All Creatures Great and Small

The guy in the middle is kinda hot

My late mother loved the original series (as do I). I'll look forward to seeing this.

I watched All Creatures Great & Small faithfully on PBS, growing up and I don’t recall a thing about.

I hate heartwarming and very low-key entertaining.

The books are good too. Call the Midwife with animals.

I'll watch

Loved the original series. But this looks good.

I grew up in rural western New York in the 70s and 80s, my family had a small farm with livestock (cows, sheep, horses), chickens, ducks, turkeys. We also raised Labrador Retrievers, as my father was a duck hunter. We watched All Creatures weekly on PBS, it was one of few things we did together that didn't involve arguing and resentment. There were countless scenarios that resonated with us - not just the health of animals. Small towns, farming communities, the shut-in, poverty and ignorance, people who never ventured more than a few miles from where they were born...all these experiences added to the charm and drama of small-town life. It took us out of ourselves, gave us noble pride in the idea of a simple way of life. I'm reminded that Thomas Jefferson, despite his accomplishments as an architect, statesman, scientist, mechanic, builder, and inventor, continued to identify first as a farmer.

I'm a city dweller now for more than 25 years, but when the family gets together for holidays and birthdays, we still get a laugh when we recall the rich old lady and "Trickie-Woo." I don't miss mucking out after the livestock, or endlessly fretting over broken fences, but I do miss marking the seasons with beekeeping chores, and the way light played on the pasture and woods. The show gave me and my sibs a sense of dignity in the way we spent our youth: were were too busy for silly things, too preoccupied with chores to plan ambitious futures. Still, we all managed to pursue meaningful careers.

"All Creatures" is hands-down the finest television depiction of that kind of life, and it is timeless.

Sorry, but I have no use for some stupid remake. Are there going to be "people of color" unrealistically populating the little valley in Yorkshire? I go out of my way to boycott unnecessary remakes. They unfairly erase the originals in the public consciousness.

This has played and OP is right. Charming, very much in the Durrells canon. Must say Timothy and Prunellas' son has aged very well.

It's quite beautiful. And it features Dame Diana Rigg in her final role.

[quote] If you liked The Durrells,

Callum Woodhouse played Leslie Durrell. In All Creatures Great and Small he plays a bratty douchebag who tries to redeem himself to get his older brother's approval.

Nicholas Ralph, playing the protagonist James Herriot, sure is cute.

Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom from the Harry Potter films) is a regular who is in love with the woman James Herriot has a crush on. Plust Herriot kills his horse (drama!).

It features some of the best countryside shots this year.

New one on Masterpiece tonight in the U.S.

How wonderful, OP. Thanks for letting me know.

I read all of the books and watched the original on PBS the small tv while the rest of my family watched whatever else was popular at the time. Your post immediately took me back to the time when I was dying to get out of small town USA and go see the world--even if it was small town Great Britain...

Is this a dollface thread?

Loved the books and the original series. Not interested in this remake. The original was the best.

Give it a shot, r15. You might be pleasantly surprised. I was.

Great and evocative post, R8.

I watched it and the Yorkshire dales are breathtakingly beautiful. The scenery is like porn.

Also I want the new Tristan to pound the shit outta me.

You are right R10 — I’ve always had a soft spot for Tim & Pru’s son. A gorgeous voice. Unexpectedly sexy on such a slight frame.

Neville Longdick is in the show.

Love you R5.

Watched the first episode last night and was a bit disappointed. Sweet-intentioned as it is, it was so damn predictable in plot and characters.

I love the lead but I was wish he was surrounded with a more interesting ensemble. The older vet and his housekeeper are too young and attractive....those roles would be better served by more interesting character actors. The girl who plays (what I assume will be) the love interest seems ok but her hairstyling is atrocious and distracting. Not her fault, of course, but I think she will be hard for me to love (I'm shallow!).

Diana Rigg looks a little "out of it" in the previews, but we'll see. I do look forward to Callum Woodhouse, who I really liked in The Durrells. And speaking of The Durrells, I wish this series was as quirkily cast and played. The landscapes are indeed breathtaking and there are worse ways of spending Sunday night....I hope it improves..

A reminder to all fans to tune in tonight for Episode 2!

I like it so far

I loved the books and the original miniseries. I think this edition is quite good so far. And yes, the scenery is like porn.

I once was at an art exhibition of the turn-of-the-century Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershøi in a London museum and recognized Samuel West there: he was wearing a completely ratty old sweater with huge holes in it. (I think hhe was trying to look inconspicuous, but the huge holes in the sweater made him look all the more noteworthy.) He was looking at me recognizing him, and so he tried to avoid me--I actually felt awful he was trying to avoid me (I had no interest in talking to him once I had spotted him, because I would have had nothing to say: "Uh, I remember you from 'Howards End'" is not a very interesting thing to say to someone.) I tried to avoid him, but I kept ending up in the same rooms as he was in--it was kind of awful. I wanted to see the exhibit, not him; but once you spot someone you know from TV in a public space, it's hard not to gawk.

Something about the writing in this series is very off. Not up to Masterpiece Theatre standards, if you ask me. Pretty scenery, delicious leading man, but that's about it.

And the Masterpiece Mystery that preceded it and debuted tonight, Miss Scarlet and the Duke, was even worse. Horrendous (again, the leading man, a hunkier Hugh Jackman-type, was quite delicious)!

[quote] The Ghost of Alistair MacLean

I like the writing. It's very low key, very unpretentious. I cannot believe I am so moved because a cow is about to die.

r28, that's Alaistair Cooke, not Alaister MacLean.

Ooops. Oh, dear.

I was surprised at how much Samuel West looks like Robert Hardy, who played Siegfried in the original.

[quote]Diana Rigg looks a little "out of it" in the previews

Probably a reason for that.

Diana Rigg appears so much older than those other great Dames, Maggie Smith and Judi Dench. Sadly, very frail.

You know she's dead, right, r34?

Did anyone else watch the "LGBT Thriller" B&B starring Callum Woodhouse?

I did not. I just looked it up on IMDb. I find the trailer confusing, but I am intrigued.

Is the alternate title I'm Not Running a B&B Here?

I know Diana Rigg is dead. But Dame Maggie could keel over tomorrow and I'd still say she looked a helluva lot healthier in her final days than Dame Diana.

Isn't that a given, considering one is seemingly healthy, and the other one was terminally ill?

Disagree with everything R22 writes, but the comments about the scenery. This series is perfectly cast in terms of the main characters, particularly Tristan. Love Diana Rigg in her final role. If this seems predictable, it's because the books and prior series told these stories earlier. Watched and loved the first series, too. R8's comments are worth reading about hitting home. This was a very harsh life for many at that time, including the professionals, unless you had family money and position like James' rival.

I didn't even realize this was on; I remember my mom watching this as a kid (I grew up in a rural area, so I was clueless as to why you'd watch a TV show about rural people when you had that every day!), but this remake looks like prozac for the weary, heartsick soul. I need to watch the "Durrells" too. I started watching "Grantchester" and while I loved the scenery (particularly with James Norton), the show quickly became very repetitious

Was there a Gratuitous Shirt Removal clause in Nicholas Ralph's contract? He's been shirtless once in every episode except this week's? (Mind you, I'm not complaining.)

I am so enjoying this charming series; thank you, Ovation.

Any word on Season Two?

Season 2 is confirmed. I think they are done writing it and are currently gearing up for filming it.

[quote]Nicholas Ralph, playing the protagonist James Herriot, sure is cute.

Isn't this his first role?

It's odd to be cast in the lead right out of school.

Not if you're young and hot, r45.

I loved the series and the all the tweed, but I couldn’t separate Peter Davison from the Tristan character.

When he took over as the nth Doctor, I stopped watching.

That was Neville Longbottom? My my my.

We need to see the shirtless stills before we consent to watch this schmaltz.

Does Callum Woodhouse essentially play his every role the same way?

Only those that play in the 1930s.

Glad to see Samuel West getting work. Seems he’s been consistently employed over the years. Good for him..

I like him in everything, but especially in “Reunion” (1989), a little seen tale of friendship in the darkening days of the Third Reich.

Callum’s ass in the elf costume was a true Christmas miracle.

R45, it's not his first role, just his first screen role. He's been a professional stage actor for a while.

Just watched it after finishing the Durrells. So at times kept wondering why Leslie Durrell was working as a vet in Yorkshire and when he was going to start shooting things.

Agree 100% with OP's description--perfect pre-bedtime viewing--more intelligent than the usual idiocy on US TV, but light enough that it doesn't keep me up wondering about plot points after.

I couldn’t watch after the third episode. It’s too similar to every Masterpiece series since time began. Every aspect is so carefully rendered and modulated that it’s bloodless. It’s like a vampire movie after the vampires have left.

Boring. Can’t sit through one episode.

You can visit the museum in Thirsk, North Yorkshire. It's quite interesting. Thirsk and North Yorkshire is beautiful to visit, bothe the Yorkshire Dales and the North Yorks Moors National Parks are stunning.

I own some racehorses that are stabled in North Yorkshire and often race at Thirsk Racecourse. One of my vets comes from near Thirsk.

Interesting to come back to this thread. I commented critically way upthread r22, after the first episode, then thought, oh maybe I'm being too harsh.....so it's interesting to see some other naysayers here as the series concluded.

I watched it all, just found it too too TOO predictable every step of the way, plotlines and characters. Sweet and gentle, but could be so much better and so much quirkier. I did love Nicholas Ralph and hope to see him in other projects!

Anyone watching the second season? It's still very low-key and charming. The scenery is still fantastic. Nicholas Ralph is still hot.

I am, R60.

It's like the antidote to Succession where everybody's a shit.

I thought Succession was boring--basically an update of shows like Dallas. A bunch of narcissistic grifters and there's no wit to it.

I've liked "All Creatures"---the scenery is beautiful. The plotting is predictable and Tristan's fucking-up is a bit tiresome but it's reasonably well acted. I like the simplicity--it's not a typical drawing room costume drama or who done it like so much of Masterpiece.

I’m liking it too r63. It’s very soothing

I just started watching the second season. It's time they further the James /Helen relationship. But other than that, I'm still liking it. I don't think the show should be quirkier. I actually like it being rather grounded.

It's lovely. Well done.

If it was going to be quirky they would have had to establish that now, with a bunch of eccentric rustics like on "Newhart". The British idea of quirky from that era probably would have been music hall schtick like Benny Hill, which is pretty tiresome.

It's interesting that it's concentrating on farm animals about which I know nothing and farming about which I also know nothing. Which is different from other vet shows which concentrate on cute dogs.

Who was the actress who replaced Dame Diana Rigg? I was surprised they didn't write out that character after her death and can't decide if it's disrespectful or not. I loved Diana. I thought they might give the role to Siegfriend/Samuel West's Ma Prunella Scales who played Sybil Fawlty on Fawlty Towers.

Patricia Hodge is the new Mrs. Pumphrey - probably most famous for playing Phyllida in Rumpole of the Bailey and more lately Miranda Hart’s mom in Miranda.

I believe Mrs. Pumphrey is a main stay of the Herriot stories, so they needed to recast. Sadly, Prunella Scales is now fully retired as she is too far-gone with dementia to work as an actor.

Soothing is the word for this.

I've come to love the series after a doubtful beginning, just on the basis of all the lovely actors, esp. Nicholas Ralph. But the writing seems to be getting worse. Last night's episode tried my patience a bit more. Perhaps it's the repetitiveness of Tristan's silly foibles which never seem to change him or his relationship to Siegfried or add up to anything, What happened to his interest in barmaids and other girls?? Both brothers are thoroughly one-dimensional.

Or perhaps it's the lack of story line for poor Anna Madeley. That character is deserving of so much more attention than serving full English breakfasts, rolling her eyes and tsk tsking Siegfried. Where is her son??

Or perhaps it's my frustration over the quasi-romance between James and Helen. What is the hesitation/conflict there? I really don't get it. I thought Helen broke off her engagement because of James. Helen, if you don't want James, please let him know I'd be happy to join him at his vet practice back in Glasgow any time.

Or perhaps it's Wicky-Poo or whatever his name is,,,,enough already!

I feel like the series is lacking season-long drama(s) and arcs. Each episode = create a mini-problem/solve a mini-problem.

I'll keep watching, of course. It's a Sunday night hour soothingly spent. Apparently two more seasons have been ordered. But it could just be so much better.

It's particularly odd that they've cast such a young and attractive woman as Anna Madeley as the housekeeper yet have given her the life (and hairdo) of a dried out old spinster. And mind you, I like the choice of casting against type. But then they've written a cliche for her to play.

I watched The Durrells on Amazon the version with Matthew Goode from 2005. It wasn’t bad.

Duwwell!

PBS is replaying the old Bleak House series after All Creatures. It's excellent. Love Dickens.

Agree r70. I know it was a very different time and people were very reserved and waited for marriage before sex

But Helen and James look 30 years old. Shouldn’t they, especially for the times, be jumping into marriage at full speed?

I haven’t read the book, is it staying true to it?

I wonder how close the series is to the book as well, r75. Also, about the earlier PBS series from the 1970s. Were they as plot free as this is?

Is it the BLEAK HOUSE with Gillian Anderson or the earlier one with Diana Rigg, r74.....or anyone? I'd watch either!

The one with Gillian Anderson and Carey Mulligan.

When there are all the vet reality shows on now like Dr. Pol, what is the purpose of a fictionalized one?

All Creatures Great and Small has been a classic for several decades. It was a memoir written by Alf Wight about his early career as a country vet in the Yorkshire Dales. The books are very witty and charming, giving a great feel for the time period and the location.

It is the perfect thing to watch on Sunday nights before bed. It's like a mug of cocoa.

I didn't see the original or read the books but it seems like it's set pretty close to the start of WW2. That will shake things up a bit I suspect.

Does the big bearded daddy fuck the other two dudes?

All Creatures Great and Small was written before homosexuality was invented.

A friend thinks it's obvious that Siegfried will suddenly come to realize that Mrs. Hall is the girl for him and a romance will blossom.

Can this be? I would hope the lovely Mrs. Hall could do better for herself.

All the characters seem strangely asexual, except for maybe Tristan.

Tristan used to be into barmaids but that story line has sadly been scotched.

I’d like to see Tristan get it on with James.

[quote] Siegfried will suddenly come to realize that Mrs. Hall is the girl for him and a romance will blossom.

I doubt it. It would be a possibility if the books included something in that direction. The books are the guide where things are headed. Even if the TV stories are only loosely based on the books, I think the basic direction will still be followed. I actually like the type of relationship they have right now. Mrs Hall is more like a big sister or parent to Siegfried, and it's beautiful how she guides the man who isn't being told.

Will they ever get back to the story of Mrs. Hall's wastrel son? Or will we have to wait for the season finale for that? It's never been really explained why the son is problematic, has it?

Nope r89. Unless I missed it.

R89, she explained to Siegfried that her son was caught stealing from her former employer or something. She quit the job and cut off contact with the son.

I like the show for its gentle humor, scenery and the actors, although I don't think James and Helen have any sexual heat whatsoever. Truth be told, he looks like a dork to me.

Thanks r91

Why have they de-sexed Tristan? It seemed his rabid interest in girls was going to be a fun major plot point when the character was introduced. If he gets out much to the local pub or wherever, it's never even seen any more. He always seems to be hanging around home.

Does anyone remember how the character was portrayed in the original series?

James is lovely-looking, and the shots of him running through the Yorkshire countryside in his undershirt gave me shades of Ian Charleson in "Chariots of Fire." Love his always-neat and polished hair.

But I'm surprised to find Samuel West so attractive. I remember disliking him and his looks in "Howard's End," but he certainly has aged well. He looks good with a little weight on him. And the beard looks great on him.

A grayed-out troll post at the beginning of this thread asked if they would be shoehorning in people of color, and the answer is certainly Yes, to my surprise. I know it's not entirely anachronistic, but the presence of the mixed-race older couple from series 1 seemed more believable than the young man in last week's episode. I mean the one helping out the widowed farm wife whose stirks had husk.

I hadn’t heard of stirks or husk.

[quote] Does anyone remember how the character was portrayed in the original series?

If I remember correctly, pretty much the same. I think there was one story line where he had a girlfriend. But I don't remember where that headed. Other than that it was always beer, girl of the week, and causing a disturbance that Siegfried or James had to cover up or resolve.

Anybody know anything about the real Tristan? From what I read and heard, the portrayal of Siegfried in both shows is pretty close to the real Siegfried.

I thought I heard it mentioned in the last episode that the young Black man helping out on the failing farm was the son of the earlier seen Black couple. Or did I just imagine that?

I think Nicholas Ralph is beautiful! I wish there would be more moments where his hair wasn't so greased back. It was seen briefly like that in the last episode - I know I didn't imagine that!. It doesn't appear upon consulting IMDB like he's been very busy in the last few years. I'm so eager to see him in something else.

I had the same thought about the young farmer, R98. I’m not sure if that was made explicit though.

What does strike me as anachronistic are the very mild gay jokes this season: Helen flirtatiously teasing James about Tristan being his date to the ball; Mrs. Hall and Tristan joking about the divorcee with the crush on Siegfried having been left by her husband for the hunky gardener. All of it good natured banter while also making it clear that none of them find homosexuality to be genuinely scandalous or immoral.

Ugh, the Durrells series was dreadful. Whereas the family in the books had a certain daffy charm, in the tv series they were a bunch of selfish, lazy, self-centered louts. I didn't make it past the third episode.

I loved the Durrells but I love Greece.

R101, I loved Schindler's List but I love Poland.

First off, I do enjoy the show and the actors in it. It's lovely and, as others have said, like a nice mug of warm cocoa on a chilly night. I know the series is based on books, but are they as YA (young adult) as the current series makes them seem? (I remember the earlier version being on TV, but I didn't watch it.) It's so... gentle, which, I get it, that's it's charm. The only tension is if an animal might die. Mind you, I'm not asking for the cops and drug dealers and rapists from "Happy Valley" over the next ridge to show up, but a little drama would be nice. And, c'mon, show, we've all seen a lot of TV before (unless you're a YA) and we know (or can predict) James and Helen will get together. Stop faffing around on rooftops. (And please move those big buttons on her jacket; they're nearly right over her nipples and once you see it you can't unsee it.)

I have to laugh at the presentation of Mrs. Hall. There is NO WAY she can shop for and put three full meals on the table every day, do the laundry for three men in a pretty dirty profession, keep a large house immaculate and greet patients -- all without a hair out of place and nary a smudge on her apron. (Does she live with the Farnons? If not, then she also has her own home to take care of, too.) And this past week she charted the cricket match they were listening to on the radio; cricket matches can go on for hours so when was she keeping house? Surely, there's an unseen maid somewhere or she's Dash Parr from The Incredibles.

I've thought since the first season, Where are The Gays?, R99. I guess they're only going to be referred to tangentially. (That or it's why the show so often finds a way to get Nicholas Ralph's shirt off.) Or maybe Mrs Hall's wastrel son will be the The Gay. And, please, I do NOT want to know about the reams of fan fic that have surely been written about Tristan and James sleeping across the hall from each other or hanging about with hunky farmhands.

I find it distracting that Siegfried and Tristan are supposed to be brothers but the actors are nearly 30 years apart in age. I mean, how much older is Siegfried supposed to be?

I want them to show how Mrs Hall cleans the men's clothes after they've come home covered in mud.

I've said it before but what the series is missing are big story arcs with genuine issues that cover full seasons. Each episode is thoroughly wrapped up as it concludes. Create a problem (or 2), solve a problem (or 2) with each episode.

[quote] There is NO WAY she can shop for and put three full meals on the table every day, do the laundry for three men in a pretty dirty profession, keep a large house immaculate and greet patients -- all without a hair out of place and nary a smudge on her apron.

THAT I can buy into. They probably have cleaning lady for scrubbing the floors and doing the laundry. What I am really wondering is who did laundry for the Rose family, especially Moyra's.

There are story arcs. The Glasgow Conundrum. The Constipated Romance. The Disappearing Degree.

Those story arcs are as shallow as a Cornish pasty.

I hate this show

It's sweet tv but... what it leaves out is that animals at that time were not treated in any way like the show presents. Cats were routinely loathed and tortured, very seldom allowed in the house (kitty litter wasn't invented until after WW2). Dogs were either used to help bring income or were killed as puppies as few people had the extra money to support them. The other animals we see were routinely and barbarously butchered. So weird, all these scenes of James saving the life of one little lamb, and that night we see the vets all eating lamb for dinner as though somehow there's no correlation between the cute little animals and the food.

Fantasy tv -- but I still watch it because it's pretty and soothing and you can pretend the world is better than it is.

R111 You are clueless.

These animals existed only because people eat them. At the time there were no inhumane factory farms, so there’s no inconsistency in being kind to a lamb and then eating it’s cousin.

Dogs have long been a part of English households from the royals to the serfs, going back centuries.

As for cats, they became wildly popular as household pets in the late 19th century due to the illustrations of Louis Wain.

Bumpers.

So good to see a little more grit and passion tonight!

But when is Aud Hall gonna get a feller?

Watching now.

R70, did you sleep through it? The season long arc is the job offer in Glasgow. James wants to be with Helen. Things were a bit problematic after they spent the night together on a vet emergency and then her impending marriage blew up. But after they made it past that, following a stint James spent in a practice in Glasgow, he was offered a job at that practice. Word got to his mother and she just accepted it. He knew nothing about it until he got a letter from the practice thanking him for accepting. James' mother wants him back in Glasgow as his father has died, but he wants to be with Helen who wants to stay in the country. And the practice where he's at is up and down, because of the vicissitudes of Siegfried and Farnan. The Glasgow clinic is advanced with a lot of opportunity.

I meant Tristan, not Farnan.

Having said that, I thought the failing exams was a bigger deal than it apparently was at that time. You cannot practice medicine or law if you don't pass your exams and graduate. Of course, there is the licensure exam, but that's a a separate issue. I assumed that was a requirement to practice and Siegfried was actually breaking the law by sending him out as a vet. Apparently not, though, which deflates that story arc, at least for me. The prospect of a scandal for practicing without a license, discovered maybe in connection with a malpractice situation, would have brought extra drama to the story arc.

You said it yourself, r120, it "deflates" the story line.

I realize there are those two arcs you mention but I just find the way they're dealt with in the series disappointingly undramatic and without detail. As far as James' mother.....couldn't we have an occasional scene with her and James' father in Glasgow? And the scenes with James and Helen just have a frustrating sameness week after week. The series hasn't really allowed her to express her herself. There's just no urgency.

But I'll say this, last night was a great episode and there was finally more "grit and passion" as I mentioned at r116. I loved seeing Tristan get some genuinely dramatic moments and Siegfried brought down as a controlling twat. And also the briefest wistful bit of Mrs. Hall as the 7th wheel (could we please give her an arc - what happened to her son? Or a romance?) I love the series, I get that the vibe here will always be soothing gentility. I just want a little more from it.

Good recap, R119.

Tried it a few years ago.

Verdict: coma-inducing.

I saw Diana last week and she looked terrible.

And I'm mostly blind now.

Maggie knew she hadn't really been cremated but how she found our way in that crypt I'll never know.

They should start a GAY channel with a show called All GAY Creatures Great And Small.

Re Mrs. Hall's son. bit by bit, through various episodes.

1. First, we see Mrs. Hall receive a package back (returned to sender) which she had sent to her son. She opens it and finds the cookies she had sent him, together with an affectionate letter that she had enclosed. No new address for son is provided.

2. Conversation with Siegfried and Mrs Hall as he asks her about her son (as he never knew the story.) She tells him her son had stolen from her old employer and wanted her to cover for him. She refused and the son went to jail. He has never forgiven her. She left the job and reminded Siegfried that he had taken her on with no references, etc.

3. Mrs. Hall is expecting the son to come to spend Christmas with her and is eagerly waiting for him, rushing to the door when someone knocks, etc. But son never arrives. And afterward, Mrs. Hall remarks that the son is punishing her and has never forgiven her.

4. Audrey's friend asks Mrs. H about the son (the friend apparently know the story and perhaps knew the son) and later, as she (the friend) was leaving, asks Siegfried to be kind to Mrs. H as the son was no good.

Can someone confirm that James' father has died?

He was alive when Herriot went back to Glasgow temporarily when he filled in for the other vet.

I don't recall any letter or comments that the father had subsequently died.

Dad's alive.

On another note, once I noticed Helen's squatty-body and outsized derrière, I cannot unnotice it.

Thought Callum Woodhouse did a great job in this episode. He's a good comic actor but showed he had some dramatic chops there. He's a much better actor than the boring one who plays James. Why doesn't Siegfried hook up with Mrs. Hall? She's a lot better looking than the woman he's dating.

I was hoping Mrs. H -- fancy baker extraordinaire; does The Great Yorkshire Bake-off know about her? -- would invite the nice mustachioed gent with the limp (and the cute mutt) who clearly has eyes for her, hello, we are not blind, to dinner but, alas.

Like R120 I kept waiting for the licensing hammer to fall on the Farnons -- escandalo! -- but I know nothing about British veterinary licensing in the early 20th century (and perhaps the writers don't either). Siegfried should certainly take Tristan's fancy monogrammed vet bag back for driving the Rover in the rain with the top down.

How much of this show is green screened? I swear the majority of the interior scenes at the Farnon's are, especially the less formal dining area off the kitchen, although the formal dining room looks dropped in, too.

Siegfried doesn't really seem to show much ardor for any ladies.

About that bag, it's one thing to practice without a license if one is not required, but that bag declares him MRCVS! That's fraudulent. Whose idea was it to ignore that?

And what are the clients going to think when they find out Tristan isn't actually qualified, since he went around boasting that he was?

What does that acronym stand for?

I just don't think I could ever stick my entire arm up some large farm animal's rear orifices.

However James seems to like doing this. More power to him.

Member, Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, R133. I don't know about in the 1930s, but now you have to be registered with the RCVS to practice. If it was the same then, surely Tristan knew he wasn't a member? Didn't he get some kind of diploma from his veterinary school or other official notification that he was now qualified to practice? I think I would wonder about that if I were he.

Nicholas Ralph has a gay face

And is attractive

Therefore, he must be like to be fucked in his ass

[quote] How much of this show is green screened? I swear the majority of the interior scenes at the Farnon's are, especially the less formal dining area off the kitchen, although the formal dining room looks dropped in, too.

Why would they need to green screen a simple interior set? Here’s a tour of the Skeldale House set that shows how all the rooms are arranged.

I don't think Siegfried lying to Tristan about passing his exams was in the original series. I don't see anything about it in the episode descriptions. I wonder if it was in the books.

[quote] Tried it a few years ago. Verdict: coma-inducing.

I wonder what you watched years ago. This first episode aired 16 months ago.

The first version of the series. Duh.

Moron ^

This is quintessential feel-good TV. I love the scenery of the countryside, the animals are adorable, & I love all the characters (Mrs Hall is my fave). Tricki-Woo should get his own spin-off show!

Thanks for the on-set tour, R137! I couldn't think of any logical reason the interiors would be green-screened; they just looked a tiny bit blurry behind the (very sharply focused) actors seated at the table. Maybe the the production company got some new lenses? Interesting to learn that the front pillars of Skeldale House have to brought in for exterior scenes. The more you learn!

[quote]Why doesn't Siegfried hook up with Mrs. Hall? She's a lot better looking than the woman he's dating.

The actress playing the woman Siegfried is dating also played the thoroughly obnoxious and snooty sister-in-law on the series Mum.

Whenever she's on screen, I can't stop being reminded of that character, even though they're not alike.

I have been putting off watching episode 7 because I figure it will be 18 to 24 months until the next season. It’s a truly sweet show. I watched today and am sad now. However I still hate Tricki Woo. Hate!

I've never enjoyed Tricki-Woo's shenanigans and would very happily see him run off to another estate where he could fuck pretty little terriers all he likes and never return.

Love love love Mrs. Hall's returning handsome suitor and really hope he gives her a story line before the season ends.

I'm always amused at how awkwardly they dress Helen but came to realize tonight it might be very intentional, wanting to stress that she's just the farmer's daughter with no interest in clothes or looking graceful and poised. Her wardrobe is quite charming and honest, actually.

It never seems realistic that a rich scion of the gentry like Hugh would be interested in a working-class farmer's daughter. The class system was too strong, even in small towns.

I was so surprised this is sent in 1937, I assumed it was late ‘20s. The women’s clothes are so frumpy, & Helen’s hair, yikes. Next they’ll have her in sausage curls.

Who cares about the women’s hair and wardrobe. The men are dressed so dapper. Loved the cricket attire.

After all these years I still have no idea how cricket works.

Yeah, I didn't get it either. Sometime s a player would run to a base (or somewhere) after hitting the ball and then sometimes, like with Hugh, he didn't.

And if James didn’t get out (do they use “out?”), the game would be a draw, notwithstanding the score.

Hardly anyone outside the UK, India, Pakistan and Australia understands the first thing about cricket (a sweeping generalization, of course). I watched about three hours of a match on TV in London once and was hardly any wiser about the game at the end than I was when I started. I could have been hypnotized by several extremely handsome men in their cricket whites, however.

I enjoy Patricia Hodge as Mrs. Pumphrey, but I hope her ridiculous dog gets hit by a screaming cricket ball. Although how Mrs. H would score that is a mystery (aw, the nice clockmaker learned to tolerate cricket for her; he can stay).

Although I can't bear the peke, I find Patricia Hodge much better at portraying that character than the late Dame Diana.

Ok, flame me now!

I don’t get all the Tricki hate, I love him, he’s gorgeous!

What's not to love about Tricki Woo?! He lost a lot of weight and is getting his sexy self on with the neighbor pooch.

He’s like a giant caterpillar.

Tricki Woo looks like the type of dog you'd have to keep away from babies on the floor, if you know what I mean.

^ For that reason they stayed in women's laps.

Dust balls don't stand a chance when Tricki-Woo is on the floor.

Not true, R149. She's very pretty, smart, a hard worker, so she would be able to help him run the estate. She has a good reputation in the town and those communities can be tough for a stranger. That was shown by Harriot's initial experiences, expanded even more in the earlier series.

R156, I can't remember who played her in the first series but she was very good. And Trickie in that series would never have recovered and lost weight. She was addicted to overfeeding him and he suffered often from what they called flop bot.

It is not at all the sort of series I would have expected Channel 5 to air. But, I guess their CBS ownership is serious about making Channel 5 a bigger player.

R164 you realize it’s the same character, right? Just different actresses. I don’t think Diana Rigg was over feeding him!

R163, makes sense, but I'm not sure I follow you on the reference to strangers. Hugh is a part of the community, too.

Pretty sure R164 is talking about the original 1970s series.

Tricky-Woo is HOT!! (and can do a lot better than that bitch Bella)

Call me, Tricky.🐾

I thought the actor who plays Hugh, the spurned rich suitor, looked familiar. It's the actor who played Neville Longbottom in Harry Potter.

The actors are all horrendously bizarre looking, like they’re made of clay and makeup. The accents are overdone & annoying. The lead actor looks like a cross between Rodney Dangerfield and fat, old Brendan. Frazier

R170 -- you made me laff! Thanks.

Maria makes me…laff!

I think Nicholas Ralph is incredibly handsome. And Callum Woodhouse is adorable. And I also love the clock fixer upper.

I'll give you Sam West though, r170.

Yes, the makeup on this show looks like it was done by someone who works at a funeral home.

Hmmmm, Sexy Samuel West!

WHET Aud's pretty girlfriend who whetted Siegfried's appetite last season? Dorothy, I think. Hope she returns to claim her man.

That is very odd, r175, that Mrs. H's pretty friend was clearly introduced last season as a possible romantic interest for Siegfried and has disappeared this season. I wonder if the actress became unavailable? Maybe she'll turn up by the finale. She seems to have been replaced by the other, less attractive lady, and it's not really clear to me if we're supposed to see her as a love interest. for Sieg.

I am such a cynic, I fully expected for the suitor of Mrs. Hall to turn out to be a Nazi trying to recruit other locals. I guess the mustache, and his obsession with clocks (trains arriving on time! Ja, Ja!), tricked me.

Someone may have linked to this upthread but in case you missed it the Zoom discussion with the cast is on youtube. Nicholas Ralph looks much better here than on the show, which has a lot to do with that hairstyle.

Contemporary style does a lot to enhance Nicholas Ralph and Rachel Stenton, who are both good looking but on the show often can look a bit wan and dowdy, respectively.

Speaking of dowdy, they really have to work hard to hide Anna Madeley’s light under a bushel. She has the face of an angel and at 45 looks almost as young as the “kids”.

I love Anna Madeley but I think I only know her from this. Are there other performances for which she's famous/beloved?

Nicholas Ralph looks very good and quite authentic for the time period of the show. And his character is supposed to be this sincere goody two shoes.

Nicholas Ralph's good looks are spoiled by the awful makeup, especially the repulsive raw liver colored lips.

I want to sodomize Nicholas Ralph for days at a time

I didn’t like the first version of this show either, even though I like animals and farm settings. I did like the original theme music, it was very light and airy. But I could not sit through one episode of the new or the old version.

In the original movie made from the series, Anthony Hopkins played Siegfried as a total nutcase.

Rachel looks positively glowing in that Zoom call!

I just realized that tonight is the season finale! How can that be?? They're just getting started. This show would really benefit from a few more episodes each season.

If this show continues for another season, better writers need to be found.

I detected a gradually sink in script quality as this series progressed with too many formulaic British television devices used, cf, Midsomer Murders.

I love the series but the writing is just so damn gentle! I mean there's virtually no tension except whether James will go back to Scotland and, as everyone already knows.....SPOILER!..........he doesn't or there would be no season 3. The animals never even die ferchrissakes.....

Well, he shot a horse in the head in the first or second episode, and t'Alderson's old bull got taken off to knacker's.

Good news tonight..

Callum doesn't look as chubby as he does on the show at R178.

Duwwell!

" ... looks like Rodney Dangerfield ... "

Still laughing!

All the actors look slimmer and younger in the zoom interview at r178, they're all gorgeous and sexy there, r192. I even prefer Sam West without the wig, he's got plenty enough hair for a vet.

LOVED the finale tonight! Wish there had been a little more of that passion and tension throughout the series.

So, is next week a rerun of last year's Christmas special or do we get a new Christmas special? Hoping for the latter.

Tonight was much better. It had been getting rather boring. In the original TV series, they go all through the war and up to the 1950s. I like the characters, but the storylines are going nowhere.

Tonight it was Chamberlain at Munich which was Sept 1938 - which gave Hitler the Sudetenland (part of Czechoslovakia) in exchange for a promise to stop his conquests.

Just one year later, Sept 1, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland. After demands to leave based on England's promise to defend Poland against German invasion were ignored by Germany, England declared war on Germany Sept 3, 1939 - considered by many the start of WW2.

Vets were very much needed during the war, both for use in the military but also at home for the farms.

So it seems this Sunday's Christmas Special will be a new episode and not a re-run of last year's.

Yay!!!

Christmas special.

Aud glam!!!

Merry Christmas.

Tricky lives!

They daren’t kill Tricky on Christmas Day.

WTF was Mrs. H. thinking in that black beaded dress??

I can't believe we now have to wait an entire year for another meagre 6 episodes!

I got a thing for Samuel West. Ever since “Howards End.” He’s been good in everything I’ve seen him do.

I also liked him in a little known indie film called “Reunion “ (1989), in which he portrays an aristocratic young German who becomes friends with a Jewish young man in school. Not a success, but it was released on VHS and laser, but so far not on DVD or Blu-Ray.

I'm confused about the showing of this Christmas episode. We just had one two months ago, so where does this one fit in with the British series 1 and 2?

This Christmas special clearly takes place 3 months after the final episode of Season 2, televised last week, Tristan says he's been away at school for 3 months.

What I don't remember is if they showed the Season 1 Christmas special directly after the first season or if they waited until the following Christmas, which would have been our last Christmas.

[quote]What I don't remember is if they showed the Season 1 Christmas special directly after the first season or if they waited until the following Christmas, which would have been our last Christmas.

And this was my question, not when in the storyline of the show does it take place.

Can someone please tell me that I wasn’t the only one crying when they gave Tricki the Nembutal shot (even though I knew how it would turn out). Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

[quote] I also liked him in a little known indie film called “Reunion “ (1989), in which he portrays an aristocratic young German who becomes friends with a Jewish young man in school. Not a success, but it was released on VHS and laser, but so far not on DVD or Blu-Ray.

Yes, R204. One of my favorite films. Powerful and just delivers that killer ending. Based on a short novel by Fred Uhlman based on his friendship with Konradin.

I think I have it - maybe a VHS. LOL! I wonder where it is.

Samuel West is so handsome. Tristan & James pale in comparison (figuratively & literally—they’re so pale! Especially James)

Yes, I'm getting quite a little crush on Siegfried. West is perfect in his characterization, and so attractive with his beard. And especially with his glasses. Wasn't he wearing them while examining the rabbit?

It was a really good episode and a great way to end the season.

I'm so glad there enough hot men to go around. You can all keep Siegfried. I'm in for James (I LOVE his pale skin), the clock fixer-upper (that mustache!) and Tristan (I crush on his lisp).

The tears sure were streaming by the end.

James' sweet phone call to his mom really got me. And James' brilliant generosity in bringing the Christmas dinner to Mrs. Pumphrey's home - I didn't see that coming even though it was the obvious solution to the dilemma.

I loved the Christmas episode. Their little home is so warm and inviting.

With the Christmas decorations, it was so charming.

Loved the heart-warming ending.

Anyone think Mrs Pumphreys gonna die next season and leave her house to James and Helen?

Also, Mrs H Looking at the window and seeing planes. We all know what’s next to comes

[quote] Their little home is so warm and inviting. With the Christmas decorations, it was so charming. Loved the heart-warming ending.

I guess they'll save Heather Locklear blowing up the house as a cliffhanger for a later season.

In one of those mini-docs the producers mentioned the need to recast Mrs. Pumphreys after Diana Rigg's death because the character played such a prominent role in the original stories, so I don't think Mrs. P is going anywhere soon. I must say, And I think Patricia Hodge is far more convincing in the role than Dame Diana was....she is so much more willing and able to give the character a truer period look and demeanor. I love her constant slash of Jungle Red lipstick!

I don't really get James and Helen living with the Farnons once they're married except to create conflicts in future episodes. Why wouldn't they get their own flat or cottage near the veterinary?

Because it's based on autobiographical stories, and that's what James and Helen did (in real life, Alf and his wife).

How was that choice explained in the stories, r219?

Will Thorp plays Mr. Hammond the clock fixer. They sure dress his looks down on the show, in real life he is FINE.

They’re not sticking very close to the book — in Alf Wight's stories, Siegfried is 30, and Mrs Hall is an old woman.

I don't remember, R220. It wasn't something that needed to be explained away--probably because it was the Depression and young marrieds were considered lucky to have a place to start out life in. I dunno; from our perspective it might seem less than ideal, but they could save up for their own place.

Helen is right, though; he shouldn't just assume and then spring it on her like that. Boy needs to discuss such things.

Thanks [R209] for the ”Reunion” montage. I actually have it on VHS, but the only DVD versions available are all on PAL. Fascinating film, in that it really describes the arc of a male friendship in a troubling time. Not at all sexual, but quite emotional. There are few men who haven’t had strong friendships in their youth.

Nowadays, such connections are viewed sexually, resulting in male friendships being shown only in terms of sports of some kind. More and more, it seems men are only allowed to have close connections with women. Men aren’t even seen hiking or kayaking, or anything, together anymore; there’s always a woman involved. (Conversely, women are allowed to do, and celebrate, doing all kinds of things together!)

Also, since I’m aware of German history, it seemed pretty obvious where the story was headed, almost from the beginning. For some reason, perhaps reincarnation (!), I’ve been aware of the July 20th plot, since seeing “The Desert Fox” (1952) on the old NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, probably in 1961, when I was 12. It’s the first commercial feature I’m aware of to dramatize the attempt to assassinate Hitler. Curious longterm effect it had on me.

Too bad “Reunion” isn’t available on DVD or Blu-Ray. It’s really very good.

This was the depression in England. People were pretty poor. Even Siegfried wasn't all that flush, but he was a long-time successful vet who owned his own practice so he was rare. I suspect they also had family money which neither James nor Helen had.

One of the reasons they lived in the same house for a long time was because they shared night duty. Also, vets didn't make that much money. But also because people just couldn't afford their own homes - at least not as nice as Siegfried's. In the TV series, trying to find an affordable home for James and Helen took time and they had a number of failed attempts. James even had a hard time getting a bank mortgage.

This is an interesting time since this Christmas special was Christmas 1938 by the next fall they'd be at war.

I know the UK Christmas specials are filmed in the summer, but I wish they’d splash out on some CGI (or better CGI). Farmer Jerkwad’s barn had a few piles of sticks badly spray painted white in the yard. Then in the next scene James is sitting in his car carving his Christmas log (not a euphemism) and the dales are green and lush outside the window. In supposed December. I guess they spent all the money on the Farnon interiors and their holiday decor. And I know it’s very time-consuming to film dinner party scenes where a large cast of characters are at table, but I wish we could have seen more of the dinner at Mrs. Pumphrey’s. I’d like to know what she and Helen’s dad talked about. (More Mr. Hammond next season, please. Thanks, R221 — he IS fine!)

Don't like Patricia Hodge as Mrs. Pumphrey. Diana was much better, she gave her a goofy quality which was more appealing.

Watched Howards End (the Merchant Ivory version) on Netflix this week before it disappeared as I hadn't seen it in years. My, Samuel West was a slim young thing then. Nice accent work, too. (Too bad he didn't have any scenes with his mother, Prunella Scales.) He'll always be Mr. Bast to me.

Give me a shirtless Nicholas Ralph scene. The tease of the chest hair is just not enough.

I demand a trans character next season!

[quote]

Is this another of those new Revisionist History TV shows set in 1920s with Jamaicans in the Yorkshire villages?

I assume the 231 posters here are the same ones mourning the death of Peter Bowles who would have been unknown if he had not appear in some tepid TV show which only lasted 3 years.

[quote] “Reunion “ (1989), in which he portrays an aristocratic young German who becomes friends with a Jewish young man in school

Is there any sex?

Thanks for coming to this thread, r232. Your contribution gave me a lot to think about.

[quote] Thanks for coming to this thread.

Thanks you for having me in your thread. Will you be offering tea and Yorkshire biscuits afterwards?

From donalds-worst-nightmare:

[quote] Glad tidings I bring - the new season of Masterpiece's "All Creatures Great And Small" begins on January 8 on PBS.

That's great! Will there be a Christmas special first this year?

I once met Margaretta Scott, who played Mrs Pumphrey in the original 1970s programme. Noel Coward said she was the most elegant woman in London. I could believe it. When I met her she was a very old lady with a commanding presence.

The original series is so good. I practically had it memorized before college. New series isn’t as good in my opinion. Peter Davison was amazing as Tristan. The books are even better, i read them all in high school. Got involved in veterinary research as a result of the obsession created and many vets and vet researchers visit the Herriot museum as a sort of pilgrimage.

All creatures great, or all creatures small?

Both R240.

Love, love this show. For me it’s a palette cleanser after watching too many bloody, grim, gory, should-be-good-but-aren’t shows. It’s sweet and peaceful. Only downside it not enough episodes and too long between seasons.

I need to get the PBS Passport thing to watch all the seasons.

Another big fan here. Exactly what R242 said. I really enjoy this show and I'm surprised about it.

[quote] Both R240.

The choice is binary. You must select one or the other.

I watched season one and was so bored with it (though the young vet who moved in with the older vet and his brother is a cutie). I started watching season two on Christmas (they did the whole 8 eps back to back on my local station) and couldn't get past episode 2. So boring and slow. I took S3 off my DVR.

I want to love this series so much as I absolutely adore the entire cast but the writing is so consistently hackneyed and predictable. Nevertheless, I keep watching as it does help to ease my blood pressure and calm me down.

But please, bring in some new writers next season!

Did they darken Nicholas Ralph's hair this season? It doesn't look as blonde as I remember it. Or is it just on my TV screen?

I adore him in any case.

This is done almost exactly like "Downton Abbey." There's a bunch of little subplots each episode, then there's a big event where everyone talks to one another in pairs and resolves their problems for the time being. Very formulaic.

"Create a problem to solve a problem!"

R248, I noticed that, too. It's not even a good dye job imo. Siegfried's may have been darkened as well. Not sure why they wouldn't want Ralph's hair blonde.

Mrs. Hall is beautiful

My British friends said Robert Hardy (Siegfried) from the original series was tormented by young ruffians who would flash him the international sign for fisting when they'd see him at the Tesco or on the street, in reference to often being elbow deep in some animal or another on the telly.

The hair design in general on the series is sometimes rather peculiar.

Samuel West as Siegfried wears a wig. A good one but why does Siegfried need to have a full head of hair?

Nicholas Ralph should be the natural blonde he is. Why has it suddenly been made darker in S3?

Rachel Shenton is gorgeous (have you ever seen her as herself in interviews?) but the way they style her own hair is often very unflattering. But then perhaps they're trying to downplay Rachel's innate glamour, which I get, I suppose. Her clothes are also often very unflattering. She musty have the patience (and confidence) of a saint to put up with it.

Anna Madeley's hair, which I think is her own, is often styled to resemble Olive Oyl. Again, maybe they try too hard to de-glamourize her.

There never seemed to be much attempt to give Diana Rigg a period look, but I'm happy to see that Patricia Hodge, who I much prefer as Mrs. Pumphrey, always looks period-perfect.

Ditto Callum Woodhouse, who always has the perfect period look in his hairstyle. After this and The Durrells. I can't even imagine him playing a contemporary character.

Is Georgina the cat a creature great or a creature small? I know she's a bitch.

Not reading the posts, sorry. I loved the original but will try this remake.

Georgina is a cat of great anger and violence, but her body, of course, is small.

Can anyone tell me why Tricki Woo was at the wedding in episode 1? We saw them pick him up at Mrs. Pumphrey's but there was no explanation ... or did I miss it? Without a reason, it's so bizarre. Only two or three guests on each side, but there's a dog attending, on a pillow.

R257, James is Tricki Woo’s uncle so I am sure Mrs. Pumphrey assumed he would be expected to attend being they are immediate family.

There is that, R258. "Uncle Herriot's" nuptials were a time for family to gather, naturally. I hope Mrs. Pumphrey sent a generous gift.

I found it hard to believe that a servant would demand an apology on Tricki's behalf, even if he was "just" a local farmer.

I don't watch shows with sick animals.

Or movies with dogs.

They die.

I never saw the original. Was the scenery as breathtaking as the new version?

R261, the original series is not nearly as beautiful as the new, but I think that's because cameras and lighting are so different now than in 1978 (when the original series premiered).

There's not much video online available - my quick google search - but there is a documentary about the original series you could watch.

I'll say this, in the old series, the vet's got very dirty at times. In the new series they do not.

R254 - check out Callum Woodhouse in the gay film B&B.

Need to have more shirtless shots by James.

Love the show but it was cheap of them not to bring Mrs. Pumphrey (Patricia Hodge) herself back for the wedding, not just Tricki-Woo.

Last night's episode finally got into a little more story-telling, clumsy as it was. Nicholas Ralph's hair is still too dark. And how patient Rachel Shenton must be to wear those heavy knitted sweaters under all of her tweed jackets. Anna Madeley as Mrs. Hall continues to wear a nice variety of wrapper aprons.

[quote] And how patient Rachel Shenton must be to wear those heavy knitted sweaters under all of her tweed jackets. Anna Madeley as Mrs. Hall continues to wear a nice variety of wrapper aprons.

Are you gay by any chance?

Sunday bump.

Why do they feel the need to remake a very popular series? Why not just show the original? Or come up with something original.

^ I don't mind in this case. Somehow they managed to have the new show stand on its own successfully without minimizing the old show. I am glad that this one is around. I probably would be pretty upset if they had messed it up.

Tonight's plotting was a bit more complex than usual....nice to see.

But the continuity! Mrs. Hall went off to her hot date/not a date coatless, greeted Gerald coatless and took a walk with him coatless and then returned home wearing.....a coat. Did anyone else catch that? So strange and sloppy.

I've been having a hard time staying with it this season. I find it, perish the thought, borderline tedious. I love the characters and settings, but the plots are just taxing. I want to see vet stories, not a soap opera. Tonight I turned it off when the first scenes of James getting yelled at by the TB guy seemed to be lasting forever. It's time they bring in Granville Bennett, who was always good for a fun time in the books and original series.

As much as I like Callum Woodhouse, the original Tristan (Peter Davison) was a better character. He seemed more adult and devil-may-care and less contentious with Siegfried. Of course, he wasn't in it nearly as much, as I recall.

It's been mentioned upthread but it's unfortunate how they've so quickly reformed Tristan into such a dowdy boy. He should be chasing after a different hot skirt in each episode, not (what looks to be) settling down with the love of his life already.

[quote]Also I want the new Tristan to pound the shit outta me.

I wanted the old Tristan to pound the shit outta me.

The show's just so freaking twee it hurts. The only character I cared about last night was the nice man who wanted to date Mrs. Hall - oops! my mistake! "Audrey" - I think that's how we're supposed to refer to her now.

And man, Gerald (played by Will Thorp) is dishy in real life! That stubly beard - and what a moustache on All Creatures.

R270, she was carrying her coat.

I have a feeling Mrs. Hall's squeeze is set up to become canon fodder. They probably won't kill her son, and obviously James and Tristan will return from the war. So this poor chap probably has to take one for the team.

Love Will Thorp!

Mrs. Hall finally got a 1930s hat in last night's episode set in1938.

That was a wrenching episode for Anna Madeley. So glad she finally got some decent writing to play. And the way the deaf ladies were woven into the story line was clever and heart-warming.

The actor who played the owner of the wounded dog was also marvelous, a very affecting performance.

If I were to sexualize the title then it sounds like All Penises Great And Small.

Smarmy, cookie-cutter-plotted, creepily completist interior design.

With a preponderance of that lollipop green color everywhere. But I do find it very welcoming.

[quote] creepily completist interior design

What does this mean?

Hmmm…

I love the interview at R283 and I really loved this latest episode. I admit that I teared up during the final train scene.

I adore Anna Madeley! Does anyone know if she's been a lead in any other British series over the years that are worth checking out?

For the past three Sundays, my evening routine has been dinner, tidy up, check email, bath at 8, ACG&S at 9 and bed by 10. It’s wonderfully calming and helps keep the Sunday night anxiety at bay. Usually, I drink too much on Sunday afternoons and evenings but I haven’t since S3 started airing.

I watch "All Creatures" mixed in with some episodes of "The Amazing Dr. Pol". Dr. Pol is great (when he's not teasing his nice, but kind of awkward son Charles), and I adore Dr. Brenda, who is so calm, professional and knowledgeable in nearly every kind of situation as well.

Son Edward is likely doomed - the HMS Repulse was sunk by Japanese bombers on December 10, 1941, with a loss of 508 officers and men (assuming Edward was still stationed on the Repulse).

Son Edward was such a Debbie Downer I'm almost hoping he is doomed.

[quote] the HMS Repulse was sunk by Japanese bombers on December 10, 1941, with a loss of 508 officers and men

But there were nearly 1,000 survivors of the Repulse, so we can expect a lot of drama while Mrs Hall awaits word of Edward's fate.

Repulse?? What kind of a name for a battleship is that?

Go back to boiling your lentils, Mrs. Strakosh. You know how insulting that remark is?!

Those of you watching and commenting... have any of you read the original source material? This show is now so from them that those stories the opening should have a disclaimer. "Show creators heard about the books, didn't read them, saw the original TV show, decided they would create something else."

What the hell? Siegfried is now an effing widower? In the original stories, he's a bachelor and a ladies man. When Jim joins the practice, Farnon often leaves Darrowby to visit his and Tristan's mother. He raised Tristan with a now moldering dead wife?

This Mrs. Hall - oops, Audrey - she's probably 20 years too young compared to the books and she's now sitting in the living room having tea or drinks? WITH Siegfried? She's the fucking housekeeper!!! It's just not done.

This show is just so b-a-d.

I've heard rumor that for next season, Edward will be suspected of being a long-lost heir to Downton Abbey and that crossover episodes are planned, including a very special Christmas episode.

Again, this show is just bad. Thankfully just two more episodes.

I know, it's almost like drama shows are no longer exact depictions of real life anymore.

Thanks for posting, r283. Great insight from an actor's perspective.

I really love the series but only for the endearing cast, who I'd watch doing anything. Which is pretty much what they do.

Is it considered a big hit in the UK?

Just a theory about the dyed hair: They are about to go into the WW2 years and the actor playing James Harriott has super strong German vibes. I know he's Scottish, but he seems 100% German to me. So maybe they thought he'd seem less so with darker hair.

For those of us not watching the Superb Owl.

I cannot bear the TB testing storyline. I was so bored last night I must have been checking on my phone when the mishap with the mailed in form happened. Why was the form erroneously completed? Did Helen fill in the form? Why was it placed in the addressed (but not stamped!) envelope and left on the table? That scene with James annoying supervisor where he wouldn't shut up and let James talk was excruciating. And then poor James has to let Helen speak for him. Excruciating.

And Siegfried is an insufferable pompous ass!

The show continues to be ridiculous - as if Helen would have even been allowed in that meeting James had about the form that had been returned!

Siegfried and Mrs. Hall holding effing hands? REALLY? God.

And look! Another married couple in the Dales that probably never existed!!! An English woman married to an Indian. gag...

How hard did the writers have to restrain themselves from NOT allowing James and Helen to take in every single child arriving in Darrowby? Will kiddies soon be residing with Siegfried, Tristan, Audrey, James and Helen or will they be torturing Tricki Woo?

Just one more week!

But how did the unsigned form with the incorrect info get into the envelope? Was that Helen's doing? I just couldn't follow that plot point and it never seemed to be explained in the insufferable prig's office by James or by Helen.

And I hope that that's the last of that simpy romance between Tristan and the Indian girl vet. I'd rather see a romance finally bloom between Mrs. Hall and her hot nerdy suitor.

I’d like to see James and Tristan get it on.

The Indian girl was a wanton half-caste!

I fully realize the show is not a documentary about Yorkshire vets in the late 1930s (something I would actually watch), but does it have to be quite so twee? The TB plot, while not uninteresting, could have been wrapped up in one episode instead of dragged out over the season. (Sidebar: The local agriculture functionary would have been much more effective if he'd been directed to play it quietly threatening and not as the Tasmanian Devil). What happened to that horse Siegfried was breaking in? No, never mind, there's TB in the hills. There is no way on earth Mrs Hall runs that house -- cooking, cleaning, laundry, dealing with patients' owners and abandoned dogs, plus walking out with Gerald (more of him, please) -- without any help. Nary a smudge of flour on her apron, never a hair out of place. C'mon, show, give her a housemaid. All the tweeds and sweaters are lovely, but don't look very lived in, and, as others have said, the wig work is awful. The sun is nearly always shining and there's barely a breeze (sure, that true to Yorkshire). At least Mrs Pumphrey finally showed up to add a drop of vinegar to the proceedings. (And if I never see Tricki Woo again it'll be too soon, but that was a gorgeous Springer spaniel. Want!) All that said, Siegfried and Mrs H listening to the bells and wondering when they'll ever hear them again was a nice moment that nearly earned their handholding.

Love your perfect post, r305! Thanks for chiming in.

I guess we never see a stain on one of Mrs. Hall's wrappers because she has about two dozen of them in varying colors and prints.

Also, it makes no sense that James and Helen don't live on her farm. There's clearly plenty of space for them and she's there every day to work, anyway. And does the veterinary really need 3 full time vets, even through the night?

R306, I didn’t realize Helen was still working at the farm. I thought she was just helping out with veterinary paperwork and helping out a little with housework.

I love Tristan’s voice.

Well, maybe Helen isn't working at the farm but she's certainly there a lot in her comely overalls. Are her father and little sister managing all on their own? No wonder the cows are suffering.

Check out the original series and the books too. The acting and stories on that series were probably closer to the books, without all this new stuff with Mrs. Hall and changing some of the relationships in this one. The old series didn't have the gorgeous photography and the budget of this one, but the actors were all quite good, too. I'm enjoying this series as well, but it's not as much with the animals as the old one.

My husband and I ran into Callum (Tristan) Woodhouse at a performance at London's tiny Menier Theatre just prior to the pandemic. At this point he was only known for his character on The Durrells of Corfu. My hubby (we're gay btw) couldn't restrain himself from approaching Callum, who couldn't have been sweeter in accepting the barrage of gushing coming his way.

R310, I’m so jealous! He’s adorable. Tell me he had a nude scene in the play you saw!

Lol, Callum wasn't in the play. He was in the audience (thius incident was at intermission) and seemed to be with a group that looked like they might be his family. He was dressed very much like Tristan in a tweed sports jacket, very tall, great hair.

Why all the hatred against mid-sized creatures? We deserve British love, too!

Agreed, R305. And to the person who snarked about AC not being a documentary, the person you were responding to complained that the present series isn't true to the books or the original series. They're just making up new stories for the characters, and it's out of character with the source material.

Yes, I read the books, and though they were first-person, it obviously was fictionalized somewhat to structure the stories and make them livelier. This is more like fanfiction on the original series, not a new version. I often wonder why this always happens when they reboot a series.

Is the series a big hit in the UK or more like the cult hit (for want of a better word) of fraus and their gays, as it is here? Any Brits reading this?

$1.99/mo 4 this?

Duwwell!

Duwwell creatures!

Christmas.

Sweet tear-jerker of a finale to a disappointing season. I really do hope they get smart and bring in some new writers. The actors deserve that.

Mrs. Hall - oops, Audrey - snogging Gerald in the hall at Christmas?!! Seriously? The show remains ridiculous.

As I watched last night, I tried to count off all of the people who would REALLY NEVER be in the Yorkshire Dales, who are in the Dales... we've had a black woman (married to a white guy), there was a black guy on line to enlist a week or two ago, oh and then there's the Indian father with the half-Indian daughter that Tristan wants to shag (well, marry first) and now there's a young Jewish girl living in Darrowby and she is wise beyond her years. Gag...

All we need now is a Catholic - and all of the Protestants will be resistant to the new Papist, but a sick pet and few pints at The Drovers and no one will mind any longer!

I could believe a little Jewish girl would have been transported out of London as other children were during war time. Why not, r320? That did not seem anachronistic to me.

^ She’s in the attic!!!

R321, I included the London transplanted Jewish girl, to compete the trifecta of characters being in the Dales that the audience is supposed to see as ordinary.

But they were extraordinary times, r323.

Yes, R324, extraordinary indeed! Because in 1939 in the Yorkshire Dales, everyone is accepted without question, housekeepers start making out in hallways, brothers have long heart-to-heart talks wearing their emotions on their sleeves and the conversation is referred by the housekeeper, wives attend their husbands business meetings, and on and on... the show is a fantasy version of the extraordinary times which is a disservice.

Who knew Brian True-May reads here.

Advising Helen to follow her heart, Annie explained the prejudice she and Bert encountered leading up to and including their marriage. The Black young man (who, incidentally, works on the widow's farm and plays on the cricket team) is their son.

Now, go home and get your shine boxes, racist garbage.

I just started watching this on PBS. I love how animals are tied into the plots...plus, I love the clothing, homes and scenery. It's a beautiful series. I also enjoyed Doc Martin, but it's not being shown now.

It's kind of gone off the rails this year, becoming less about the animals and more melodramatic about the folks at clinic. I read the wonderful books years ago, and I don't recall if Tristan went into WWII; it wasn't gone into much, but James certainly did. One of the books was all about that, though it included stories he was recalling while he was doing his service.

[quote] Who knew Brian True-May reads here.

My favorite member of Queen!

Didn't it seem like James was kind of side-lined this season? He became a supporting character in his own series, dyed hair and all.

Of course Tristan will come home from the war; however, I suspect his barmaid/friend's husband will not be so fortunate.

I'm looking forward to binging the original series during the new show's hiatus - or will spoilers there ruin the new show for me?

I miss Doc Martin and the natural beauty of Portwenn.

Watch the old show if you can -- it's lovely, though not as beautifully photographed as the new one. I think I watched like 5 or more seasons of it until the actress playing Helen decided to leave and they hired a new one. I liked the first one, and had nothing against the new, just for some reason stopped taking out DVDs of the old series around then. Some plot points might come up in the new series, but if you can watch an old movie you like again and again and go from moment to moment without jumping ahead to what you know is going to happen, you'll be fine when you get to next season of the new series.

I really had no problem with that hall way kiss between Mrs. Hall and her beau, appropriate or not. They earned it.

Anna Madeley can do no wrong.

ByJupiter, you seem to be wanting to watch a documentary, not a dramatized version of reality that doesn't meet your expectations. Maybe you'd be better off watching something else on the History Channel that is closer to the reality that 1939 England was. We would certainly all be better off if you were watching that and not haranguing the rest of us for enjoying a simple, scenic, little show.

I agree, R333, Mrs. Hall had no other choice than go for broke at that point. Well played. Yes, Ms. Madeley is stunning!

Thank you, R332, a binging I shall go.

How far is Hull, and will he give up his new job? What about his old job -- can he get it back? Questions, questions, and we'll have to wait until the new season!

R320: Don't forget the older lesbian couple who have dairy cows up in the hills! One left the other, but the power of the vets sent her traipsing over the hills to get her back. Those were The Gays for the season. (You'd think Mrs. Pumphrey would know some.)

Why do they call episode 6 the season finale when there is a 7th episode? I know it's a Christmas "special" but I am assuming it doesn't stand alone so what gives?

It does stand alone. As far as I know, there were several weeks (months?) between episode 6 and the special. So there was an intended gap in time and story.

I wish PBS would air the show on the same schedule. The show feels like a pre-Christmas show with its warm and fuzzy tone.

The Season 3 finale aired in the U.S. last Sunday. I've watched all the episodes, but it is getting predictable. It's also a bit annoying in its contrived efforts to be inclusive. I'm a minority and I welcome more diversity, but please do it well and make it realistic. Were there that many PoCs in Yorkshire pre-World War II? There was an episode in which a sweet deaf woman seemed plunked down purely so she could read lips for one of the characters at a key point. In the finale, now that war is on the horizon, there's a little girl who's been sent from London to live with the vets. She's cute, but is also an extremely annoying precocious TV kid. The writer decided to lean heavily on The Wizard of Oz, connecting the child's desires to Dorothy's, which seemed extremely lazy.

But the main characters still hold interest. The older vet and his younger brother continue to work on their relationship and Samuel West was quite moving (I can't believe I first saw him in Howards End in 1992). Callum Woodhouse is always funny and charming. The younger vet, played by Nicholas Ralph, got married, and watching him and his wife (Rachel Shenton) adjust to married life is poignant. Anna Madeley as the housekeeper, Mrs. Hall, is quite good.

R321

I couldn't believe they didn't know she was Jewish, or seemed to have forgotten about it until mentioned that she didn't celebrate Christmas. That's a very Christian community.

Um, R321 here. I have been schooled by other commentators, my opinion of the show is problematic for them. I politely decline to add to this thread...

The Jewish girl being sent to the country from London was an attempt - I assume - to combine the stories of kids sent from London because of the Blitz (which hadn't yet started) and the Kindertransport organized by Sir Nicholas Winton to evacuate Jewish children from Germany - which hadn't started at that time period either. Awkward.

Both Siegfried and Tristan are much more interesting characters - and played by better actors - than the one playing James which kind of skewers the whole story.

The actor playing Tristan was also great in The Durrells of Corfu.

Interesting tidbit on the Kindertransport: the parents of Sir David Attenborough and Sir Richard Attenborough, their father was a university professor, adopted 2 Jewish girls brought out of Germany by the Kindertransport.

Duwwell!

Another anachronism: The Wizard of Oz wasn’t released in England until 1940.

Oh, the horror r346!

Agree, I thought the little Jewish girl was a distraction from the other story lines and the Overly Precocious Cute Kid bit is never a good thing for a series--it sort of takes it into sitcom land.

On another board people thought she was from Manchester because of her accent and seemed to feel that kids were being evacuated from Manchester too.

Agree with R340 that there seems to be an unusually high number of non-white people in a random corner of Yorkshire circa 1939. It doesn't really distract from the story though because it's not been an issue - the Black farmer's wife is just a farmer's wife, there's no story line about her being Black, Which is why the story line with the Jewish girl was somewhat more out of place.

I'm hoping she goes to live with Lady Pomfrey -- the "this is an awful big house for just one person" line seemed like foreshadowing-- and thus can appear in scenes with Lady P and TrickyBoo who offer comic relief.

I miss Diana Rigg as Pumphrey.

Also, I am not a big clothes guy, but Siegfried's suits are seriously awesome.

The colors and patterns and style are really incredible.

I have googled but they seem to be from vintage shops/costume houses

Funny to think the actor who plays Siegfried is the son of Sybil Fawlty.

Funny to see that so many others are into this. My husband and I call it "bedtime TV" because you can watch 15 minutes and come back the next day, secure in the knowledge that any sick animal will eventually be healed and any tiffs will be smoothed over by the end of the episode.

The scenery is beautiful and it's beautifully shot.

There's an art to these sorts of shows too-- we are watching Hotel Portofino to get our fix of British series set in the 20s and 30s with beautiful scenery and beautiful actors, but it's often hard to watch because the characters are all so over the top and the plotlines so ridiculous. (There's even a gay plotline.)

Oliver Dench is hot (he's related to Judy- I think she is his great-aunt) but never takes his shirt off.

R344 and R346

I wondered about both those things.

^

I meant R343 and R 346.

Wasn't "The Wizard of Oz' not as huge a hit as we think of it back then before it became a huge perennial on tv years later? Oh, people knew about it when it came out, but it didn't apparently do great business. "Gone With the Wind" was the huge box-office champ in 1939, plus that was considered the greatest year in film history, with many other great films that year. But yeah, I was thinking in1939, there wasn't tv and it hadn't opened in England yet, how did they know to get her red ruby slippers?

R355, obviously they heard about it on Facebook.

R355 true - that was bullshit that she would have seen Wizard of Oz.

You idiots!! She wasn't talking about the movie, she READ THE BOOK!! The Wizard of Oz was published in 1900 and was a huge hit. Of COURSE she read the book!!

In the book, Dorothy’s shoes were silver. MGM came up with the ruby slippers 👠 because they’d look better in Technicolor.