Video: Call the Midwife, DVD review The BBC version adapts these stories into an unflinching series, in which the nuns of Nonnatus House (among them Jenny Agutter voicing chief peacekeeper nun Sister Julianne and Pam Ferris as the bluntly-spoken Sister Evangeline) and the young secular nurses who live there lead us through the grimy dockyards and insect-ridden tenements of 1957 Poplar, east London, on their bicycles, cycling from one mother in labour to another. Thomas's programme does not shy away from nostalgia for a time when communities pulled together, girls went to village hall dances and the local policeman came round for tea. But though it approaches a sickly-sweet Sunday night tone at times, Thomas succeeds in maintaining an unsentimental viewpoint. She is aided in this by a particularly impressive prosthetics team, whose line in realistic newborns and bloody matter is remarkably effective at banishing schmaltz. Through the eyes of new nurse Jenny Lee (played by little-known actress Jessica Raine) we are drawn into the bedrooms of pregnant teenagers, witness mothers dying from eclampsia, and privvy to women fainting, fitting and panicking while men pace the corridors outside. No CGI is needed; nature and humanity in all its detail provides a much more absorbing drama. Every episode features independent storylines alongside the continuous dramas of the regular cast members, which makes watching the DVD more of a relaxed experience, rather than a gripping all-night marathon. If you find yourself lost for a dose of gentle mid-week drama, an hour's worth of Call the Midwife should certainly be prescribed. It is worth noting, however, that the DVD does not include any extra or deleted scenes which is a little disappointing if you have already watched the whole series on TV. The BBC has wisely commissioned series two of Call the Midwife, and it is slated to air in 2013.