Sister Dora (1977)

This is the story of Dorothy Pattison (played here by Dorothy Tutin), better known as Sister Dora (b.1832-d.1878), who was an amazing Anglican nurse and nurse working in the black country in the mid 1800's. This 3-Part mini-series starts off looking at how her less than perfect childhood contributed to who she became. It then traces her working life in Walsall, Stratfordshire, and paints her as a real person, not a saint but a lively person who managed to create a role for herself that allowed her an almost unheard of amount of freedom as a woman in Victorian England. This biography of a nurse who showed exemplary courage, bravery and dedication against the background of appalling industrial accidents and epidemics of smallpox provides a gripping account of a piece of British history that deserves to be more widely known.