Historical drama fans, if you’re not watching Call the Midwife, you should be. The stories told around the midwives and nurses is like the buzz you get when you stick your tongue on a 9 volt battery. It hurts, but it feels good. The times when things all get better make me cry a lot harder than the sad ones. Right now, they’re in 1961 in the middle of the thalidomide scandal and cancer is just being connected to smoking. But more than that, it’s the story of women’s relationships to each other and it’s beautiful. And 9 volty. But mostly beautiful.

Tears usually end up streaming down my face at about the three-quarter mark. (But happy-sweet commercials make me cry, to be honest.) It’s hard to write the happy ending without your hand being visible, plucking the heartstrings, and much easier to write bleak and dark.

I could say more, but I would just end up gushing about my favourite characters and being spoilery. And Trixie and Sister Monica Joan are my favorites. Just FYI.