All Creatures Great and Small

7.8
19781h

The trials and misadventures of the staff at a country veterinary office in Yorkshire. James Herriot, a young animal surgeon, moves to a small Yorkshire town to begin his first job.

Production

Logo for BBC

Seasons

13 Episodes • Premiered 1978

Still image for All Creatures Great and Small season 1 episode 1: Horse Sense

1. Horse Sense

Life for a newly qualified vet like James Herriot is not at all easy. He travels all the way to Darrowby, Yorkshire to secure a job, but by the time his prospective employer, Siegfried Farnon, turns up for the interview, James has fallen asleep!

Still image for All Creatures Great and Small season 1 episode 2: Dog Days

2. Dog Days

James finds that long hours and rough conditions can make a veterinary work a dog's life, but for some dogs, like Mrs. Pumphrey's Tricki-Wu, have it so well that they can afford to spread the wealth.

Still image for All Creatures Great and Small season 1 episode 3: It Takes All Kinds

3. It Takes All Kinds

Sigfried declares that the business is in shambles financially, and his solution is Miss Harbottle, a meticulous secretary who rules the cash box with an iron hand. Amid a relentless succession of new faces - many gruff, some eccentric - James meets the lovely Helen Alderson.

Still image for All Creatures Great and Small season 1 episode 4: Calf Love

4. Calf Love

Siegfried has a major victory, and his brother Tristan has to deal with pigs in more ways than one. James discovers he has a rival for Helen's affections.

Still image for All Creatures Great and Small season 1 episode 5: Out of Practice

5. Out of Practice

The veterinary practice goes from strength to strength, but James fears he has wrecked his chances with Helen after a disastrous first date. Tristan decides that a blind date is all James needs to hone his courtship skills.

Still image for All Creatures Great and Small season 1 episode 6: Nothing Like Experience

6. Nothing Like Experience

James musters the courage to visit Helen after she's seen him at his worst. Siegfried resorts to sorcery to aid a gypsy's ailing pony, and a wild ghost chase solves the mystery of the shrouded figure haunting Raine Abbey.

Still image for All Creatures Great and Small season 1 episode 7: Golden Lads and Girls

7. Golden Lads and Girls

James' temper is fraying fast -- what with two car accidents in the space of a week, an inauspicious meeting with Helen's family and his rival still lurking around Helen like a "big glossy spider".

Still image for All Creatures Great and Small season 1 episode 8: Advice and Consent

8. Advice and Consent

The fortunes of the hard-working Dalby family look set to dwindle even further until almost by accident James discovers the cause of their herd's illness. However, James still needs a push start on other fronts, and Siegfried and Tristan decide to remedy matters with their own expert advice.

Still image for All Creatures Great and Small season 1 episode 9: The Last Furlong

9. The Last Furlong

The sport of kings beckons James and Siegfried to the Broughton Races — James in search of a dead cert to raise forty pounds for a Mediterranean honeymoon, and Siegfried in pursuit of a dream job at the track.

Still image for All Creatures Great and Small season 1 episode 10: Sleeping Partners

10. Sleeping Partners

James and Helen's wedding day has finally arrived, though their honeymoon destination couldn't have been further from the Mediterranean. Finally, Siegfried bestows the best wedding present of all.

Still image for All Creatures Great and Small season 1 episode 11: Bulldog Breed

11. Bulldog Breed

As James struggles to save the dairy herd in which a friend has sunk all his savings, he discovers a colleague's guilty secret.

Still image for All Creatures Great and Small season 1 episode 12: Practice Makes Perfect

12. Practice Makes Perfect

Having failed his exams, Tristan fears his brother's wrath. In a desperate effort to reform, Tristan shuns cigarettes, alcohol and women and adopts a rigorous routine of dawn runs and hard work.

Still image for All Creatures Great and Small season 1 episode 13: Breath of Life

13. Breath of Life

Siegfried discovers that a gift given in good faith has brought the deadly foot-and-mouth disease to the dales, and James accidentally hits upon a "sleep cure" for Mrs. Flaxton's poodle.

Cast

Photo of Lynda Bellingham

Lynda Bellingham

Helen Herriot

Photo of Robert Hardy

Robert Hardy

Siegfried Farnon

Photo of Christopher Timothy

Christopher Timothy

James Herriot

Photo of Carol Drinkwater

Carol Drinkwater

Helen Herriot

Photo of Peter Davison

Peter Davison

Tristan Farnon

Photo of Jean Heywood

Jean Heywood

Mrs Alton

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