Joy

Jean Purdy is a nurse who becomes lab manager and core collaborator on the IVF project. She balances clinical care with scientific ambition, often clashing with the more radical elements of the team while showing deep empathy for the participants. Her religious upbringing and close relationship with her mother intensify the personal stakes of the work. She experiences conflict when the project meets resistance, but she remains central to the striving for a safe, patient-centered approach.

Dr. Robert Edwards is the leading scientist driving the IVF work with Jean Purdy. He faces external opposition, funding hurdles, and sensational media attention, including being labeled Dr. Frankenstein. He balances scientific ambition with ethical concerns and patient welfare. His work is later recognized with the Nobel Prize, highlighting the long arc of the discovery.

Patrick Steptoe is the obstetrician-surgeon recruited to join the team. He pushes the technical boundaries while grappling with the moral implications of embryo work and abortion debates. He champions patient choice and safe options for women, even as public opinion becomes hostile. He forms the other pillar of the collaboration that makes IVF possible.

Reverend Paulson is the local vicar who intimately knows Jean and her family. He embodies the church's initial support and later concerns as the research challenges conventional beliefs. His influence leads to Jean being asked not to attend services, showing the conflict between faith communities and medical progress. He attends the funeral later, signaling a complicated ongoing relationship.

Matron Muriel oversees patients and participates in the ethical oversight of the trial. She is critical of impersonal treatment and insists on respectful care for participants. She recognizes the line between scientific progress and patient welfare. Her perspective helps identify the human element within the lab's work.

Arun is a lab assistant who becomes a confidant and collaborator in the early trials. He shares a personal connection with Jean and hints at his own desire to start a family. He briefly expresses interest in Jean, but she declines to pursue a relationship due to her commitments. His presence highlights the intersecting personal and professional lives of the team.