‘The Crimson Field’ premiere review: BBC puts ‘Call the Midwife’ in time machine
One hour into watching the new BBC One series “The Crimson Field,” there is probably a part of you that feels like you’ve seen a lot of this before. Just think about it for a minute. You’re watching a show about a number of young women trying to find their place in the world during a pretty extraordinary period of time.
So basically, this series is “Call the Midwife” just a few decades earlier. The ladies on the show are nurses rather than midwives, and they are calling for soldiers back during World War I. There is a heavy religious component, themes of responsibility, and also trying to care for people facing unusual circumstances. When it comes to originality, the show’s not winning any awards.
With this being said, there is quite a bit during the series to like, at least when it comes to giving you a historical perspective of women who do not always have their stories told. Nurses were not the traditional heroes of the War, but they are the ones who often make the difference. There were some very nice moments in here, as well. The unfortunate thing is that most of them occurred in the final few minutes. Sister Joan is to us the most interesting of the characters, as she represents a body of nurses who are not governed under the same rules as those out in the field. Therefore, there are different opportunities and privileges give to her.
Also, the series made a major effort to showcase the significance of the Army assembling and heading off to battle, throwing you into the sense of grandeur that the nurses may have felt in that particular moment.
One final thing that we’ll give the show credit for? Really doing a tremendous job when it comes to emphasizing darkness, and the sort of conditions that these women go through. This is not the middle of a city as in “Call the Midwife.” You are out in the field, really having to rely on provisions and what you have prepared to survive. It’s an interesting world, and one we are invested enough in to watch for another week. Grade: B.
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Photo: BBC