One Born Every Minute (TV story)
One Born Every Minute was a comedy sketch broadcast on 15 March 2013 during that year's Comic Relief fund-raiser. It was a full-throated comic parody of the Channel 4 documentary series One Born Every Minute and the BBC dramas Call the Midwife and Doctor Who.
Synopsis
A couple about to give birth in a modern British hospital call for a midwife on the intercom in their hospital room. Several characters from Call the Midwife enter, replete with "reassuring 1950s speak" and post-war advice on how to give birth. Dissatisfied, the expectant parents try their intercom another time, now requesting a Doctor. The TARDIS materialises and out pops the Eleventh Doctor with the dire warning that the couple's twins, Jonathan and Edward, will one day grow up to be the most frightening creature imaginable: Jedward. Horrified, the midwives ask the Doctor to take them back to the 1950s.
Cast
- Dawn - Margaret Cabourn-Smith [1]
- Expectant father - Dan Mersh[2]
- Sister Evangelina - Pam Ferris[3]
- "Chummy" Brown - Miranda Hart[3]
- Jenny Lee - Jessica Raine[3]
- "Trixie" Franklin - Helen George[3]
- Cynthia Miller - Bryony Hannah[3]
- Sister Julienne - Jenny Agutter[3]
- Narrator - Vanessa Redgrave[3]
- Modern nurse - unknown
- Eleventh Doctor - Matt Smith
Crew
No significant details about the crew have emerged.
References
- The sketch begins in the same style of the TV show for which it was named, One Born Every Minute.
- The comedy series Miranda is alluded to, but not mentioned by name.
- Strictly Come Dancing is also referred to, but described only as "Strictly".
- Due to their period way of speaking, the mother describes the midwives as "nutters from Downton Abbey."
- As with the National Television Awards Sketch 2011, a joke is made about Bruce Forsyth's longevity on British television.
Story notes
- After its initial broadcast during Comic Relief, Matt Smith appeared on the show itself alongside Claudia Winkelman and Dermot O'Leary, again as a heightened version of the Doctor.
- Smith recorded his portion of the skit on 18th December 2012, whereas the Call the Midwife cast recorded their part at a later date.
Footnotes
- ↑ http://twitter.com/MCabournSmith/status/710141856881975296
- ↑ http://twitter.com/MCabournSmith/status/710214473685078017
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 There was no credit roll, nor were most Call the Midwife characters named in dialogue. Character names here are based upon typical credits from Call the Midwife.
