The series, which is based on the beloved books by Alf Wight (under the nom de plume James Herriot), promises from the outset to be tremendously cozy - the television equivalent of a chunky sweater knit from oatmeal-colored yarn.īut 'All Creatures' doesn't just stop at being pleasant in a wholesomely British kind of way.

Played by John McGlynn, who falls into the stereotyped Scotsman trapĪ bit (he even plays the bagpipes).Even as I watched the animated introduction to PBS Masterpiece's 'All Creatures Great and Small,' which features a small automobile zipping through rolling green hills dotted with fleecy sheep, I felt my jaw unclench and my shoulders drop just a bit. The producers introduce a new character, Calum Buchanan, Packed off to Ireland to carry out TB testing at one point to explain Peter Davison's career had taken off in theġ980s with lead roles in Doctor Who, A Very Peculiar Practice andĬampion, and his character comes and goes in the later series, being Relationship is a lot more strait-laced between Timothy and the more The character as a sexy, earthy, country girl, but the husband-wife Replaced as James's wife Helen by Lynda Bellingham. Slightly different from in the original three. Stories in the same vein as the originals.įeature-length Christmas specials set after World War II, the series returnedįor another four seasons, running from 1988 to 1990, with all-new To obtain Alf Wight's permission for the writers to create new But the producer, Bill Sellars, eventually managed Seasons, from 1978 to 1980, until the BBC ran out of James Herriot

James, and his constantly setting rigid standards that he has no hopeĪll Creatures Great and Small originally ran for three Series about his continual dispensing of contradictory advice to A lot of humour is drawn from Siegfried'sĮccentricity and unpredictability, with a running joke in the early Siegfried was probably Hardy'sīest role and he grabs it with both hands, and makes him a wonderfully Show is Robert Hardy in a magnificent performance as Siegfriedįarnon, the slightly eccentric and irascible senior vet, but a man The tone is right, the settings are lovely, and theĬhristopher Timothy is fine as James Herriot, The scripts are beautifully adapted, and faithful to the Judged, and All Creatures Great and Small is a series of great warmthĪnd charm. Watching the series now, it's not hard to see why it was so phenomenally successful, or why it retains so much popularityĮverything about the series is so perfectly Huge success, ran for seven seasons until 1990, and became theĭefinitive screen version of the James Herriot stories.

All creatures great and small original