Lowthorpe

Judy Parfitt, Jenny Agutter and Pam Ferris play the resident nuns, while director Lowthorpe, whose last TV triumph was 2010's uncomfortable

Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph Morwenna Ferrier 2012

For Lowthorpe, this was part of the adaptation's appeal: "If it opens a debate on home births that is really valuable," she says.

Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph Morwenna Ferrier 2012

"In birth, the midwife is forgotten," says director Philippa Lowthorpe, explaining why she was moved to direct a series that places childbirth at the centre of a television drama.

Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph Morwenna Ferrier 2012

In a week when there was yet another row about the lack of women on TV, here was a terrific drama which was scripted by a woman (the brilliant Heidi Thomas), directed by a woman (the peerless Philippa Lowthorpe) and acted by glorious actresses from Jenny Agutter to Pam Ferris.

Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph Allison Pearson 2012