All Creatures Great and Small - new series Thursday 5 October 2023 C5

[IwantToRetire]

I couldn't see a thread about this, so have started one. Hope it is not a duplicate.

Have found it more and more saccharine but love the scenery.

And love reading comments.

Any one thinking of watching?

https://www.channel5.com/show/all-creatures-great-and-small/season-4/broodiness

I also find Helen and James have zero chemistry, but I don't find she gives out much chemistry.

Unlike others, I loved the original Helen and thought she and James were great together

I admit I've not watched the most recent episodes of the new series but you've encouraged me to give them a go

Helen has fabulous hair though.

I'm always intrigued by how alike Helen and her sister are! They even have the same dimples - clever casting.

I agree - there’s no chemistry but she comes across as quite wooden so hard to show much emotion

I thought that was a beautiful episode, so much unspoken emotion, communicated beautifully. Helen and her Dad, Mrs Hall, Gerald and Siegfried. I shed a tear at the stethoscope scene! I think it's very true to the time because people didn't emote as much, or express their feelings so openly. Very nicely done.
I'm looking forward to the Christmas episode.

The stethoscope scene was indeed amazing.

You can totally believe in the original actors relationship, IIRC the actors ended up together for a while.

Yes, it was quite a scandal. Christopher Timothy was a married father of six. When the affair hit the headlines, it was Carol Drinkwater who came in for the criticism, of course. She decided to quit, although she felt that her character was never developed and there wasn't much to do anyway, but the negative headlines didn't help.

I'm assuming Gerald's sister has an illness or disability that means she can't move or travel, I don't like Gerald much either though so I'm not mourning him buggering off!

Helen does have amazing hair!

I cried when Helen came down and said she couldn't feel the baby move, she was suddenly v vulnerable and Mrs Hall was so kind.

I was in Yorkshire last week and it always blows me away how beautiful it is.

@Girliefriendlikespuppies it's God's own country.

It is indeed! That's what struck me about the Herriot books, he'd come down from Glasgow and absolutely fell in love with the Yorkshire countryside.

I remember it being in the papers, always the woman that gets the blame!

I totally agree about The James/Helen chemistry being much stronger in the original but I can see why Carol Drinkwater got a bit fed up, all she does is wait around for James, sometimes getting a bit huffy but then forgiving him instantly and wafting round Skeldale House being all charming to the men.
I like old Mrs Hall, the occasional times her brusque no nonsense exterior cracks and she reveals she's actually a secret softy who cares for her charges ( but won't be taken for granted either) are very well done,v it's more subtle.

I remember when I read the first book (many years ago) I was impressed by James' description of Helen. He recounts first meeting her at the farm, and her striding along, wearing trousers, which he notes was unusual for women at that time. He seemed so impressed with her intelligence, capability and confidence. I think earlier writers did her a disservice with a portrayal of a somewhat passive and huffy woman.

I read an interview with Carol Drinkwater where she said she wears Trousers in an early episode but there were enough complaints from viewers saying it was anachronistic that it was decreed by the producers that it should never happen again. She does wear some lovely dresses and her hair style is a bit more authentic 30s but the no trousers rule was daft.

I think the floral dresses and pearls were a bit of a default for her in the series, and Lisa Harrow in both films.

it's interesting how even really quite good costume design is still influenced by current fashions, it was peak Laura Ashley when the original series was made.
I've done a deep dive into the world of James Herriot recently , I think to escape the mess of current affairs really, my stress levels drop as soon as I dip in. But I've learnt a lot of background stuff that has made watching quite interesting, working out what was shifted and changed from real life to the books.

Yes, James Herriot’s real life wife wasn’t a farmer‘s daughter, she was a secretary.

Yes, but it's not a representation of Alf Wight's actual life, rather his fictionalised version as Herriot in the books. In the stories, his wife lived on a farm. That's how they should represent her.

I don't mind them going off piste as long as it's well done which I think it is so far.

I'm not a huge fan of this Mrs Hall though. I find her accent very stilted.

I read his sons biography of his father. James (Alf's mother) was not happy that he stayed in Yorkshire and married there. They didn't attend the wedding. Which is why I suspect they're so little mentioned. Sad that such a rift existed.

Yes, I read that too, @justasking111 . It was sad.

I've just watched the episode with Wesley Binks and his dog with distemper in the original series. The dog died and Wesley goes off the rails again. I can't remember the ending of this story in the new version, did the dog die? Can someone with a better memory enlighten me?