New All Creatures Great and Small Channel 5

[icelolly99]

Anyone else looking forward to this? Starts tonight at 9pm.

[LunaNorth]

It wasn’t very well-written, was it?

I turned it off after 15 minutes. Very disappointing.

[CaptainMyCaptain]

@JaneJeffer

I enjoyed it. I'd say it's family friendly if you have no objection to cow's vaginas! (fake looking ones)

Apparently they are no longer allowed to use real cows.

[CaptainMyCaptain]

@ineedaholidaynow

Kelly’s Ice Cream is now owned by a company based in Yorkshire

They also sponsor Our Yorkshire Farm.

[Eaumyword]

I've watched on catch up, not expecting much, as I grew up on the wonderful 80's series and the books.
I'm really enjoying it and finding it quite charming.

[MrsBlondie]

I really enjoyed it.
Read the books and watched original series too.

[BestIsWest]

I really liked it.
I’ve read and re-read the books many times since first picking one up in 1977 and loved the original series.

For those saying Robert Hardy was too old for Siegfried, he was 53 in 1978 when the first series was made. Sam West is

[BestIsWest]

[BestIsWest]

If you turned off after 15 minutes then you can’t really say how good or bad it was.

[JaneJeffer]

That was probably a relief to the actors @CaptainMyCaptain

[SallySeven]

Siegfried Farnon was how old in the first book?

[Toddlerteaplease]

@IntermittentParps love that story! I think the best ones are when his son is born and he is shocked by the babies appearance and asked to see another baby.

[peonia]

Siegfried is 29 in the first book - his real life counterpart Donald Sinclair was born in 1911 and James Herriot began working with him in 1940.

[IntermittentParps]

Why have both series made Siegfried so much older than he was written?

[EasilyDeleted]

Yes, I always thought he was about 30 from the books.

[peonia]

@IntermittentParps the only reason I can think of is that it might not be realistic for today's audience that a 30 year old vet would own his own sole practice and house just a few years after qualifying? Can't remember if he was from a wealthy family in reality or if the cost of living was just so much cheaper then.

[IntermittentParps]

it might not be realistic for today's audience that a 30 year old vet would own his own sole practice and house just a few years after qualifying? Yes, maybe it's this. Although my impression was always that Siegfried was a bit posh, maybe even a minor aristo, from his manner(s) as much as his lifestyle.

[SerenDippitty]

I think he looked older than he was, he was very distinguished looking.

[Eaumyword]

In my mind Siegfried and Tristan were very upper middle class with some background family money and I always assumed Siegfried inherited the practice from his father. Might be a load of bobbins, but that was my narrative for them and the reason why Tristan wasn't that bothered about qualifying and didn't try hard.
I always loved Siegfried, the way he spoke, his eccentricities and love of horses. Loved all the characters though.

[EasilyDeleted]

Yes, I assumed Siegfried inherited the practice from his father. Or was a junior partner whose senior partner died or similar.

[prettybird]

I think historically, it was a different time in the run up to and during WW2.

[SerenDippitty]

@IntermittentParps

it might not be realistic for today's audience that a 30 year old vet would own his own sole practice and house just a few years after qualifying? Yes, maybe it's this. Although my impression was always that Siegfried was a bit posh, maybe even a minor aristo, from his manner(s) as much as his lifestyle.

He was certainly in with the horsey, county set wasn't he? Used to go to hunt balls and stuff.

[Badbadbunny]

When I heard about it, I wondered what was the point. The several TV series used all the material from the books (and the later series had to resort to re-using previous story lines etc) so there's nothing new that the new series can use. So at best, it's different actors for the same stories.

Just watched the first episode last night and not really impressed. I'll continue to watch and give it fair chance, but so far, I think the original characters had more charisma and fitted the parts better. If we hadn't had the original series, I think the new characters would be fine, but I can't help myself compare them against the originals.

All that said, I'm liking the woman characters more especially Mrs Hall who's completely different - much younger for a start. Helen also looks to have a better personality - I never liked Linda Bellingham and preferred Carol Drinkwater but the new Helen could well grow into her part a lot better.

Looking forward to seeing the new Tristram - he could make or break this new series, though like Hardy and Timothy, Peter Davidson is a very tough act to follow.

[IntermittentParps]

SerenDippitty, yes, and the young upper-class women all adore him.

[Liddell]

Her is an interesting article about Donald Sinclair, Seigfried Farnon in the book.

peoplepill.com/people/donald-sinclair-3/

[Lululemming]

It was OK but did not live up to my expectations, I had been looking forward to it for ages. It was how they got all the animal stuff so wrong that wound me up. If you had a lame horse to diagnose you would take it out on the hard drive you were standing on to trot it up and who would you kneel down directly in front of it? And the cows would be calving in shitty byres, not barns full of barley straw. And things in the house like Seigfried eating in the kitchen, when in the books they were always served in the dining room and the house seemed too small. Perhaps it was such a big part of my childhood that I am not liking a new interpreptation.