Most critics respond warmly to Call the Midwife, praising its sympathetic characters, strong performances and convincing sense of community in 1950s East End London. The favourable reviews find that stories of maternity and motherhood make room for joy as well as hardship. Praise also centres on the balance between comforting period detail and grittier stories about women’s lives. For these critics, the emotional pull is largely earned rather than imposed.
The spread is wide, however, and sentimentality is the main dividing line. What admirers find warm and reassuring, The Independent finds overly clean-cut and predictable, with messages about love and class that verge on patronising. Variety takes a more moderate position, valuing the supporting performances, particularly Miranda Hart’s, but finding the episodic drama less than compelling. The consensus is favourable, though the dissent raises a clear question about how much comfort these difficult stories can bear.