But while the doctor’s bump on the head offered little cause for concern, Sister Julienne was struck down by an apparent heart attack; in the event, her chest injury had caused a degree of shock that mimicked a heart attack. It wasn’t as bad as the paralysed Matthew Crawley getting a twinge in his leg in Downton Abbey, but it still felt a bit of a con. Still, if anyone had earned divine intervention, it was the saintly Sister.

But the circle of life stops for no one. The supporting stories involved Carole (Ellie-May Sheridan) with a stillborn baby and Edina (Maya Saroya), newly widowed in the crash after, she later discovered, her train-driver husband was stricken by a brain tumour. As ever these cameos were beautifully judged, their stories neatly concluded to a period soundtrack.

Bowing out to the sound of Val Doonican’s irresistibly sappy Elusive Butterfly (“Across my dreams with nets of wonder, I chase the bright elusive butterfly of love”), it proffered another assertion of community spirit and resilience, as nuns and midwives rallied around both Carole and Edina in their grief. No other series could get away with this, but then no other series is Call the Midwife.