TV

All Creatures Great and Small

The most charming show... ever?

Photo: PBS

This beloved PBS series, an adaptation of the 1970s book series by Alf Wight (writing under the pen name of James Herriot), follows three veterinarians working in the Yorkshire Dales shortly before the outbreak of World War II. It is arguably the most charming and cozy bit of escapism on TV.

The series stars Nicholas Ralph as James Herriot, Samuel West as Siegfried Farnon, and Callum Woodhouse as Tristan Farnon — who together comprise the three vets at the center of the narrative. Rachel Shenton and Anna Madeley also star, with Patricia Hodge, Matthew Lewis, Will Thorp, Maimie MCoy, and the late Diana Rigg in recurring roles.

  1. Episode 7 The Night Before Christmas
    All Creatures Great and Small Finale Recap: Farewell to Our Yorkshire Friends The first season’s Christmas-set closer errs in keeping our core characters apart, but makes up for it in holiday decorations and a donkey named Bob.
  2. Episode 6 A Cure For All Ills
    All Creatures Great and Small Recap: 50,000 Candles in the Wind This episode is 98 percent tragedy for James.
  3. Episode 5 All’s Fair
    All Creatures Great and Small Recap: Panic at the Pony Show In the sage words of Siegfried, “the labors of Hercules pale in comparison to being a vet at the Darrowby Show.”
  4. Episode 4 A Tricki Case
    All Creatures Great and Small Recap: The One With the Snack Hamper Take it away, Tricki Woo!
  5. Episode 3 Andante
    All Creatures Great and Small Recap: Requiem for a Horse This whole episode is really about Siegfried and his moral compass, which is the Greenwich Mean Time of moral compasses.
  6. Episode 2 Another Farnon?
    All Creatures Great and Small Recap: The Prodigal Brother Returns Tristan the Slightly Rakish has come to Darrowby.
  7. Episode 1 You’ve Got to Dream
    All Creatures Great and Small Premiere Recap: Hygge in the Hills The balm of 2021 delivers unto us low-stakes drama, likable characters, and extremely good cow content.
  1. Episode 7 The Perfect Christmas
    All Creatures Great and Small Season-Finale Recap: Well, What Do We Do Now? The cozy, insular world of All Creatures caps off a delightful season with an extremely heartwarming Christmas episode.
  2. Episode 6 Home Truths
    All Creatures Great and Small Recap: A Pretty Decent Proposal Yes, there’s the whole thing with the dog, but the finale is otherwise a delightful ending to the season.
  3. Episode 5 The Last Man In
    All Creatures Great and Small Recap: The Big Cricket Match Siegfried and Tristan finally have a real chat. Cricket brings people together!
  4. Episode 4 Many Happy Returns
    All Creatures Great and Small Recap: The Birthday Dinner Tristan finally learns the truth from Siegfried and All Creatures’ version of the Red Wedding.
  5. Episode 3 We Can But Hope
    All Creatures Great and Small Recap: Chickens in the Streets Buckle in: We’ve got a sad episode.
  6. Episode 2 Semper Progrediens
    All Creatures Great and Small Recap: The Daffodil Ball A magnificent cow and a cantankerous pig!
  7. Episode 1 Where the Heart Is
    All Creatures Great and Small Season-Premiere Recap Tell Tristan he isn’t a vet!
  1. Episode 7 Merry Bloody Christmas
    All Creatures Great and Small Recap: Choices Are Made This Christmas episode is about Siegfried convincing himself it’s okay to injure a horse and Mrs. Hall deciding she’s into Gerald. Why?
  2. Episode 6 For Whom the Bell Tolls
    All Creatures Great and Small Season-Finale Recap: A Declaration of War The looming specter of war finally stops looming and just full-on arrives at England’s doorstep.
  3. Episode 5 Edward
    All Creatures Great and Small Recap: Take the Biscuits, Edward Mrs. Hall and Tristan deserve better than this, but at least no cows died in this episode … that we know of.
  4. Episode 4 What a Balls Up!
    All Creatures Great and Small Recap: Follow That Cow! Who would’ve thought the Ministry of Agriculture could be so terrifying?
  5. Episode 3 Surviving Siegfried
    All Creatures Great and Small Recap: Siegfried Goes Full Horse Girl Our normally calm and gentle show has a whole bunch of war flashbacks and horse murder this week.
  6. Episode 2 Honeymoon’s Over
    All Creatures Great and Small Recap: Cows in Peril This week is all about adjustment — and also saving baby cows.
  7. Episode 1 Second Time Lucky
    All Creatures Great and Small Season-Premiere Recap: Cozy Escapist Show Returns What could possible stand between James and his wedding? What about 77 cows that may or may not have tuberculosis?
  1. Episode 7 On a Wing and a Prayer
    All Creatures Great and Small Recap: To the Remarkable Mrs. Hall and Jesus It’s a stressful time for James — he’s training for war, his wife is about to have a baby, it’s Christmas, and a cat is missing!
  2. Episode 6 The Home Front
    All Creatures Great and Small Season-Finale Recap: Who Moves to the Lakes? Helen, please stop working and relax! You almost got kicked by a sick cow!
  3. Episode 5 Papers
    All Creatures Great and Small Recap: Driving Lessons It’s time to save a cat, which is a metaphor for James and Helen’s situation, but also is a cat.
  4. Episode 4 By the Book
    All Creatures Great and Small Recap: Knowledge, Fleas, and Family The run of happy, cozy episodes has come to an end.
  5. Episode 3 Right Hand Man
    All Creatures Great and Small Recap: Siegfried Stands Corrected We have to talk about Cedric the Farting Dog.
  6. Episode 2 Carpe Diem
    All Creatures Great and Small Recap: Blossom Rides Again The number of times this show has made me weep over cows.
  7. Episode 1 Broodiness
    All Creatures Great and Small Season-Premiere Recap: So Bloody What? All Creatures is getting risqué in season four. How do we feel about that?

More on All Creatures Great and Small

  1. vulture guides
    Which Cozy Show Is Right for You?Step aside, Comfort Watch, and make way for the Cozy Show.
    By Maggie Fremont
  2. chat room
    All Creatures’s Samuel West Is Still Finding New Depths to Siegfried“These things had always been unspoken, then as I said the words, I realized that they were true.”
    By Sophie Brookover
  3. vulture festival 2022
    See Vulture Festival’s First Lineup Right MeowAll Creatures Great and Small joins We’re Here, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Henry Winkler, and Super Troopers for an old-fashioned L.A. pool party.
    By Anne Victoria Clark
  4. all creatures great and small
    All Creatures’ Nicholas Ralph Got ‘Right in There’ With His Animal Co-StarsFrom almost getting face-kicked by a horse to driving vintage cars, the newcomer breaks down James Herriot’s most memorable season-one moments.
    By Lisa Liebman
  5. comfort tv
    I Just Want to Go Live Inside All Creatures Great and SmallIn these wild and disorienting first weeks of 2021, the PBS Masterpiece series has been a cozy haven of competence and compassion.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  6. the industry
    Philip Seymour Hoffman Performs an OverturePlus: Jeff Goldblum joins the ‘Law & Order’ franchise, and someone’s making ‘The Happening,’ but with animals instead of plants.
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