All Creatures Great and Small (TV Series) Horse Sense (1978) User Reviews

Horse Sense

[Prismark10 · 8/10 · 24 October 2020]

A classic series and the opening episode tries to move away from the slightly naive James Herriot from the earlier movie versions.

Here James is fresh out of vet school in Scotland and comes for a job interview in Darrowby in Yorkshire with practice owner Siegfried Farnon.

Pretty soon he is off with Siegfried treating animals such as a horse with a painful hoof. James shows his mettle and he is also willing to laugh along with the mishaps such as a horse that likes to kick back.

I was surprised by the warm relationship between James and Siegfried. You always regard Siegfried as irascible. Here it becomes clear that he has only owned the practice for a year and wishes to modernise. This is different from the new Channel 5 remake where Siegfried is more imposing in the opening episode.

There is talk in this episode as to how hard it is for young vets to get work in the 1930s. Many young vets were expected to work for free and Siegfried thought that was wrong.

The standout are some of the side characters, they were the eccentrics such as Mr Biggins, always careful with his pennies.

It was also the days where the outdoor shots were captured on film, with the interiors shot on video in the studio in Birmingham. It does look slightly jarring now.

Starts things fine

[skinnybert · 7/10 · 28 August 2022]

Having read the books, there was never any surprise in watching the TV series -- nor in re-watching it now on DVD. The actors aren't identical to the characters from the book, but they capture the right vibe -- perhaps even improve upon it. After this series, it's hard to imagine them doing anything else.

This opening episode serves all the establishing purpose, introducing the: main characters, settings, circumstances, and motivations. As a sort of bonus, we also get a short bit with Carol Drinkwater near the beginning -- not a necessary scene, but a pleasant addition for those familiar with the series.

Formulaic But Fun

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 13 January 2024]

This show has been around forever and I have never watched it. My wife and I were looking for something short to check out so she asked if I had seen this. Our PBS station makes many of these available. The first one involves Herriot's character, just leaving veterinary school, looking for work. He ends up in Yorkshire after a problematic journey. He comes to the home/practice of the local vet who is irascible. He is thrown into the fray without a real interview. He does well, but after the first day he is left at a pub and a couple locals get him drunk. This leads to his firing and the remainder of the episode is about him reclaiming his position. This is a gentle show with gentle people that apparently has run for 90 episodes over the years. I'm sure we will watch one now and then. Good start.

The Beginning Of A Wondeful Series

[film_poster_fan · 10/10 · 30 November 2023]

The original "All Creatures Great and Small" is a classic television series from the BBC. This first episode where James Herriot meets Siegfried Farnon is quite special since James must treat Mr White's lame horse before he is hired by Siegfried. James also decides, under the watch of the difficult Mr Soames, to euthanise Lord Hulton's valuable horse after he makes the diagnosis that it is in agony and pain from intestinal torsion. The characters are all faithful to the book by James Herriot (Alf Wight) and are very well portrayed by Christopher Timothy and Robert Hardy. Hardy had a long career in theater, film, and television. In addition to his portrayal of Farnon, he also was Cornelius Fudge in the "Harry Potter" film series and Winston Churchill in several productions.

Sadly, one reviewer on this site writes "The actors aren't identical to the characters from the book. . . After this series, it's hard to imagine them doing anything else." In addition to Hardy, Christopher Timothy and Carol Drinkwater are very active and are not limited to the characters which they performed on this show.