All Creatures Great And Small (2021) - General Discussion

[crankcase]

On 1/10/2023 at 1:17 PM, DonnaMae said:

I agree with you, but do we know that he's actually 'bedding down' with Diana?  He seems too prim and proper to be doing that with a casual girlfriend.

1978 Siegfried was openly depicted as a womanizer. And if 2001+ Siegfried may seem too prim and proper, his lady friends certainly don’t. Siegfried would be a “catch” for educated widows from Liverpool to Manchester, and flocks of Connie Chatterleys would fly to Darrowby on a wing and a prayer to drop their knickers in a heartbeat for the chance of becoming Mrs. Farnon. Siegfried is an Englishman so trapped in his class he has to rely on the desperate kindness of strangers.

Edited January 12, 2023 by crankcase
x

[magdalene]

I was upset that the cow had to be killed.  I know this has to be shown because the main characters are vets and it is a part of the job but I have a big problem when animals die in my fiction. I am one of those people who doesn't care how many people die violently in a John Wick movie but kill one animal and I am outraged and devastated. In all the Jurassic Park movies I never bat an eye lash when the dinosaurs eat people but there is one sequel where one dinosaurs eats a dog and I was like "oh, no!"

[monakane]

19 hours ago, crankcase said:

Siegfried clearly has no intention of settling down with any of the women he’s currently bedding. So what/who does he want? The answer is suggested visually, in a brief, powerful scene near the end of this season’s Christmas episode. (Where else?) NO PEEKING!

I have PBS Passport and have watched all of the episodes except the Christmas episode.  That will happen tonight.  I think I know who he wants.

[Driad]

My PBS station started airing The Yorkshire Vet, a documentary series "following the work of the staff of Skeldale Veterinary Centre in Thirsk, North Yorkshire - once the practice of James Herriot." It is in the present time, and they treat both pets and farm animals.  I found it interesting.  Caveat: not all cases end happily, and they show an animal's innards during surgery.

[libgirl2]

21 hours ago, magdalene said:

I was upset that the cow had to be killed.  I know this has to be shown because the main characters are vets and it is a part of the job but I have a big problem when animals die in my fiction. I am one of those people who doesn't care how many people die violently in a John Wick movie but kill one animal and I am outraged and devastated. In all the Jurassic Park movies I never bat an eye lash when the dinosaurs eat people but there is one sequel where one dinosaurs eats a dog and I was like "oh, no!"

I'm exactly the same. I watch a lot of horror, so people are being killed all the time, but if it is an animal..... *sob*. 

[peacheslatour]

8 hours ago, Driad said:

My PBS station started airing The Yorkshire Vet, a documentary series "following the work of the staff of Skeldale Veterinary Centre in Thirsk, North Yorkshire - once the practice of James Herriot." It is in the present time, and they treat both pets and farm animals.  I found it interesting.  Caveat: not all cases end happily, and they show an animal's innards during surgery.

I was a vet tech. I didn't have the stomach for it. My husband finally made me quit when I started coming home in tears every day.

[Sharpie66]

I was just rewatching the first ep, and I realized that, in addition to having Tricki-Woo as her witness, Mrs. Pumphrey also provided her car and chauffeur as transport for the bridal party to get to the church. That was very sweet of her!

I loved that little moment when Mrs. Hall asked Siegfried’s opinion on her hat choice, and when he pointed at one, she immediately went with the other. If they are going with an eventual hookup between them, I wouldn’t be mad—they are really delightful together.

[Haleth]

Omigosh, that wedding dress was to die for!  Beautifully elegant without the frumpiness of 30s style clothing.

About x-raying the dog, even if it had been available they would only have seen the box.  We found out later the ring wasn't even in the box.

I'm glad I never watched War Horse.

The prewedding convo with Mrs Hall and Helen was wonderful.  Mrs Hall makes a lovely substitute mother for all of them.

I love, love the banter between Mrs Hall and Sigfried and I know IRL and the books and the original series there was a wider age gap between them and no question of a romance, but for this series they make a splendid couple.  They are so comfortable with each other. 

[possibilities]

5 hours ago, Sharpie66 said:

I loved that little moment when Mrs. Hall asked Siegfried’s opinion on her hat choice, and when he pointed at one, she immediately went with the other.

And then he said he appreciated that she asked him! 

 

[Driad]

2 hours ago, Haleth said:

About x-raying the dog, even if it had been available they would only have seen the box. 

Depends on what the box was made of.  If it was metal, maybe you're right.  If it was cardboard, the box would hardly show on an X ray, so the ring (if it had been in the box) would have been visible.

[libgirl2]

3 hours ago, Haleth said:

I love, love the banter between Mrs Hall and Sigfried and I know IRL and the books and the original series there was a wider age gap between them and no question of a romance, but for this series they make a splendid couple.  They are so comfortable with each other. 

I have to agree, they have such good chemistry. I don't mind that they changed it up. 

[crankcase]

4 hours ago, Haleth said:

… and the original series there was a wider age gap between them and no question of a romance, but for this series they make a splendid couple.  They are so comfortable with each other. 

“Wider age gap”?! It’s the other way around, here. Madeley is ten years younger than West, and looks it with her hair down. She’s also more attractive. Take a look at this.

[possibilities]

That's a funny video.

 

[magdalene]

13 hours ago, Haleth said:

I love, love the banter between Mrs Hall and Sigfried and I know IRL and the books and the original series there was a wider age gap between them and no question of a romance, but for this series they make a splendid couple.  They are so comfortable with each other. 

I stubbornly maintain that the writers giving Mrs.Hall the first name "Audrey" which was the first name of Siegfried's real life wife or book Siegfrieds? is a sign. Yes indeed. I think the actress who plays Mrs. Hall is beautiful.

[John Potts]

On 1/10/2023 at 6:31 PM, DonnaMae said:

She must believe that dog is half human.  What will she do when he goes off to doggy heaven?

Not just human, the reincarnation of a Chinese Emperor (IIRC)!

There is next to zero possibility that Helen bought a new dress for her second wedding in two years. In terms of production, it probably was (don't ask me, unless there's a side by side comparison I can't tell one wedding dress from another), but at the time many folk* got married in their "Sunday best" rather than buy a special outfit for the occasion.

* Unless they were effete Southerners with more money than sense!

[HoodlumSheep]

With how hard they're pushing the TB stuff this season I was half expecting that lady's cute lil calves to end up having it somehow. Glad they found the cause and she didn't lose them all though. Reminded me of the lead paint poisoning case back in season 1.

They kept mentioning how the sister lived just over the hill-cue to the panning scenery...OOF that's a long way for her to walk.

Edited January 16, 2023 by HoodlumSheep

[Blergh]

1 hour ago, HoodlumSheep said:

With how hard they're pushing the TB stuff this season I was half expecting that lady's cute lil calves to end up having it somehow. Glad they found the cause and she didn't lose them all though. Reminded me of the lead paint poisoning case back in season 1.

They kept mentioning how the sister lived just over the hill-cue to the panning scenery...OOF that's a long way for her to walk.

They way she had her sister's picture and souvenir trophies lit up by a candle, I expected Mrs. Hall/Helen or some other local to reveal to James that the sister had DIED but that the client preferred to think her 'over the hill' and having married against her wishes rather than face the sadder truth but I guess the sister WAS married over the hill (though we never saw her despite that drone pan).

[Driad]

Siegfried has accepted that James really is his partner. How long will that last -- all the way to the next episode?

I kept wondering about the calves' mothers, because I didn't notice any cows on the woman's farm. Maybe she had bought the calves.

[Blergh]

2 hours ago, Driad said:

Siegfried has accepted that James really is his partner. How long will that last -- all the way to the next episode?

I kept wondering about the calves' mothers, because I didn't notice any cows on the woman's farm. Maybe she had bought the calves.

Well, Siegfried was the one who made James partner entirely on his own volition- in no small part to keep him from being so tempted to enlist as the threat of war was getting more ominous. Let's not forget that there had been a drive for enlistment AND rations of foods & non-edible commodities for months BEFORE the NAZI invasion of Poland and their refusal to withdraw which compelled Chamberlain to officially declare War. Anyway, since he's the one who insisted on James being partner, he shouldn't pinned everything on James staying a silent partner.

Oh, and since it turned out that Tristan now had a larger salary than James, he and Helen would be better off eating their breakfasts with the rest of them. Odd that Helen had been a perfectly good cook for her father and sister yet kept burning the marital breakfasts. Could it be that she was too distracted by the marital yearnings to be as good a cook? And that attic didn't seem to have any plumbing so she have had to take the pans, dishes and utensils back down to the main kitchen to wash them.

Still, nice moment with Mrs. Hall saying that the whole house was hers,too.

BTW, IIRC, Mrs. Hall's clock mender swain had said he was a widower last season but now he's retroactively resigned to bachelorhood? Am I getting that wrong?

Yes, those calves did seem a bit too young to have already been weaned but maybe their mothers (and possibly father/s) were out in a far pasture but the farmer considered them too young to be exposed to the elements so brought them in.

[Daff]

8 hours ago, HoodlumSheep said:

With how hard they're pushing the TB stuff this season I was half expecting that lady's cute lil calves to end up having it somehow. Glad they found the cause and she didn't lose them all though. Reminded me of the lead paint poisoning case back in season 1.

They kept mentioning how the sister lived just over the hill-cue to the panning scenery...OOF that's a long way for her to walk.

I thought that first off, as well, until he said the lungs were clear. Actually there were two original episodes with calves mysteriously dying. One was lead, due to the calves cribbing, the other was the poisoned horn buds falling into the milk they were drinking. 
 

I agree about Helen’s cooking-perfectly fine on the farm, but now burnt beyond recognition. Audrey blames it on the horrible old stove. 
 

Anna Madeley never looked so young as when she played a petulant, incorrigible teen, dumped on her uncle, the director of “The Royal”.  I think she arrived season two or three. Last I saw it was still on Britbox, but IMDb is bound to have pictures. 

[Lovecat]

12 hours ago, HoodlumSheep said:

With how hard they're pushing the TB stuff this season I was half expecting that lady's cute lil calves to end up having it somehow. Glad they found the cause and she didn't lose them all though. Reminded me of the lead paint poisoning case back in season 1.

They kept mentioning how the sister lived just over the hill-cue to the panning scenery...OOF that's a long way for her to walk.

Those calves were SO cute!  Every time they appeared onscreen I could not help but murmur "baby cowwwws..."

I also had a laugh at the long walk "just over the hill."  I figured it was the country version of "oh, it's just 'round the corner..."

[DonnaMae]

8 hours ago, Blergh said:

Odd that Helen had been a perfectly good cook for her father and sister yet kept burning the marital breakfasts.

Someone on another forum said that her father and sister frequently joked about her cooking, so I guess she isn't very good.  Of course, that tiny two-burner stove in their room wouldn't help her.

[iMonrey]

Good grief, Helen and James need their own place! I can't imagine living in a cramped attic like that. I don't see why it's imperative that James live in that house. 

Quote

Odd that Helen had been a perfectly good cook for her father and sister yet kept burning the marital breakfasts. 

Actually the very first time Helen brought something to James that she had made it was burned, and her father and sister's reactions suggested that was the norm for her. 

Quote

BTW, IIRC, Mrs. Hall's clock mender swain had said he was a widower last season but now he's retroactively resigned to bachelorhood? Am I getting that wrong?

You might be confusing him with another dog owner who said the dog was all he had left since his wife died.

[DonnaMae]

42 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I don't see why it's imperative that James live in that house.

Because it's free?  When Tristan goes off to the war, maybe they will move to his room.

[libgirl2]

59 minutes ago, DonnaMae said:

Someone on another forum said that her father and sister frequently joked about her cooking, so I guess she isn't very good.  Of course, that tiny two-burner stove in their room wouldn't help her.

I seem to remember her family joking about her cooking too. 

[Cetacean]

54 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I don't see why it's imperative that James live in that house. 

Maybe it's because they rotate call.  It's not like they had call forwarding back then.

[crankcase]

1 hour ago, DonnaMae said:

Because it's free?  When Tristan goes off to the war, maybe they will move to his room.

Wight’s history + first scene of the season + dramatic exigencies = James joins RAF

[Sarah 103]

10 hours ago, Blergh said:

Could it be that she was too distracted by the marital yearnings to be as good a cook? And that attic didn't seem to have any plumbing so she have had to take the pans, dishes and utensils back down to the main kitchen to wash them.

My guess is that it was an old kitchen and the heating elements didn't work properly. 

Overall, I enjoyed the episode. I liked Tristan really learning from his mistake. I can't remember her name, but I wonder if the Dalmation's owner is being set up as a possible love interest for Tristan. It was fun to see Helen and Mrs. Hall figure out how to get Sigfried and James on speaking terms again. 

[Llywela]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Good grief, Helen and James need their own place! I can't imagine living in a cramped attic like that. I don't see why it's imperative that James live in that house

1 hour ago, DonnaMae said:

Because it's free?  When Tristan goes off to the war, maybe they will move to his room.

7 minutes ago, crankcase said:

Wight’s history + first scene of the season + dramatic exigencies = James joins RAF

It's also how the story goes in the book, iirc: they lived in a bedsit within the house after their marriage. Which would have been seen as perfectly normal at the time for a young couple just starting out. Multi-generational living was common until fairly recently.

I agree that Helen has always been shown to be a poor cook - it's why Jenny was always so eager to take over cooking duties from her! It would have been worse up in that little bedsit, however, because that wasn't a proper cooker but more of a hotplate, without proper kitchen facilities. Understandable that they would both want to try to manage for themselves, as newlyweds, but far from ideal - as they quickly realised.

[crankcase]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Actually the very first time Helen brought something to James that she had made it was burned, and her father and sister's reactions suggested that was the norm for her. 

A woman smart and meticulous enough to keep an operation’s financial books does not commonly burn dishes and, when it does happen, knows it and is not so idiotic as to then offer it to someone to whom she is sexually attracted. Speaking of which, are we supposed to believe the post-marital Herriots hump like rabbits but never engaged in anything more than tongueless snogging for all that long time between their engagement and wedding?

Last season we were shown Tristan reading a Hardy Boys-level book about the heroic adventures of a (racist imperialist) British aviator. This year he’s doing crosswords fit for Oxbridge graduates.

Such astonishing sexual and literary progress from proximity to a priapic polymath!

Edited January 16, 2023 by crankcase

[DonnaMae]

Question.  Does anyone know if Helen's father's farm is close to town?  We saw her twice riding her bicycle.  I wonder if she was coming back from helping on the farm.  She said that's what she would do after she moved into town.

[Llywela]

33 minutes ago, crankcase said:

A woman smart and meticulous enough to keep an operation’s financial books does not commonly burn dishes and, when it does happen, knows it and is not so idiotic as to then offer it to someone to whom she is sexually attracted. Speaking of which, are we supposed to believe the post-marital Herriots hump like rabbits but never engaged in anything more than tongueless snogging for all that long time between their engagement and wedding?

Last season we were shown Tristan reading a Hardy Boys-level book about the heroic adventures of a (racist imperialist) British aviator. This year he’s doing crosswords fit for Oxbridge graduates. Yet another example of the astonishing progress afforded by proximity to a priapic polymath.

People contain multitudes. People are complex creatures who are more than just one thing. Why shouldn't someone both be good at crosswords and also enjoy comfort-reading the latest installment of a fun series they've been following since they were a kid? Why shouldn't someone be good at book-keeping but also a rubbish cook? There is nothing implausible about either. Helen wanted to try to cook for James because she is his wife now and that's what wives do, it was her way of trying to be the perfect wife she wants to be, of making herself useful in his life, of carving out a place for herself in the life he already has - of maintaining a private life for them as husband and wife within the wider household. It is perfectly reasonable and believable for her to want to try to achieve that, only to be defeated by the combination of her own inadequacy as a cook and the inadequate hotplate set-up in the bedsit.

Also, plenty of people are capable of saving themselves for marriage despite being hugely attracted to each other, too, especially when conditioned by society to believe that was the right and proper thing to do. I'm not saying that everyone did, but enough. And it was a short engagement, let us remember.

This all seems like perfectly believable stuff to me. And it's a TV show. If we can't suspend our disbelief for minor stuff like this which is entirely plausible anyway, what's the point?

32 minutes ago, DonnaMae said:

Question.  Does anyone know if Helen's father's farm is close to town?  We saw her twice riding her bicycle.  I wonder if she was coming back from helping on the farm.  She said that's what she would do after she moved into town.

It's probably a fair bit further than I would want to cycle, but within cycling distance for Helen, I'd say. A few miles, perhaps.

Edited January 16, 2023 by Llywela

[Doublemint]

The "farmers" are not the same caliber as the "farmers" on the old series.  They seem unbelievable-not as crusty and earthy and REAL.   That lady, for example, from her first to last scene screams "actor".   If such is the case, they should limit our exposure to these folks.  I thought the same of the "farmer" from last week and his "son".  

[AZChristian]

Even the morning of the wedding, Helen's sister and father were both saying they intended to get up early to make breakfast (their last as a 3-person household).  Maybe now we know why!

[DonnaMae]

23 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

Even the morning of the wedding, Helen's sister and father were both saying they intended to get up early to make breakfast (their last as a 3-person household).  Maybe now we know why!

I wouldn't expect the bride to have to make breakfast on her wedding day.

[magdalene]

Some of the smartest people I know can't boil an egg and burn their toast. 

Siegfried annoyed me this episode but thankfully he came around by the end. These little baby cows were super cute.

[TVForever]

2 hours ago, Doublemint said:

The "farmers" are not the same caliber as the "farmers" on the old series.  They seem unbelievable-not as crusty and earthy and REAL.   That lady, for example, from her first to last scene screams "actor".   If such is the case, they should limit our exposure to these folks.  I thought the same of the "farmer" from last week and his "son".  

I know what you mean. You could practically smell the farmers and the animals through the screen on the old series, if that makes sense. 

Edited January 16, 2023 by TVForever

[dubstepford wife]

5 hours ago, crankcase said:

A woman smart and meticulous enough to keep an operation’s financial books does not commonly burn dishes and, when it does happen, knows it and is not so idiotic as to then offer it to someone to whom she is sexually attracted. Speaking of which, are we supposed to believe the post-marital Herriots hump like rabbits but never engaged in anything more than tongueless snogging for all that long time between their engagement and wedding?

Last season we were shown Tristan reading a Hardy Boys-level book about the heroic adventures of a (racist imperialist) British aviator. This year he’s doing crosswords fit for Oxbridge graduates.

Such astonishing sexual and literary progress from proximity to a priapic polymath!

I don't know man, this seems like a lot of presentism.  Helen's mother has been dead for a while so she wasn't around to teach her, and this was a time when there were way fewer cookbooks and certainly no instructive TV shows or Internet.  You learned from your mum, or your aunts, or maybe the women who lived next door, and if you didn't have any of that, you struggled.  It was also shown that Jenny has done the cooking for a while (and she likes it, she was excited about making cooked goose and pudding in at least one Christmas special) while Helen took on most of the physical labor around the farm, so she didn't have any practice in the kitchen.  And in the 1930s, people who were respectable generally waited until marriage, male and female alike.  It makes for a somewhat awkward wedding night followed by weeks or months of, "This is awesome!  Let's do it again!"

And as for Tristan, I have a master's degree and yet I adore YA fiction, so him enjoying a lighthearted book (which wouldn't have been seen as racist or imperialist at the time) doesn't preclude him being smart.  He is also college educated; yeah it took a while, but it has been shown repeatedly that his bad grades weren't due to a lack of smarts, but rather laziness.  When he applies himself he's quite intelligent.

Edited January 17, 2023 by dubstepford wife

[MaryHedwig]

On 1/12/2023 at 12:41 AM, Sharpie66 said:

I was just rewatching the first ep, and I realized that, in addition to having Tricki-Woo as her witness, Mrs. Pumphrey also provided her car and chauffeur as transport for the bridal party to get to the church. That was very sweet of her!

I wonder if Mrs. Pumphrey also sprang for the church decorations, since they were over the top and, as mentioned by an above poster, not in season.

[crankcase]

Not being able to cook well is one thing, commonly burning food is quite another. (My originating post referred to Helen’s burning food, only.) Knowing you commonly burn food and not knowing/caring if you burnt the food you’re giving to a person you believe you could conceivably marry is another thing still, bordering on what our favorite polymathic idiot savant would likely call non compos mentis.

The Biggles series of almost 100 books was written for what have been variously described as “young readers”/“pre-teens”/“children.” There is nothing remotely YA about them. The specific book Tristan was reading, Biggles Goes To War, was published in 1938, so he couldn’t have merely picked up a childhood book to pass the time, he had to have gone out and bought it when he was in his early twenties.

Helen and Tristan, as otherwise described, would never have done these things. Is this just lazy writing, or is it anything for a “larf?” (Many older British viewers—are there many young ones?—would have gotten the Biggles joke.)

Now let’s talk sex. Helen2001+ is nothing like Helen1978. She actually worked the farm, which included the business of mating huge animals with huge genitalia. She may be “saving it” for marriage, but she’s not naive and, as we’ve seen, hardly lacking in passion. Yet the show has tried to make us believe this now sex-crazed pair have not only done nothing more than chastely kiss for six months, but they never even desired more. (Yes, yes, I know it’s Yorkshire, I know it’s 1938, but the Old Testament has hotter stuff than this.)

Edited January 17, 2023 by crankcase

[Blergh]

If RL Vic and Al were able to go from being constantly chaperoned and chastely kissing to going at it like rabbits and conceiving their firstborn child on their honeymoon in 1840, why wouldn't James and Helen been able to have gotten hot and heavy after their own wedding  in early 1939 Yorkshire?

[crankcase]

1 hour ago, Blergh said:

If RL Vic and Al were able to go from being constantly chaperoned and chastely kissing to going at it like rabbits and conceiving their firstborn child on their honeymoon in 1840, why wouldn't James and Helen been able to have gotten hot and heavy after their own wedding  in early 1939 Yorkshire?

Did (the young) Vic shovel muck in overalls? No? 

Were J & H ever alone together? Yes?

Then no analogy need apply.

——————

 A couple from the ranks of the nobility have just had sex on their wedding night.

Wife: “Do the lower classes do this?”

Husband: “Yes.”

Wife: “It’s too good for them.”

——————

First kiss 1978 (@47:38) Nothing remotely as passionate occurred pre-maritally in the current adaptation.

Edited January 17, 2023 by crankcase

[Dowel Jones]

Regarding Siegfried's question about TB testing, I read up a little about it, and I can see the farmers' reluctance, as even now animals that test positive are usually killed.  However, given the worldwide scourge of TB in the 30s, and the fact that it was possible for animals to transfer it to a human, and a human vaccine had been available in the 20s, I would think the government would mandate a TB testing program for all animals as a preventative for transmission to humans.  Maybe Yorkshire was isolated enough back then that they didn't push it.

15 hours ago, Lovecat said:

I also had a laugh at the long walk "just over the hill."

I was a bit puzzled that the vets also walked up through this large pasture to the calf barn, when there was a road leading right to it.  Saves gasoline, I guess.

[possibilities]

In my experience, rural roads and driveways can be hell on a vehicle-- rocky, muddy, bumpy. I'm never surprised to see anybody walking with a vehicle abandoned. I don't remember the condition of the one in the episode, but I would think, especially with the kinds of cars they had then, the jostling alone would be worth avoiding.

[Llywela]

11 hours ago, crankcase said:

Not being able to cook well is one thing, commonly burning food is quite another. (My originating post referred to Helen’s burning food, only.) Knowing you commonly burn food and not knowing/caring if you burnt the food you’re giving to a person you believe you could conceivably marry is another thing still, bordering on what our favorite polymathic idiot savant would likely call non compos mentis.

The Biggles series of almost 100 books was written for what have been variously described as “young readers”/“pre-teens”/“children.” There is nothing remotely YA about them. The specific book Tristan was reading, Biggles Goes To War, was published in 1938, so he couldn’t have merely picked up a childhood book to pass the time, he had to have gone out and bought it when he was in his early twenties.

Helen and Tristan, as otherwise described, would never have done these things. Is this just lazy writing, or is it anything for a “larf?” (Many older British viewers—are there many young ones?—would have gotten the Biggles joke.)

Now let’s talk sex. Helen2001+ is nothing like Helen1978. She actually worked the farm, which included the business of mating huge animals with huge genitalia. She may be “saving it” for marriage, but she’s not naive and, as we’ve seen, hardly lacking in passion. Yet the show has tried to make us believe this now sex-crazed pair have not only done nothing more than chastely kiss for six months, but they never even desired more. (Yes, yes, I know it’s Yorkshire, I know it’s 1938, but the Old Testament has hotter stuff than this.)

This seems a very narrow, restrictive way of looking at both the past and at people. Believe it or not, a person can know what sex is and still believe in respectability enough to not even consider doing it themselves before marriage. And a person can know what sex is and still feel awkward about their own awakening sexuality when they begin to fall in love, for that matter, and be only too happy not to rush into a physical relationship - people are complex, and social mores change over time. It is never wise to project the norms of today onto past situations.

Equally, believe it or not, college-educated adults can still enjoy collecting new books from an ongoing series they have loved since they were a kid, even if that series is aimed at younger readers - just look at the Harry Potter readership as a prime example.

And yes, someone with a history of burning food can still want to at least try to prepare something for their significant other, because making that effort is a way of showing how much they care. Is it exaggerated for TV comic effect? Sure. But there is nothing implausible about the principle of it, if we broaden our horizons and recognise that people are complex and varied and don't all behave as we would.

I get the sense, though, that we will just have to agree to disagree.

Edited January 17, 2023 by Llywela

[Haleth]

Whatever Helen's culinary skills, I'm glad she won't be cooking on a hotplate in a cramped, dark attic.  That sounds like a recipe for fire!

[Capricasix]

I love this show, but a couple of things about this episode rubbed me the wrong way. Tristan gives a dog a very cursory examination and says that he can’t see anything wrong with it, and then when the owner rushes the dog to the vet clinic/surgery because of the same problem that he missed the first time, the clinical room is covered in papers and dirty instruments and such? He doesn’t clean up after each patient? Come on now. I get the suspension of disbelief, but even in the 1930s they knew the importance of hygiene, disinfection, quarantine etc. 

And James has been working there for a couple of years now - I don’t believe that he wouldn’t have had at least a nodding acquaintance with the practice’s financial situation and how the books were kept. 

[Llywela]

50 minutes ago, Capricasix said:

I love this show, but a couple of things about this episode rubbed me the wrong way. Tristan gives a dog a very cursory examination and says that he can’t see anything wrong with it, and then when the owner rushes the dog to the vet clinic/surgery because of the same problem that he missed the first time, the clinical room is covered in papers and dirty instruments and such? He doesn’t clean up after each patient? Come on now. I get the suspension of disbelief, but even in the 1930s they knew the importance of hygiene, disinfection, quarantine etc. 

And James has been working there for a couple of years now - I don’t believe that he wouldn’t have had at least a nodding acquaintance with the practice’s financial situation and how the books were kept. 

To be fair, the fact that Tristan should have known better was the whole point of that sub-plot, the lesson he had to learn. One he should already have learned, yes, but his laziness and carelessness when he should know better has always been a defining trait. The small animal surgery is a fairly minor part of the practice and he resents being confined to it, patients there can be few and far between (although other times they are rushed off their feet), and therefore in his boredom and frustration he'd allowed himself to get sloppy, let standards slip, not seeing any point in rushing - until that lesson was drummed home when he found himself unprepared for an emergency. Tristan has always been his own worst enemy.

As for James, on the one hand yes, he should be familiar with the finances by now, but on the other hand, this is control-freak Siegfried we are talking about.

[TVForever]

1 hour ago, Capricasix said:

I love this show, but a couple of things about this episode rubbed me the wrong way. Tristan gives a dog a very cursory examination and says that he can’t see anything wrong with it, and then when the owner rushes the dog to the vet clinic/surgery because of the same problem that he missed the first time, the clinical room is covered in papers and dirty instruments and such? He doesn’t clean up after each patient ? Come on now. I get the suspension of disbelief, but even in the 1930s they knew the importance of hygiene, disinfection, quarantine etc.

And James has been working there for a couple of years now - I don’t believe that he wouldn’t have had at least a nodding acquaintance with the practice’s financial situation and how the books were kept. 

I think that was part of the point of the episode- Tristan's laziness and lack of work ethic when it comes to such things, and how his eyes are opened by this experience and he learns the importance of cleaning up. 

As far as James not knowing that much about the practice's finances; given how close to the vest Sigfried tends to be about things, I'm not that surprised. Until now, James has been an employee, and nothing more. His knowledge of the practice's finances likely wouldn't get much beyond his own salary and being able to order supplies when necessary. 

[Llywela]

I will add that James not being able to figure out much about the practice's finances beyond 'Siegfried keeps cash in jam jars and receipts in his pockets with no sign of any actual system' is straight out of the original book.