Elizabeth Gaskell wrote the three novellas. Heidi Thomas adapted it for television.
I did some cleaning up on the main page, due to an alarming number of entries that were seemingly written by die-hard shippers (mainly for Turnadette) and contained descriptions that did not mesh with what I've seen when watchin the series (ie being very subjective). Several entries about people "shipping so and so with all the fire of a thousand suns", being "desperately (and mutually) in love with", mentioning of extremely thick UST and having "desperate attraction", and so on. Having watched the series multiple times myself I for instance never saw anything that suggests Timothy Turner being an enormous shipper for his father and Sister Bernadette, only that he likes her well enough and wants her to know that she has his approval to marry his father. Point here being that believing he's a huge Turnadette shipper is very subjective, and thus it has no business being on the main page. Several entries started off relevant but then veer off into unrelated shipping, such as You Must Be Cold that mostly describes how they can't take their eyes off one another for being so desperately in love, or the Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold entry that talks about Sheilagh being "radiantly in love" after her tuberculosis. There was a ton of stuff like this on the page and it just clutters the text. How about we keep the main page clean of massive shipping outbursts, and just stick to matters that aren't subjective? That's what the YMVV page is for, isn't it?
Also I went ahead and removed the "English Rose" entry since it appears clear that Sheilagh can't qualify since she is Scottish, not English.
There is no Planet B
Spoiled Sweet is in TRS and the trope is much more narrow than a character with rich background who is a decent person. Other character traits include naive, sheltered, optimistic, genuinely nice to everyone, sometimes might slip and be a bit mean (unintentionally).
This example has a long write up, but it doesn't seem like she fits.
- Spoiled Sweet: Chummy comes from a much more privileged background than any of the other characters, being a member of the upper class. However, she is also one of the kindest characters in the show, at no point putting herself above the poor and low-class members of the East End. Her mother, on the other hand... Chummy is especially notable when compared to main character Jenny Lee, who also comes from a significantly well-off background. Jenny is constantly horrified by the conditions around her, whilst Chummy more often than not just goes with it and tries to do the best she can with what she's got.
Yeah, Chummy really doesn't fit the Spoiled Sweet archetype at all. I've always understood Spoiled Sweet to be "that girl who would be the Alpha Bitch if she weren't just so darned nice", a la Cher Horowitz in Clueless, not just "any nice rich girl".
I serve at the pleasure of President Pritchart.
Hello, I'm completely new here, and I simply don't know the rules at all. I'd love to talk about the great characters of Call the Midwife. Like so many others I love Chummy. As a Swede I wasn't familiar with Miranda Hall at all, and her portrayal of Chummy was a wonderful surprise to me. I love Chummy's body size, I love her clumsiness, I love her adorable kindness, and I love her marriage to PC Peter Noakes. And I totally love her way of speaking!
But I have other favorites as well, and I find myself partial to Trixie. She is like a little Marilyn Monroe. She is glamorous, bubbly, charming and kind, and she is a platinum blonde just like Marilyn. But like Marilyn she is vulnerable because she lacks self confidence. There was a certain question she was asked about herself in series 4 which made her crumble. I just hope that series 5 will be kind to Trixie!
I was a bit sad to see what happened to Cynthia in series 4. Does anyone know if it was done to hide the fact that Bryony Hannah recently had her first child? There was no way the producers of CTM could allow Cynthia to get pregnant on the show, so I guess they had come up with another way to hide her pregnancy.
I'd love to talk more about the characters, but maybe I'm going about it the wrong way!
There is no Planet B
Spoiled Sweet is in TRS and the trope is much more narrow than a character with rich background who is a decent person. Other character traits include naive, sheltered, optimistic, genuinely nice to everyone, sometimes might slip and be a bit mean (unintentionally).
This example has a long write up, but it doesn't seem like she fits.
- Spoiled Sweet: Chummy comes from a much more privileged background than any of the other characters, being a member of the upper class. However, she is also one of the kindest characters in the show, at no point putting herself above the poor and low-class members of the East End. Her mother, on the other hand... Chummy is especially notable when compared to main character Jenny Lee, who also comes from a significantly well-off background. Jenny is constantly horrified by the conditions around her, whilst Chummy more often than not just goes with it and tries to do the best she can with what she's got.
There is no Planet B
Removed from the page:
- English Rose: Sister Bernadette stands out as an archetypal example; modest, petite, Silk Hiding Steel, gentle, fair-skinned blonde, and after leaving the convent, a devoted wife and mother.
This example was removed from the trope page — the write-up mentioned she was actually Welsh or Scottish, so she doesn't qualify.
I don't watch the series, so I hope it was accurate. Please add it back if there's a mistake.
Edited by 77.48.59.223 Hide / Show Replies
One, she's Scottish - or at least her actress is. But not only is Scottish still British, but her character lives in London and has done for at least a decade (we don't know anything about where she grew up, but for all we know she could have left Scotland at a very young age), and what's more, she is everything a classical English Rose is supposed to be. Seriously, she fits every single character trait — modest (she's a former nun, she's a gentle nurse-midwife, has a peaches-and-cream complexion and shining blonde hair, is tiny (5'2" and slight), and devotes herself to her family, her stepson, and her husband once they finally do, even giving up her work as a nurse because she prefers to be a stay-at-home mother.
Adding it back.
Edited by 65.27.97.229 I serve at the pleasure of President Pritchart.
There was quite a heated discussion in the Trope Repair Shop because there was lots of misuse in the past. For instance, people kept adding American characters or just American actresses who fit visually... Simply, it's hard work to keep the trope clean. My understanding is that British does not equal English, and Scotish by no means equals English.
The result of the discussion in the TRS was that she must truly be English, otherwise she doesn't fit. Other nationalities can easily be listed as Proper Lady.
We discussed it over PM with troper lexii who also parcipitated in the TRS. If she's English in the source material, it should be clearly stated in the write up.
Should we go ahead and unspoil the Turnadette storyline? At this point I think it's an open secret anyway, but I don't want to make the decision unilaterally.
I serve at the pleasure of President Pritchart.
What!?! PBS is making edits? Those traitorous bastards! Say it ain't so.....!
Ok, with that out of the way... someone please tell me that the eps Netflix is streaming are complete...
Cleric of Banjo
" about Cranford (also written by Heidi Thomas), it never devolves into a melodramatic mess."
... ok, ooc, I thought "Cranford" was written by Elizabeth Gaskell, someone please clarify?
(Actually, who needs love when one has music?...) Hide / Show Replies