank explodes among the caravans, Reggie keeps the ringmaster's grandsons safe. The ringmaster's daughter Jacquetta, a pregnant aerialist, moves into the pub, and Nurse Crane sends Dr Turner to her father, Mr Percival, who is secretly dying of lung cancer and will not tell her. Sister Monica Joan breaks her leg and despairs in hospital until Lucille insists she comes home for Christmas. Valerie has left for South Africa after her grandmother's death. Shelagh is reunited with Gloria Venables, who has lost seven babies and no longer dares to hope; Shelagh helps her talk about them before her daughter is born. Trixie's godmother pays for a marriage bureau, with poor results. Jacquetta's delivery needs forceps and she collapses with heart trouble but recovers, Mr Percival gives Nurse Crane her dream of a swing on the trapeze, then closes the circus and accepts treatment, and the Turners join everyone at Nonnatus for Christmas dinner.
Can the kids watch it?
Rated PG by the BBFC for mild upsetting scenes, brief threat and medical detail, so fine for most families, with some sad moments.
Cast and crew
Starring
- Jenny Agutter as Sister Julienne
- Linda Bassett as Nurse Phyllis Crane
- Judy Parfitt as Sister Monica Joan
- Helen George as Nurse Trixie Franklin
- Laura Main as Nurse Shelagh Turner
- Stephen McGann as Dr Patrick Turner
- Katie Lyons as Gloria Venables
- Peter Davison as Mr Percival
Guest stars
- Vanessa Redgrave as Voice of Jennifer Worth
Writer
- Heidi Thomas
Director
- Syd Macartney