Everything to Remember Ahead of 'All Creatures Great & Small' Season 5

All Creatures Great & Small will return to our screens in January 2025 with Season 5. Are you ready? Put on the kettle and bring out the scones! Based on the immensely popular books of James Herriot, the pen name of Yorkshire veterinarian J. Alf Wight, the BBC originally debuted its first adaptation in the late 1970s, which ran until the 1990s. The initial cast included Shakespearean star Robert Hardy as Siegfried Farnon, with Peter Davison (who later left to star as the Fifth Doctor in Doctor Who) as his brother Tristan, and Christopher Timothy as James Herriot. The series aired on many local PBS stations, so it wasn’t surprising Masterpiece picked up the new version, a 21st-century reboot.

We all loved All Creatures from the beginning for its humanity, depictions of the glorious Yorkshire scenery, and the animals. Like Timothy, Nicholas Ralph was a newcomer when he was cast as James Herriot, a newly qualified veterinarian living in Glasgow in the late 1930s, who is spurred south when a letter from Yorkshire invites him to interview with veterinarian Siegfried Farnon (Samuel West), who owns a practice in Darrowby, Yorkshire.

When Siegfried is in a good mood, you know it — he sings selections from Gilbert & Sullivan. If he’s angered by something, you know about it immediately. James learns the secrets of dealing with Siegfried, when to stand up to him in an appeal for reason, and when to just let him rant. Like many men of his generation who saw action in World War I, Siegfried has PTSD and sees his veterinary work as penance for the horses and comrades-in-arms he couldn’t save. He is deeply principled, ready to challenge the Power Bros of the Yorkshire Dales, the landed gentry, to prevent patient suffering. As he often says, it’s not the animals that are the problem — it’s the humans.

Siegfried's key relationship in the series is with his brother Tristan (Callum Woodhouse). After the death of their parents, Siegfried raised his younger sibling, expecting him to join the practice upon graduating from veterinary school. Where Siegfried is serious and autocratic, Tristan is mercurial and hedonistic, charming his way out of trouble — and enraging his brother, who is appalled at his happy-go-lucky attitude. When we first meet Tristan, he is a bit of a flake, enjoying the freedoms of being a single student, with an annoying habit of failing his veterinary exams (and then indirectly lying about it to his brother). 

Seigfried and Tristan love each other deeply but can’t possibly express it except in extreme circumstances. Tristan's charm and confidence convince him that he can get away with almost anything and that any attractive young woman is his for the taking. His male privilege is challenged when he falls in love with bright, independent Florence Pandhi (Sophie Khan Levy), who turns him down.

It’s a prime directive for veterinarians that the animals always come first, and Yorkshire is full of cute animals. But farming is tough, and things can go wrong at the drop of a hat. James comes into conflict with some of the farmers in the community when he carries out TB testing (tuberculosis from infected milk was frequent and dangerous, particularly for children). A farmer could lose his animals and his livelihood. But there are many moments in the series when farmers show surprising devotion and love to the animals in their care. These details make us (and James) fall in love with his work.

The Yorkshire farmers are slow to accept strangers; however, James perseveres and quite early on meets Helen Alderson (Rachel Shenton), who runs the family farm with her sister Jenny (Imogen Clawsen) and father Richard (Tony Pitts). James is attracted to Helen, but unfortunately, she’s engaged to Hugh Holton (Matthew Lewis), the Aldersons’ landlord. Tellingly, on the night before her wedding, Helen accompanies James to a remote farm to help a dog deliver her puppies when they are trapped overnight. It’s romantic and restrained, but Helen almost swoons (and so do we) when she sees James breathe a newborn puppy into life. The next day, she dumps Hugh at the altar and takes refuge at the family farm.

Helen fears rushing into another relationship, and James isn’t making enough money to support a wife and family. Their relationship will take time and patience to develop, culminating in a standoff with Hugh on the cricket pitch. But Hugh acts like a gentleman in renewing the lease for the Aldersons’ farm in the names of all three family members. The wedding, when it finally takes place, is a masterpiece of comedy, with the ring inside a dog who tends to eat the wrong things, and James, who has been tending to a patient overnight, arrives late in muddy Wellington boots. He and Helen settle into a flat at the top of Skeldale House.

Audrey Hall (Anna Madeley), Skeldale's housekeeper, also resides there. It’s a credit to Siegfried he hired her (an abusive marriage and an estranged son in jail would have scared off possible employers at the time). His compassion and kindness are genuine, hidden behind a veneer of ginger outrage and pipe smoke, but Audrey’s presence unsettles him, as they are attracted to each other. (There are class issues; Siegfried knows gentlemen do not mess with the help.) Yet Audrey’s relationship with widower Gerald Hammond (Will Thorp) doesn’t work despite their similar backgrounds. Audrey, who has relied on herself for years, does not take well at being told what to do, and Gerald has family commitments elsewhere.

Then there are eccentrics like Mrs. Pumphrey (the late Diana Rigg, the role was taken over by Patricia Hodge in Season 2) and her Pekinese Tricki Wu (Dora, who shared the role last season, now stars). The wealthy widow of an industrialist, she lives in splendor in a vast, luxurious house with her furry companion and a team of servants. She’s always ready to summon “Uncle Farnon” (Siegfried) for some imagined ailment and rewards the surgery with food hampers. However, her involvement and friendships with the inhabitants of Skeldale House get Mrs. Pumphrey out of isolation and back into the community. 

The series skillfully blends the stories of Skeldale House and its clients with that of a community on the brink of war. At first, there are a few newspaper headlines, then signs of preparation for war, even in this remote area of Yorkshire — planes in formation on practice flights, recruiting sergeants in Darrowby marketplace, and troops training on the fells and farms. What’s a young, red-blooded man to do? Nursing his broken heart, Tristan signs up for the Royal Veterinary Corps and is sent abroad. James signs up for the RAF and waits as he and Helen discuss starting a family.

With his staff enlisting, Siegfried hires Richard Carmody (James Anthony-Rose), a recently qualified veterinarian. (Veterinary work is a protected profession, and Richard has decided to serve his country by helping the government expand its agricultural program to feed the population.) The new hire is book-smart but people-stupid. He has no idea how to communicate with the farmers and can’t drive; however, he bears frequent indignities, such as pratfalls into manure, with grace and good humor. Richard proves his worth when the practice has to deal with a brucellosis infection, a nasty disease that causes miscarriage in cows. 

By the middle of Season 4, Helen is pregnant, so of course, that’s when James is called up to undergo basic training to serve overseas, leaving her lonely, scared, and at a loss. Siegfried and Richard aren’t the most tactful of companions for a pregnant woman, despite their (totally relevant, they claim) experience with pregnant farm animals. Shuttled between her family farm and Skeldale House, she fears what will happen if and when Audrey leaves, as Gerald asks her to move in. 

It’s a great relief to learn that Gerald and Audrey have broken up again (hopefully for the last time), and she will stay at Skeldale House, ensuring she will be there for the birth. James, homesick and longing to be back with Helen, goes AWOL, with the unofficial blessing of his superior officer (also married, with twin girls he’s seen twice). 

The final episode of the season features Helen having a Christmas baby at home, with Mrs. Hall in attendance, and James arriving just in time to meet his son. Merry Bloody Christmas, to quote the official Skeldale House seasonal greeting. Now, let’s see what another ear of war will bring.

All Creatures Great & Small Season 5 will debut on most PBS stations, the PBS app, and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel on Sunday, January 12, 2025, and stream/air weekly through mid-February (check your local listings). All seven episodes arrive on PBS Passport on release day for members to binge. Seasons 1-4 are streaming on most local PBS Passports. Season 6 is already greenlit and expected out in 2026.