After several seasons off the air, the last full season being 1980 and the last special being 1985, All Creatures Great and Smalll returned to series form in 1988, once again chronicling the adventures of country vet, James Herriot.
The series is welcome, in its good naturedness, and its gentle humor. Sometimes it is laugh out loud funny, as the partners in the firm deal with the sometimes eccentric Yorkshire farmers and those who are now owning more and more small animals as pets.
Most of the actors from he original series are back; except for Carol Drinkwater as James' wife, Helen. And while Lynda Bellinham is fine as Helen, Carol inhabited the role---she seemed the wife of a country vet, who grew up on a farm, and handled livestock. Alas, she is gone, and Lynda gets better in the role as the season progresses.
The season also has some fast cuts in scenes and other somewhat funky editing, that left it less smooth, and less engaging than previous seasons. But seeing old friends is sometimes a bumpy road. And many old friends of James, Siegried and Tristan appear here, including Granville Bennett who always gets James totally snookered, to the chagrin of Helen.
I really enjoy this show, and though we are now in the fifties, with anti-bitoics and artificial insemination helping the Dales farmers, the vets still have their arms up a cow's rectum or sheep's vagina so often---you realize what a hard life being a country vet was.
A funny, touching really nice show.
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