James Herriot, All Creatures Great and Small TV series review - Writing Wednesday
Hello everybody and welcome back to another blog post,
If there's one thing that makes me very happy, is watching All Creatures Great and Small on Channel 5. If you've had a bad day and need to watch some classic British television, All Creatures Great and Small is the best series to go for. Obviously this series is not the same as the 1980s version of All Creatures Great and Small but you will be surprised by how great it is once you've watched it.
If you don't know who James Herriot is, he is a Yorkshire country vet who worked at Siegfried Farnon's veterinary practice from the 1930s onwards. He is a well-known figure in British culture because he made a collection of memoirs about the ups and downs of being a vet in the countryside and some of his stories are really quite funny to read. Although James is a real person and his stories are true, his comical life adventures have been documented by actors on TV, hence the newest adaptation of the TV series All Creatures Great and Small which was named after his first memoir. Today, I'm going to talk about it with you!
The three main characters on the show are James Herriot (played by Nicholas Ralph), Siegfried Farnon (played by Samuel West), and Siegfried's younger brother Tristan Farnon (played by Callum Woodhouse). However, there are other noticeable characters like James Herriot's future wife Helen Alderson (played by Rachel Shenton) and Siegfried's house keeper Mrs Hall (played by Anna Madeley).
What I like most about this new series is how authentic to the book the storyline of the show is. You have Siegfried Farnon who, as described by James himself, is portrayed as a respectable veterinary surgeon amongst the people of Darrowby and many parts of the Dales in Yorkshire in general. You also have the portrayal of his brother, Tristan, who is the complete opposite of Siegfried as he is a veterinary school drop out, who often gets himself in a pickle with his older brother. As well as this, you have James himself, who often isn't respected enough for his work amongst the locals as he's originally from Glasgow and not Yorkshire. This is how the individuals are actually portrayed in James Herriot's memoirs so if you're a huge fan of his work, you also shouldn't be too disappointed by this show.
I also like how British this series is. In a way, it is a huge advertising campaign for Yorkshire with the quaint little cottages, old-fashioned pubs, and beautiful sceneries of farmland and valleys. However, when you see the characters eating a fried breakfast in the morning, it makes you (a) really hungry and (b) have those classic British vibes that make you happy. It's like watching Paddington because there's just that aura that isn't portrayed in films and shows from other countries.
Lastly, I also like this series because of it's happy, sad drama factor. Not to give away too much, but in one of the episodes, James receives a lot of criticism and nearly loses his job because he had to kill a beautiful race horse because it was in excruciating pain. That's an example of one of the sad moments in the series. However, you also have the dotty Mrs Pumphrey and her glamorous dog Tricki Woo, who gets fed so many trifles and great big hunks of meat that James has to put him on a diet, much to Mrs Pumphrey's despair. I think that moment really made me and family laugh a lot.😂
Overall, this series is really one to watch. It includes James's embarrassing moments in front of Helen, happy-sad moments, and strong links British culture and the memoirs themselves. You shouldn't be too disappointed when watching All Creatures Great and Small. It has had so many great reviews and it is really a stellar performance from Channel 5! Here's the trailer to find out more. You can also see my book reviews on the first 2 memoirs on The Book Hub. Link below!
Masterpiece PBS
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