"Broodiness" is in the Air for the Season 4 Premiere of 'All Creatures Great & Small'

The fourth season of All Creatures Great & Small opens in the Spring of 1940, and James Herriott whistles as he drives through the gorgeous Yorkshire spring countryside, narrowly missing a boy and his dog standing at the side of the road, and slows down to apologize. The boy throws an egg at the car and runs off. Meanwhile, at Skeldale House, Siegfried Farnon is not happy. First, he has given up his pipe for Lent and spends a lot of time trying to find his tobacco, which housekeeper Mrs. Hall has helpfully hidden. He’s also missing his younger brother Tristan, who’s on active service with the Royal Army Veterinary Corps (and most likely absent for the season, sorry, Callum Woodhouse fans). 

Seigfried claims there’s nothing sentimental about his feelings; he is merely frustrated at the additional, routine work he’s had to do. James’ wife, Helen, is helping Siegfried take inventory of surgical supplies before she puts in an order, and they are both getting very annoyed with each other. Murder is averted by a call from farmer Clifford Slavens (Paul Hilton), who’s dealing with a problematic lambing, and Siegfried leaves to help. When James arrives, he and Helen go outside to supervise the duck race, and she’s touched by the children’s happiness and enthusiasm. 

Teasingly, James accuses her of being broody, and although she gives an equally light-hearted response, it’s a serious issue for them. With the country at war and the possibility of James being called up for military duty at any time, they can’t delay the decision to have children indefinitely. To cheers and laughter, the children release their ducks in the stream – wooden ducks, not live ones, which would be even more chaotic – and rush to the bridge, which is the end line of the race. But the scruffy, sullen boy with the dog is back and throws stones at the ducks. James chases him and finds the dog tied up under a tree; it is clearly not healthy. The boy, Wesley Banks (Billy Hickey), refuses to listen to James and hits him. When James gets to his feet and tends to his bloody nose, both dog and boy disappear.

After starting her relationship with Gerald at the end of last season, Mrs. Hall has made a momentous decision. She takes a bus to Ripon County Court to start divorce proceedings against her estranged husband. It’s an intimidating experience and won’t be easy, even though she hasn’t seen him in years. She is instructed to write a statement chronicling the marriage breakdown and to include letters and photographs. Feeling overwhelmed, Mrs. Hall returns home, goes through her materials, and sees a recent picture of her son Edward in his naval uniform. 

Isolated and high on the dales, Clifford’s farm, which seems to have its own weather system, is still in the grip of winter. Siegfried successfully delivers the lamb and returns to Skeldale, where he writes to his brother. We get the impression that Tristan is having a great time (as did many young men called up to war) and includes cartoons in his letters home. Seeing Mrs. Hall looking at Edward’s photo, he asks her why she doesn’t put it on display in the kitchen, and she challenges him to put up Tristan’s photograph. Siegfried responds that his brother is grinning like a monkey, and the photograph is an embarrassment.

Siegfried is called out again to the snowy heights of Clifford’s farm to help with the new lamb whose mother is rejecting him. It’s a concern because the lamb is so young and needs colostrum from its mother’s early milk to thrive. Siegfried constructs a small pen, which forces mother and baby into proximity, but it requires someone on hand for several hours to ensure the lamb doesn’t get hurt. Clifford tells him it will be difficult since he’s alone on the farm. His two daughters left to get married, and Mrs. Slavens isn’t available.

Meanwhile, James has been worried by Wesley and his sick dog and discovers the boy is a known troublemaker. Wesley lives in a poor part of town, but when James visits to tell the boy how sick Duke is, Wesley’s first reaction is to slam the door in his face. James suspects the dog has distemper, with photophobia being a significant symptom. Without cooperation from Wesley, James feels his only option is to call in the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), who will take the dog away.

Meanwhile, Skeldale’s dogs are fascinated by Siegfried’s new game of “Hunt the Tobacco,” watching as he searches unlikely places in the house. What he does come across are multiple boxes of gauze dressing, which Helen ordered by mistake, and that turn up inside the piano, the linen cupboard, and other strange places. Feeling he’s failed, James returns to Wesley’s house to meet the RSPCA representative. Wesley isn’t home, but his great-grandmother Granny Banks (Pam Shaw) is, and James finds out that the boy shares his food and bed with the dog. James realizes Wesley hasn’t neglected Duke; he’s been doing his best. 

But when Wesley returns home, he is still angry and resistant, and the RSPCA officer is annoyed that James called her out for nothing. On his return to Skeldale House, Siegfried discovers that Clifford’s wife died recently, and he feels terrible that he suggested she help him on the farm. But Mrs. Hall has a treat for the household – hot cross buns, with the recipe adapted for rationing. They look delicious, but the buns, fortified with carrots and swedes (instead of lots of butter, sugar, and eggs), taste (according to Helen) like dog biscuits.

That evening, Mrs. Hall is frustrated by her attempts to write the narrative of her marriage and expresses her feelings to Siegfried. She is concerned that she made vows before God and will have to attend the Easter Sunday service, knowing she has broken those vows. Nothing to do with Gerald, she assures Siegfried hastily, who will be sitting next to her during the service. (He decided not to leave town to live with his sister.) Siegfried kindly offers her the use of his study and brings her a cup of tea. She finishes and mails in her paperwork.

On his return to Clifford’s farm, Siegfried apologizes for his clumsy inquiry about Mrs. Slavens, and the two men bond over their losses. Clifford misses his daughters and wife, and Siegfried misses Tristan. Unexpectedly, Wesley and Duke visit the surgery, where James treats the sick dog. He knows Wesley can’t pay, although he insists he should, so James arranges for him to care for the practice’s animals and patients in recovery. It’s an arrangement that satisfies everyone, even Siegfried, who cross-questions the boy about working with animals and is satisfied with his responses.

Siegfried and James, now that Duke is on the road to recovery, are anxious to help Wesley find a solution without hurting his pride. Clifford needs help on the farm, and Wesley is taken to meet him. In a vast snowy landscape, as Wesley and Duke watch, Clifford puts his sheepdog through its paces. Gerald arrives at Skeldale House to escort Mrs. Hall to church on Easter Sunday, but Siegfried stays home, happily puffing at his pipe and playing the piano. The photographs of both young men at war, Tristan and Edward, are proudly on display at Skeldale House.