Season 6 of this period drama opens in the year 1962. Societal changes are afoot, from the contraceptive pill to the new welfare policies introduced by the British government. In the Poplar district of London, changes also arrive in the Nonnatus House. Sister Ursula (Harriet Walter) is appointed the new head of the House, while Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter) gets demoted. This season, the midwives all strive to help mothers and families cope with the demands of childbearing, disability, disease and social prejudice; while facing battles of their own.
This has never, despite occasionally being wrongly sold as such, been sweetly cosy retro TV, and shows no signs of easing on the social grit as we move further into the 1960s.