all creatures great and small original series

The stories begin with young veterinarian James Herriot, just qualified and desperate for a job, any job, however bad the pay, in his profession. It was comforting to look back at a time when equally challenging conditions existed, and Herriot and the writers never sugarcoated the misery of the 1930s. It spanned the period of Margaret Thatcher’s three terms as Prime Minister, in which the British dealt with high unemployment, economic misery, and dramatic changes in British society. Photo: BBCĪll Creatures Great and Small was the right series for the times. At its peak, the U.K. audience for the series topped 13 million. When they ran out of material, the writers were given permission by Herriot to create their own. The series ended with the Christmas special of 1990, making a total of 90 episodes, only the earliest of which were based on Herriot’s books. Timothy had left the show by that point, and was replaced by a seriously Scottish character who wore a kilt and played bagpipes occasionally, Calum Buchanan ( John McGlynn). It seemed a natural stopping place, but audience demand was great enough that Christmas specials were created in 19, and a new season began in 1998 featuring life after the war. It was a winning combination-nostalgia, drama, comedy, a sense of community, beautiful scenery, and animals of all types and temperaments.Īiring first in 1977, the series version of All Creatures Great and Small was a major hit by 1978, and the third season ended in 1980, as Herriot and the Farnon brothers went off to war. The following clip is from a documentary about the making of the series and the casting, with the perspectives of Hardy, and of Christopher Timothy (James Herriot) and Peter Davison(Tristan Farnon).

Robert Hardy as Henry V and Judi Dench as Princess Katherine, 1960 © BBCArchive. 'An Age Of Kings,' a series of Shakespeare's history plays. Two years later another attempt, It Shouldn’t Happen To A Vet, crashed and burned.īut Herriot’s compact storytelling seemed ideally suited to a television series, although it paired two then-unknown young actors with veteran Robert Hardy, a well-respected Shakespearean performer. The original All Creatures Great and Small ,a 1974 Hallmark presentation, disappeared into rightful obscurity, despite the presence of Anthony Hopkins as Siegfried Farnon. The first two attempts, both feature films, didn’t do very well. His humor, deftly drawn characters of both the two- and four-legged variety, and thoughtful portrayal of a disappearing way of life in one of the most beautiful spots in England made his stories a natural fit for conversion to the big-or small-screen. J ames Herriot’s short stories about his life as a veterinarian in rural Yorkshire are beloved worldwide and still remain immensely popular years after the death of the author, Alf Wight (1916-1995).

All creatures great and small original series