‘Call the Midwife’: What Really Happened to the Barrowman Family? The Shocking Truth

In the fifth episode of Season 15 of Call the Midwife, Dr. Turner (Stephen McGann) comes under scrutiny when a local family falls mysteriously ill.

As the midwife team moves its clinic to St. Cuthbert’s Annexe, the nurses and nuns try to focus on St. Raymond’s Feast. They eagerly prepare for a strawberry tea, but the festivities are overshadowed by mounting pressure from the National Board of Health and a crisis involving beloved members of the community. Warning: Spoilers for Season 15 Episode 5 of Call the Midwife ahead.

Dr. Turner faces a crisis after a horrible tragedy

A leak at the Buckle store introduces a family of plumbers to the audience, the Barrowmans, into the lives of the people of Poplar. The family of five has just moved back to the area, but in the middle of the night, they are taken seriously ill. Dr. Turner and his son, Timothy (Max Macmillan), newly indoctrinated into the medical profession, initially believe it is food poisoning and offer advice and medication. However, when they return to check on the family, the situation is far worse than they imagined.

Young Paul Barrowman (Jack Alldridge), an asthmatic, lies on the couch, unable to move. Tragically, he is the lucky one. His parents and little sister appear to be asleep, but in truth, have died in their beds. Dr. Turner is devastated by the discovery, and before help can even be called, Timothy begins to faint. Realizing the danger, Dr. Turner throws open a window, saying, “I think I know what this is.”

Paul is led outside, distraught, and is rushed to the hospital. His grandmother, Hilda Barrowman, arrives furious, accusing Dr. Turner of having “tucked them into their deathbeds with kind words and no action,” an allegation that shakes the Turners deeply.

“Three deaths in one family,” Dr. Turner reflects later. “I don’t think I’ve ever had to do harder paperwork than this.”

Initial lab results suggest Hilda’s cooking caused the initial illness, but it is not what killed them. The true cause is carbon monoxide poisoning, which spares Paul only because he slept in a different room. When Paul and his father installed a new boiler, it triggered a fatal leak. Paul is wracked with guilt.

The tragedy ripples through the community. Health inspectors descend on the Buckles’ shop, confiscating meat products as a precaution, leaving the family fearing they are responsible. Meanwhile, as Dr. Turner works with authorities to clear the flat, Hilda publicly confronts him, accusing him of shifting blame onto her grandson. “If you’d sent them to the hospital, they’d still be alive,” she insists.

The word “murderer” is later scrawled across the clinic door, and rumors spread. Shaken and deeply upset, Dr. Turner refuses to see patients until the situation is resolved.

Paul sinks into depression, blaming himself and refusing to leave his parents’ bed. While Hilda continues to lash out, Paul turns on her, insisting her cooking also played a role. Nurse Phyllis (Linda Bassett) gently urges them to face their pain together rather than apart.

In the end, investigators determined the boiler itself was faulty, not the installation, while the contaminated meat is recalled, and the supplier faces prosecution. Hilda apologizes for her accusations, and Paul, seeking purpose after the tragedy, vows to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a plumber.

Sister Veronica’s heartbreaking choice

Sister Veronica (Rebecca Gethings) returns from Hong Kong and immediately confides in Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter) about her deep dissatisfaction with her life as a servant of God. “I have loved and served and saved other women’s children for decades. But if any were mine, or even felt like mine for a day or an hour, I had to hand them back, trying not to scream because my arms were empty.” She can no longer bear it. In a quiet but powerful act of defiance, Sister Veronica removes her habit.

She reveals that she has been granted six weeks away to decide whether she wants to leave the order.

PBS/Neal Street Productions/Luke Ross

The story of the week focuses on a young woman accepting the love of her mother-in-law

Ruth Khan (Annie Kingsnorth) is nearing her due date and is determined to have her baby at home. Coming from a dysfunctional family and a cruel mother, Ruth is intent on giving her child the love she never had. Her husband, Dilwar (Akib Ahmed), is excited for the new arrival, while his mother, Aisha (Oishi Das), tries to make herself useful with an endless supply of homemade goodies, much to Ruth’s growing frustration. Ruth wants Dilwar by her side, not her mother-in-law, which is news Aisha does not take well, as she feels isolated from her grandchild and daughter-in-law.

As time passes, Ruth remains at odds with Aisha, focusing on the baby while ignoring her own worsening health. Concerned, Aisha follows her on a walk, and just as Ruth is about to collapse, she catches her. It is a turning point for the two. For the first time, Ruth softens, allowing Aisha in. Moments later, Ruth collapses in an alley outside the clinic as Aisha gets help. Dr. Turner diagnoses postnatal preeclampsia and personally rushes her to the hospital.

In the aftermath, Ruth apologizes for pushing Aisha away, admitting she never experienced that kind of maternal love growing up. She thanks her for showing it to her now.

Other developments at Nonnatus House

Cyril (Zephryn Taitte) and Rosalind (Natalie Quarry) return from holiday and immediately have to deal with his landlady, Mrs. Wallace (Linda Hargreaves), who runs into the couple as they walk into his flat and wants to have a conversation with the pastor “about his conduct.” Rosalind is worried, and Joyce tells her she should be. Coming back from a holiday with a lady friend, bags in hand, is not a good look for a pastor.

Sitting down with Cyril, Mrs. Wallace explains that she needs him to be a little old-fashioned because, in modern times, it gives her and the congregation comfort. Cyril takes the advice to heart, much to Rosalind’s chagrin. “We can’t turn back time, Cyril!” The duo has already embarked on a sexual relationship, and they can’t undo that. Cyril says he would never want to change what they share, but he is technically still married and a pastor, and he doesn’t like putting Rosalind in harm’s way. He suggests they wait until he puts a ring on her finger and do things decently.

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“If that is a proposal for marriage, it is very poorly thought through,” an angry Rosalind says. “And you can keep it.”

The two meet later and make up, and then Rosalind asks if it was indeed a marriage proposal. “Yes,” Cyril says. “If you give me the chance to do a better one.” She asks for another weekend away to give him the chance to do it properly.

Meanwhile, Sister Julienne gets to meet her new neighbors, including Lana (Milly Zero), who is in labor and is quick to anger at the appearance of a midwife, insisting she doesn’t need one. Sister Julienne does her best to help the young woman, explaining she is too far along to go to the hospital. Hostile to what she perceives as slights, Lana lashes out, assaulting the nun, tearing her habit, and leaving a mark on her throat.

PBS/Neal Street Productions/Luke Ross

Talking to Trixie (Helen George) later, Sister Julienne says that her role as a “Christian witness” gives her purpose. “I would rather go and be a missionary elsewhere than be forced to pretend to be something we are not.” It becomes clear she has made a decision. She resolves to tell the board that if the Order is prevented from working in a missionary capacity, they will leave Poplar.

And in sadder news, Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt) is going through kidney failure, devastating the Order as they prepare for what may be an unimaginable loss.

Call the Midwife, Season 15, Sundays, 8/7c on PBS, PBS.org, and the PBS app