All Creatures Great And Small (2021) - General Discussion

[peacheslatour]

10 minutes ago, Haleth said:

Mrs Hall. I would have been disappointed with anyone else. 

Same.

[Cetacean]

Me, too. I was suspicious that all answers led to her but I took it again and it came up Tristan that time. 

Hmm, I wonder if it says something about forum posters?

[Sarah 103]

I got Siegfried Farnon, which I am okay with. I wasn't sure which character I would get, so it was fun to find out. 

[Zella]

I got Helen, which didn't bother me but surprised me a little. I'd have thought I was closer in personality to Siegfried, to be perfectly honest. LOL 

[Dowel Jones]

I got Siegfried, but I wanted Tricky Woo.  (Not really a resident but he's there often enough...)

[chitowngirl]

Mrs. Hall for me

[laredhead]

I got Siegfried.  Sounds about right.

 

[Daff]

15 hours ago, YorkshireLass said:

Bennett's practice was approx 20 miles from Farnon's (as per this interview with James' son https://thebridgehead.ca/2017/06/13/remembering-a-bygone-era-a-conversation-with-james-herriots-son/ ).

Back in those days, 20 miles was quite a distance to travel on pokey country roads so I don't think they would have been stepping on each others toes too often 😄.  Bennett specialized in small animal work whereas Farnon's practice was more focused on farm animals so that would have cut down on the competition between them.  James' son said that Farnon would send the small animal cases that were too complicated for them to Bennett so it sounds like they had a very good professional relationship.  And, according to this interview, there was no exaggeration in the amount of drinking that was done & Bennett's ability to handle it.

I'm totally enjoying this series and I fully didn't expect to when it was announced.  I think my only critique would be that they seem to be straying a bit from focusing on the animal stories.  Hopefully, we'll get back to that as this season progresses.

I do remember all those episodes, and James, vowing never to drink with Bennett again, failing miserably.  But the vet who appeared in season 1 was not Bennett. The new iteration has yet to introduce the character. Who knows, because of the excess alcohol consumption, the writers may not go there at all, and they’ll need a bigger-than-life actor to pull it off. 

[peacheslatour]

10 hours ago, Daff said:

I do remember all those episodes, and James, vowing never to drink with Bennett again, failing miserably.  But the vet who appeared in season 1 was not Bennett. The new iteration has yet to introduce the character. Who knows, because of the excess alcohol consumption, the writers may not go there at all, and they’ll need a bigger-than-life actor to pull it off. 

Just drunken James scrubbing a windshield with a dead chicken.

[Capricasix]

4 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Just drunken James scrubbing a windshield with a dead chicken.

Or being rendered almost comatose by a Saveloy sausage!

Edit: I just realized who I was replying to, Peaches! Hello from the Y&R forum 😄

Edited January 22, 2023 by Capricasix

[peacheslatour]

14 hours ago, Capricasix said:

Or being rendered almost comatose by a Saveloy sausage!

Edit: I just realized who I was replying to, Peaches! Hello from the Y&R forum 😄

*waves frantically!^

[Blergh]

On 1/21/2023 at 6:31 AM, Daff said:

I do remember all those episodes, and James, vowing never to drink with Bennett again, failing miserably.  But the vet who appeared in season 1 was not Bennett. The new iteration has yet to introduce the character. Who knows, because of the excess alcohol consumption, the writers may not go there at all, and they’ll need a bigger-than-life actor to pull it off. 

Maybe it's due to being a teetotaller in a family with alcohol issues on both sides, but I got rather annoyed with OS James getting snookered again and again via accepting the invite of that 'social drinker'. It would have been fine as one-time  wagon stumble but then NEVER done again but for James to keep accepting invites knowing that he'd wind up sloshed and NOT acknowledging his own role (e.g. learning to politely but FIRMLY decline booze offers,etc.) was annoying rather than funny, IMO.

I'm glad that NS James at least owns his own wagon stumbles rather than blames others AND politely but FIRMLY declines when he truly doesn't want to overdo it!

[Kimmmmmm]

I'm a weeping mess after that.

[HoodlumSheep]

That cat lolololol!

That new sedative looked like Listerine. Lol. Glad it was just useless, not harmful.

Wish flashback Siegfried had a bit more orange in his hair.

That one trainer (?) Barn guy is the one who did the damage imo. Don't really believe him when he said the overseas trip went fine, etc.

Rough episode for Siegfried :(.

[possibilities]

I know this makes me a wuss, but I don't know if I can watch if they're going to delve into the war stories. This was agony. 

I respect them for doing it, and I think it needs doing. People need to know. 

But I don't think I can take it.

[Tiggertoo]

Brutal episode.  I saw War Horse but It really brought it all back. 

[Doublemint]

The best episode so far.  The scene of mustard gas in WWI - my Father was gassed in the war and nearly died of it.   It was very difficult for me, unexpected.  For once I'm not complaining about anything.  Spot on!

[Capricasix]

“I’m a poor widder woman!”

[magdalene]

I barely made it through this episode.  I want to retroactively wish ill on those who ordered those horses killed to save money. A pox on them and all of theirs.

I have known people like that cat owner, you always have to get your money first before you do a service for them.  I am not surprised James caved but I thought Helen was made of stronger stuff.

[Dowel Jones]

I don't think Helen had time to react when the widow sluffed them off and turned away.  Money up front for the followup appointment, to be sure.

Tristan got his, but I was almost hoping that the cat would take to him and be compliant, making James and Helen drop their jaws.

Siegfried went through a lot, that's for sure.  Losing your friend all these years later would be devastated.

I don't know, I think, if I were a vet, I'd get mighty peeved at some of the attitudes of the farmers there.  "Don't want what I have to say?  Don't call me anymore.  Handle it yourself if you know more about it."

I continue to be absolutely amazed at the stonemasonry in that area.  Miles and miles of it.

Tristan is never going to be a successful vet if he doesn't learn to do some research on chemicals before he buys them.

[Daff]

6 hours ago, Tiggertoo said:

Brutal episode.  I saw War Horse but It really brought it all back. 

When I mentioned it above, I had no idea they were going there, and so soon. They really did a good job tying the stories together the race horse’s trauma, Siegfried’s memories, and his grief over the other soldier’s suicide. I’m convinced the soldier couldn’t live with the thought of another looming war. 

[YorkshireLass]

4 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

"I don't know, I think, if I were a vet, I'd get mighty peeved at some of the attitudes of the farmers there.  "Don't want what I have to say?  Don't call me anymore.  Handle it yourself if you know more about it."

Farmers not being confident in James' ability to diagnosis illnesses was a running theme when he was new to the practice.  I think, in the case of the dead cow, the farmer was far more interested in getting insurance money rather than getting a proper diagnosis.  Cow killed by lightning equals money.  Cow dying of natural causes doesn't.

One thing I'm a bit confused about (and maybe I missed it).  Why was the head groomsman so focused on having the horse destroyed?  Obviously, something happened involving him, the horse and the riding crop on the trip from Ireland to England, but how would that benefit the guy?  I'm hoping we get to see Seigfried help the horse recover and also see the head groomsman & stable lads involved in the crop incidents get their comeuppance in a future episode.   

[Cetacean]

That was just horrible.  Not the Sunday night entertainment I want to start my week, not a documentary on the atrocities.  It tied the story together very neatly but, man, I am a mess this morning just thinking about it.

[libgirl2]

19 minutes ago, Cetacean said:

That was just horrible.  Not the Sunday night entertainment I want to start my week, not a documentary on the atrocities.  It tied the story together very neatly but, man, I am a mess this morning just thinking about it.

Yes, that was hard to see.

[JudyObscure]

I almost never cry at TV, but when I realized the owner was going to give  River a chance, I burst into  ugly crying and frightened myself.

Now that hilarious cat. My cat had a panic attack at the vet's one time, scratching the vet and biting my son's finger when he tried to catch Mickey.  My son had to go to the ER a few hours later because his finger looked like a plum and Mickey had to be quarantined in our garage for the next month, even though he had, had his rabies shots.  

When the guy doing the autopsy on the "lightning struck" cow stepped out in his bloody apron I thought of all you guys that complained last week that the farmers looked too tidy.😆

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, JudyObscure said:

I almost never cry at TV, but when I realized the owner was going to give  River a chance, I burst into  ugly crying and frightened myself.

Now that hilarious cat. My cat had a panic attack at the vet's one time, scratching the vet and biting my son's finger when he tried to catch Mickey.  My son had to go to the ER a few hours later because his finger looked like a plum and Mickey had to be quarantined in our garage for the next month, even though he had, had his rabies shots.  

When the guy doing the autopsy on the "lightning struck" cow stepped out in his bloody apron I thought of all you guys that complained last week that the farmers looked too tidy.😆

I cried too.... 

I loved the cat because that would be my cat. We have to give him a calming medication in order to take him to the vet! Last year, we had an emergency with him and had to take him to a vet ER. They had to sedate him in order to run tests. We warned them and they still said "Wow, he is snarling and hissing and clawing".... yea, we told you! 

[ECM1231]

I cried through half this episode. My heart broke for Siegfried when his commanding officer told him what had to be done to the horses after the war had ended. Working so hard to get  that magnificent horse River feeling better and less frightened made even more sense in light of the trauma he'd experienced during WW1. Then to find out that his fellow soldier/friend had taken his own life had him even more upset. 

Just one thing I wasn't sure of: the racehorse owner served with Siegfried in the war, too? At the end of the episode Siegfried was trying to convince the horse's owner not to put River down, saying something about atoning for what was done to the horses after the war. I was confused about Siegfried's connection to that man.

The ending scene with Siegfried galloping with River was awesome. Just beautiful scenery!

[iMonrey]

I usually re-watch these before the next one comes on, but I don't think I can watch this one a second time. I'm not even that big of a horse person, but just as an animal lover in general, this reminded me too much of War Horse, one of the most traumatic movies I've ever seen. Talk about the inhumanity of man.

Quote

That one trainer (?) Barn guy is the one who did the damage imo. Don't really believe him when he said the overseas trip went fine, etc.

Yes, he was clearly sinister, and I expected him to be exposed, all Scooby-Doo style. The ending was kind of unsatisfying, unless there's going to more to this story.

Quote

Quiz: Which Skeldale House Resident Are You?

I got Tristan. But there were several questions I just had to answer randomly because the real answer was "none of the above."

[libgirl2]

9 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I usually re-watch these before the next one comes on, but I don't think I can watch this one a second time. I'm not even that big of a horse person, but just as an animal lover in general, this reminded me too much of War Horse, one of the most traumatic movies I've ever seen. Talk about the inhumanity of man.

Yes, he was clearly sinister, and I expected him to be exposed, all Scooby-Doo style. The ending was kind of unsatisfying, unless there's going to more to this story.

I got Tristan. But there were several questions I just had to answer randomly because the real answer was "none of the above."

I got Tristan too and like you some of the questions didn't have my answer. 

[Cetacean]

31 minutes ago, ECM1231 said:

At the end of the episode Siegfried was trying to convince the horse's owner not to put River down, saying something about atoning for what was done to the horses after the war. I was confused about Siegfried's connection to that man.

Wasn't he the offider that ordered all of the war horses destroyed?

[Llywela]

8 minutes ago, Cetacean said:

Wasn't he the officer that ordered all of the war horses destroyed?

Yes, he was - acting on orders from above, but it was his order on the spot, as it were.

[DonnaMae]

12 hours ago, Tiggertoo said:

 I saw War Horse but It really brought it all back. 

That was a very good movie, sad, but the ending was good.  I wonder why they didn't let the local farmers have the horses.  It was a shame that they had to kill perfectly healthy animals.

[Cetacean]

2 minutes ago, Llywela said:

Yes, he was - acting on orders from above, but it was his order on the spot, as it were.

That's what I thought and why Sigfried didn't want him to walk away from it this time.  He wanted him to see the consequences of the decision.

[tennisgurl]

That was a hard episode to watch, poor Siegfried and all of those poor horses. It was bad enough what those horses went through during the war, but then the higher ups deciding to kill them all to save money? Thank God they cut away before things really started getting grim, my tear ducts just couldn't have handled it. War Horse was one of the most hard to watch war movies I've ever seen and this brought it all back. This was a rough one for Siegfried, he had so much piling up on him, with his old friends suicide, trying to save this horse, his fears over the conflict that is clearly brewing, all of this bringing his very traumatic memories of the war back, it was just so much for him to deal with all at once. I was so relieved when the horse owner decided to give River another chance, he's such a gorgeous horse. 

Thank God we had some much needed comedic relief with James, Helen, and that cute little murder floof. My cat was on my lap while I was watching this and he leaped up and ran away when Georgiana escaped her box on the car and started meowing and attacking, he was quite freaked out the poor little guy. Of course he's not much better when he has to go to the vet, he acts like he's being taken to the gallows no matter how many treats we give him. I knew that the widdle old widow woman would play James like a fiddle, but I expect more from Helen. Their amusement at Tristan getting his turn at being mauled was hilarious. 

Edited January 24, 2023 by tennisgurl

[Sarah 103]

9 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Siegfried went through a lot, that's for sure.  Losing your friend all these years later would be devastated.

This episode did a fantastic job of explaining why Siegfried seems so much older than Tristan than he actually is, and why they seem more like father and son than older brother and younger brother. Siegfried had to take on more responsibilities at a young age when both parents died young, but the war accelerated or turbo-charged what had already started. 

Siegfried wasn't just dealing with the loss of his friend, he was dealing with the knowledge that another war was coming, and he knows how devestating it could be. He also still hasn't gotten over the needless death/destruction of all of the horses at the end of the war. That's a significiant amount of mental or emotional stress. 

When Siegfried was describing the horse during the first visit, I thought "that sounds like PTSD," and a quick google search confirmed that horses can develop PTSD. 

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I got Tristan. But there were several questions I just had to answer randomly because the real answer was "none of the above."

Answering randomly instead of trying to think of what is the closest seems very in keeping with Tristan. 

Edited January 23, 2023 by Sarah 103

[peacheslatour]

Quote

Siegfried wasn't just dealing with the loss of his friend, he was dealing with the knowledge that another war was coming, and he knows how devestating it could be. He also still hasn't gotten over the needless death/destruction of all of the horses at the end of the war. That's a significiant amount of mental or emotional stress. 

I actually had to change the channel during the part about the war horses. Law & Order SVU was less upsetting to me.

[Dowel Jones]

36 minutes ago, Sarah 103 said:

When Siegfried was describing the horse during the first visit, I thought "that sounds like PTSD," and a quick google search confirmed that horses can develop PTSD. 

As soon as Siegfried showed up at the horse ranch, I thought of the famous Seabiscuit story, which, if memory serves, detailed that Seabiscuit was treated very roughly during training and responded as such.  It took a long time for him to react positively to his new trainer.  Perhaps not coincidentally, that story had become big news in the US in 1938.

[Daff]

7 hours ago, YorkshireLass said:

Farmers not being confident in James' ability to diagnosis illnesses was a running theme when he was new to the practice.  I think, in the case of the dead cow, the farmer was far more interested in getting insurance money rather than getting a proper diagnosis.  Cow killed by lightning equals money.  Cow dying of natural causes doesn't.

One thing I'm a bit confused about (and maybe I missed it).  Why was the head groomsman so focused on having the horse destroyed?  Obviously, something happened involving him, the horse and the riding crop on the trip from Ireland to England, but how would that benefit the guy?  I'm hoping we get to see Seigfried help the horse recover and also see the head groomsman & stable lads involved in the crop incidents get their comeuppance in a future episode.   

He obviously had something against the horse or the owner, or both. Obviously resented Siegfried, and made sure he was thrown. Overall, I didn’t perceive him to be a happy person, content in his position. We’ve all known bullies as kids, but as adults, you occasionally run across disgruntled, petty, downright mean people who have mastered the art of ruining anything and everything they can, and take delight in doing so. Serving them comeuppance only fuels their nastiness. Better to avoid them or send them packing (and hope they don’t come around in future to bite you in the butt). 

[Cetacean]

I think the trainer was the type to use cruelty to subdue the horses and thus had no feelings about them. Rule with the whip.

And the owner was just as bad because he probably knew that was the case and did nothing because it won him money.  He couldn't give Sigfried a few more tries before deciding to kill off the horse?  What, it would have consumed a few more pounds of feed and put him in the poor house?

Both were jerks.

[Daff]

6 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

I almost never cry at TV, but when I realized the owner was going to give  River a chance, I burst into  ugly crying and frightened myself.

Now that hilarious cat. My cat had a panic attack at the vet's one time, scratching the vet and biting my son's finger when he tried to catch Mickey.  My son had to go to the ER a few hours later because his finger looked like a plum and Mickey had to be quarantined in our garage for the next month, even though he had, had his rabies shots.  

When the guy doing the autopsy on the "lightning struck" cow stepped out in his bloody apron I thought of all you guys that complained last week that the farmers looked too tidy.😆

That was the knacker, Malloch! In the abattoir, he’d be cutting at the direction of the vet for an autopsy.  Did we see him briefly in season 1? The cat story played the same as the original, except it led to Siegfried pitching a fit over payment upon services rendered. Also, in the original, there was a cat hoarder who had, amongst dozens, inside and out, a huge Tom that was particularly vicious. 

[Daff]

4 hours ago, ECM1231 said:

Just one thing I wasn't sure of: the racehorse owner served with Siegfried in the war, too? At the end of the episode Siegfried was trying to convince the horse's owner not to put River down, saying something about atoning for what was done to the horses after the war. I was confused about Siegfried's connection to that man.

I haven’t gone back to check for sure, but  I got the impression the present day horse owner was the officer who gave the orders for the horses to be destroyed. Note in the flash back, that particular officer had made arrangements for his own horse to go home. If that is the case more reason for Siegfried to refuse to put the racehorse down. If I watch again, I’ll pay attention to the names of the horses, because I think one in his barn present day was a descendant of the one he took to the front. 

[magdalene]

I hope they lighten up some in future episodes.  I was watching The Last of Us on the Eastern time zone HBOMax at 6pm and then watched All Creatures at 9pm  to "de-stress".   The joke was on me as I got a double dose of misery in one evening.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I wonder why they didn't let the local farmers have the horses.  It was a shame that they had to kill perfectly healthy animals.

The officer said they were giving the horses to the Belgiums and the French and that it would be too expensive to ship them live. I took that to mean they were being given as meat? Possibly for dogs or livestock. I dunno. 

[Megan]

I thought it was kind of weird in an episode that was very much about how stress was causing River's aggression, then played a cat acting aggressively for laughs. Cats can certainly be dicks for no reason - horses too!, but aggression like Georgina's is also caused by fear.

Edited January 23, 2023 by Megan
clarity

[magdalene]

39 minutes ago, Megan said:

but aggression like Georgina's is also caused by fear.

Well, you only have to look at the owner to understand the cat's aggression. That poor animal has to live with that horrific woman.

In my family we have had cats (and dogs) all our lives. We have bathed them and taken them to the vet without being ever clawed like that.  Now I am not going to claim that our cats for the most part enjoyed car rides and vet visits but they tolerated them without biting and clawing.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

In my family we have had cats (and dogs) all our lives. We have bathed them and taken them to the vet without being ever clawed like that.  Now I am not going to claim that our cats for the most part enjoyed car rides and vet visits but they tolerated them without biting and clawing.

Yes, I've had cats all my life. I volunteered at The Humane Society when I was in high school and I was a vet tech in the 80's, animals don't act like that unless they've been traumatized.

Edited January 24, 2023 by peacheslatour

[Driad]

Maybe "poor widow" stuffs the cat in a carton to punish it, so the cat is angry at whoever opens the carton. James and Helen brought the cat back in a nice carrier, which I hope they didn't pay for, because they won't get reimbursed.

[JudyObscure]

My Mickey, who had the fit I just described, did it at the other vet in our town while our regular vet was on vacation.  The silly old vet (reputed to be a drinker) opened Mickey's carrier and said "HOW ARE YOU?"  in a really loud voice. Of course he went wild.

Soon after, Mickey developed diabetes and  went to our regular vet once a month to have a blood sample drawn from his neck.  Never a squirm or a peep out of him.  That's our 80 year old vet, hands of gold that calm down the wildest creature. Siegfried reminds me of him with the animals

Edited January 24, 2023 by JudyObscure

[YorkshireLass]

It's possible that Georgina could have been feral at one point so she was only comfortable with the woman who fed and housed her.  Any other human would cause her huge stress.

I had three sister littermates.  They were hell on wheels at the vets from the time they were 8 weeks old.  No idea why - they were lovely, very placid cats except when they were at the vets.  There were warning stickers plastered all over their files so everyone at the practice knew to be careful.    

[pasdetrois]

Thanks to the posters here, I was handy with my remote to fast forward the moment the WWI scenes appeared. I cried so hard during War Horse that I made myself ill.

Despite the sorrowful content, I enjoyed this episode because ANIMALS and THE DALES. That scenery never gets old. And the two old geezers arguing was hilarious. I can never get enough of the Yorkshire dialect. My client's employee is from there, and whenever she joins a conference call I am happy.