Call the Midwife season 13 episode 2 sees new pupil Joyce Highland and Nonnatus House favourite Shelagh Turner faced with the realities of substandard housing in late 1960s Poplar.
The second episode of the new series opens with Trixie Franklin (Helen George) complaining that it took her three busses to get to work that morning, and reveals that Matthre is going to start giving her driving lessons.
But while Trixie is worrying about being late for work, Cyril is concerned when he calls at the address of a member of his church, only to find he has up and left his young daughter and pregnant wife, Edna Bristow. Edna becomes a regular at the maternity clinic, but Joyce and Shelagh are worried when she announces she will be working as a cleaner right up until the baby is born because she needs the money.
Soon Edna goes into labour while cleaning the village hall alone, and she is determined to finish the cleaning job otherwise she doesn't get paid. Eventually, she calls for the midwife and soon Joyce and Shelagh arrive to help. Edna is so advanced in her labour by this point that it doesn't take long for her to give birth to a baby boy, who she says she decided with her former husband would be called Alistair.
A few days after the birth, Sister Veronica comes to see Edna and Alistair at home, and it is only when she sees Edna's daughter, Tracy, in bed that she realises that she is seriously ill, and the cause is the mouldy walls in the council flat that Edna is living in... it seems despite Edna's attempts to clean and paint over the mould it hasn't stopped Tracy from falling ill.
Tracy is rushed to the hospital, but with a newborn baby to look after, Edna is torn over who she should be looking after, so a worried Sistser Veronica kindly offers to take Alistair to the maternity ward so that Edna can focus on Tracy, who is still seriously ill in an oxygen tent.
Meanwhile, Dr Turner is concerned about a patient called Mrs Khan who is complaining about stomach pains and insomnia. The case is baffling for Dr Turner as he has done multiple urine and blood tests which have come back clear. However, eventually, he works out she has a genetic liver condition called porphyria and a doctor at the hospital is left with the tough job of telling her that she shouldn't have children as becoming pregnant could potentially kill her.
Meanwhile, to offer some light relief between the liver conditions and mouldy council flats, Trixie is learning to drive. If there is anything that could put pressure on a newlywed couple, it is one of them teaching the other to drive! It soon turns out that Matthew isn't as patient as he looks, and a few near misses with a cat, a pram, and even a policeman, leave the pair at loggerheads as Matthew tells Trixie he will drive the car home. However, as she throws him the keys, they drop down a drain, and the whole morning is declared a disaster!
Thankfully, lovely Fred Buckle comes to the rescue and when he sees a forlorn-looking Trixie, they chat and she asks him to teach her to drive instead. He agrees, but she says they need to keep it a secret so Matthew doesn't get upset. However, Matthew clearly has the same idea, as he visits Fred at the shop and offers to pay him to teach Trixie to drive... but that Fred needs to offer his services and not mention that Matthew has asked!
A slightly bemused Fred agrees, and after a few hiccups Trixie starts to get the hang of it... and it is only when Matthew sees Trixie getting out of the driver's side of Fred's van that they both admit their secret and everyone is happy.
As Trixie is getting to grips with her driving lessons, Cyril inspects Edna's house on behalf of the council and takes photos of the mould before writing a report about the substandard living conditions Edna and her family are living in. Sister Veronica goes to see Violet while she is at a council meeting and asks her to help, which she does. Soon Edna's house is being sorted, and Tracy, who is finally better, can come home.
As Shelagh and Joyce visit Edna at home, things are looking up for the family, and Edna admits she has changed Alistair's name to Nicholas as Alistair was a name that her husband liked, so she wants a fresh start.
Meanwhile, Violet has decided she wants to run for Mayor, and Mrs Wallace has helped to ease the problem of having too many churchgoers squeezing into Cyril's flat for every service by finding a new church they can borrow for two evenings a week.
Cyril also has news of his own, because he has decided to apply for a job as a social worker, while Nancy, Joyce and Rosalind join other nurses and midwives who are forming a rally for pay increases.
Call the Midwife season 13 airs Sundays on PBS.
Call the Midwife season 13 is streaming on iPlayer after each episode has aired.
