All Creatures Great And Small C5 tonight!

[Doomscrolling]

I can't wait. Series 1 was absolutely delightful - I'm so looking forward to it and I seem to have developped a crush on Samuel West.

"Saying goodbye to your grown up children is very hard, it just seems to go so quickly"

True, but he wasn't really that far away.

Although I appreciate that few had a car & train travel might have been prohibitively expensive.

Iirc, his mum had moved away from her own parents!

Although Sunderland to Glasgow not as far as Glasgow to Thirsk.

It's still a parting.

I don't understand how Mrs. Daley is going to be able to keep her cattle as the grass is infested with parasites.

*Dalby

I thought the actor playing his father looked too young and I'm sure his mum was different in the last series but maybe I'm mixing it up with old series or film

I thought Frances Tomelty was good as that character - it could easily have been overplayed with the dog sentiment.

Frances Tomelty - thank you!

DH and I have loved this series. I read the books and watched the original as a teenager and they were a very big part of my growing up. I really like what they’ve done with Mrs Halls character too. She is their conscience almost.

Christmas will see the wedding and James going off to the RAF I think.

@Maireas

I thought Frances Tomelty was good as that character - it could easily have been overplayed with the dog sentiment.

Ex - Mrs Sting

@diddl

I do love Tony Pitts as Helen's dad.

So different from his role in Line of Duty!

I know, @woodhill! She's always great in whatever role.

We always say ‘Ah he’s come a long way since he played Archie’ when we seeTony Pitts. Though he’s back on a Yorkshire farm so maybe not so far in this role.

I am enjoying this programme and am just watching some of the 1978 episodes on youtube.

Clancy the womitting dog-was that in this new series I'm laughing so much at that.

And of course all the dogs in the BBC series as the were Robert Hardy's own dogs.

@Maireas

I know, *@woodhill*! She's always great in whatever role.

I haven't seen her in much recently. It's got a good cast, I think.

I've only started watching this recently. The actor who plays James is a bit dull I'm afraid and there's no chemistry between him and Helen.

@Crinkle77 seriously?? You must be watching a different show to me.

James is lovely and so handsome!

Yes James is lovely but dull. Sorry!

James is gorgeous and has a right twinkle in his eye

I would

Isn't James meant to be the "straight" foil to the more charismatic Tristan and Siegfried? Hence his portrayal as someone who is a little timid and conservative at first. And his upbringing was very conservative; hence his guilt at moving away from his parents. The series follows his character's development from anxious newcomer to more confident independent man. He was always confident in his veterinary knowledge, bur not socially. And as any vet will tell you, people skills are as important, if not more important, than the animals. Plus he is the outsider in a very established practice run by a supremely confident boss!

I agree Fourstrong - James always seemed to be the foil to the slightly feral but very clever and knowledgeable Farnon brothers.

I wasn't a fan of Christopher Timothy (sorry) but I do like Nicholas Ralph.

I laughed at the moment when Siegfried pretended to James' parents that they drank rarely - Tristram's face was a picture.

Nicholas Ralph is far more like the James that I imagined than Christopher Timothy. Sweet, quiet, unsure of himself......and I felt real chemistry between him and Helen.

I agree with you, @Clawdy - also I read that James was a very neat and precise person, and Nicholas seems very neat. Some people were unhappy with the casting of Christopher Timothy at the time.

This photo is hilarious

I find James pleasant but dull. Tristan and Siegfried are great. Haven't really warmed to Helen, she seems a bit hard-faced. They seem to have progressed the courtship very quickly but maybe that's how it was in real life.

I know Mrs Hall has a new admirer now but I still ship her and Siegfried. There was a lovely little moment in the pub at the end when she put her hand on his arm and he looked down at her hand. Both actors play little things like that really well.

The fact that they've already got to WW2 makes me wonder how many more episodes they will do. WW2 is the end (in the books) of their halcyon bachelor days - after that they're all married with kids.