Favorite Characters: Phyllis Crane (Call the Midwife)

For starters – as much as I grew to love her over the last season, it still feels super-weird to me to think of her as “Phyllis.”  So, Nurse Crane it is!  She’s a great character that caught me by surprise, which can sometimes be even more satisfying than the ones you adore right away (a few Nurse Crane spoilers.)

Call the Midwife has always done a nice job of filling in show exits with new characters that aren’t merely replacements for the old ones.  In the case of Nurse Crane, she’s brought to Nonnatus initially as a temporary replacement for Sister Evangelina while the nun is on sick leave, and she has a similar no-nonsense function.  This is also around the time that Chummy, for all intents and purposes, leaves the show, and Nurse Crane has a bit of that awkwardness as well.  But while Chummy instantly endears herself to the midwives, that isn’t how it goes with Nurse Crane.  The younger set find her amusing in a slightly-embarrassing way (Nurse Crane being old enough to seem “uncool” without having the grounding presence that the nuns do,) and her strong will puts her at near-instant odds with Sister Evangelina even before the latter goes on leave.

And at first, that’s what it seems like Nurse Crane is going to be.  Brusque, take-charge, and thoroughly unhip.  And she is all those things (at least, not hip in the way the younger midwives usually think of.)  She’s all about Rolodexes and efficiency systems, function-over-fashion shoes, and rather goofy-looking “older lady” exercises.  She uses a car because she can’t manage on a bicycle, and the younger midwives give her some serious side-eye when she suggests “fun” ventures like going to a square dance or taking a language class.

Really, though, Nurse Crane is someone who’s been living a full life in her unapologetic “spinster” way.  She’s worked hard and served many people, and while she’s very business-like, that lends itself to giving her patients a reassuring air, in which they know she’s going to see them through.  She has fond memories of her short-lived wartime romance (complete with the contraceptive options she researched in the days when said “research” couldn’t be done online and social stigma around premarital sex was much higher.)  She likes the independence she gets from being unmarried (and having a car,) and it generally seems like she lives without regrets.  She had a rough time of it growing up, having been born illegitimate and in poverty.  However, she came out stronger for it, able to be who she is without putting stock in what others may think of that.

During her two seasons on the show, the other midwives have gradually started appreciating her more and more, both professionally and personally.  They’ve finally started to get that Nurse Crane’s age brings with it an awareness and understanding about life.  Not the sort of wisdom they’d get from the older nuns, but pragmatism and empathy that comes from experience.  Nurse Crane is a very “seen it all” sort, and season 5 finds her more often reaching out to the young midwives in the midst of their struggles, offering advise and perspective as they wonder what to do.  They respect her more for her input and judge her less for the “embarrassing” things she does.  I really like seeing these more unexpected friendships beginning to form.