- James Herriot: Hello, Mrs. Hall. Sounds like a very full surgery.
- Helen: Oh, just the Dimmock family.
- James Herriot: Oh, not again. How many of them this time?
- Helen: The entire brood, and Mr. Dimmock.
- James Herriot: They aren't a family they're more like a nation.
- Mrs. Hall: Aye, and from the look of Mrs. Dimmock from the side they're about to increase and multiply even further.
- James Herriot: Oh, this is the third time they've been back this month.
- Helen: They've adopted you.
- James Herriot: Yes, obviously.
- Helen: Well, they wouldn't come quite so often if you if you ever got around to charging them anything.
- James Herriot: Well, he always asks me to send him the bill.
- Helen: But you never do.
- James Herriot: Well, they haven't got any money, love. And if I do, well; they might stop coming.
- Mrs. Hall: He's never done a days work in his life, hasn't that Mr. Dimmock.
- James Herriot: He has learnt the art of gracious living, Mrs. Hall.
- Mrs. Hall: At our expense.
- James Herriot: He's got a bad back.
- Mrs. Hall: Huh! All I can say is; he never got it to work! How he gets his time over, I don't know.
- Helen: Oh, he always manages to make it look as if he's on his way to somewhere important.
- Mrs. Hall: Mostly, the vault of the Dog & Duck for a game of dominoes.
- James Herriot: Well, I like him Mrs. Hall.
- Mrs. Hall: Oh, yes, everybody likes him. You have to like him. That doesn't mean I have to approve of him, does it?