Rivalry Turns to Friendship in 'All Creatures Great & Small's "Uninvited Guests"

Tristan Farnon relates a hair-raising wartime encounter as All Creatures Great & Small reaches the season's halfway point. James and Helen listen enthralled to his story, which builds to a tense climax when he recounts how he felt a pistol at his back. But the notorious prankster has fooled them – it was, Tristan says, a camel digging its nose into his spine as a reminder that breakfast was required. As they stroll through Darrowby with the pram and baby James, Audrey Hall meets them with the news that farmer Sid Crabtree (Ryan Hawley) called about his cow. Since Siegfried has gone to pick up Richard Carmody from the train station, James is on call.

We met the Crabtrees in Season 4, a couple new to farming who almost lost their herd and livelihood in a brucellosis outbreak, and James is pleased to hear that things are going much better for them now. Sid has a new dog, Shep, whose primary interest in life is to creep up on people and surprise them by barking loudly. But Sid is worried about his cow Rose, who won’t eat. James recommends linseed oil.

Tristan may be telling fun stories, but he's not too pleased to learn he now shares a bedroom and is even more alarmed when he meets his roommate. (Richard had been taking his veterinary exams in London, almost certainly acing them.) Tristan invites him to the pub, but he declines since he has some bacteria from London for his evening entertainment. He and Siegfried plan a cozy evening with microscopes and Latin quips. Appalled, Tristan mutters his brother Siegfried multiplied, spawning a mini killjoy. Who in their right mind would choose bacteria over booze? Richard asks Tristan about the war and receives a dismissive answer. Finding no one wants to go to the pub, Tristan goes alone and returns drunk later that night to the closet, which is his share of the bedroom. No wonder he is beginning to feel that he is the stranger here and that Richard has taken on the favorite role.