PBS Announces 'All Creatures Great & Small' Season 6 Premiere Date

One of the worst aspects of the streaming revolution was Netflix's determination to upend the traditional TV schedule, believing that people did not want to be forced into appointment television or made to wait on weekly installments, effectively destroying one of the few remaining cultural traditions that cut across all walks of life. It was also completely wrongheaded; one of the best aspects of the Disney+ launch was that it reminded everyone that the model is quite popular, and that viewers love a weekly series they can watch together as a family. Thankfully, public broadcasting has never been one to jump on the latest bandwagon trends and has never wavered from the old linear schedule, including its most successful spot in the calendar, Downton Abbey's old January berth.

For PBS fans, that means we always have a sense of when shows will typically arrive. Call the Midwife, for example, has premiered like clockwork in mid-March for over a decade, and most major Masterpiece shows that promise to debut in "Spring of (upcoming year)" mean "alongside Call the Midwife." The same holds for "Autumn debuts," which almost always mean October, in the same slot where Poldark used to live. And ever since its premiere in the doldrums of 2021, All Creatures Great & Small has been a little slice of comfort every January.

Therefore, the announcement that All Creatures Season 6 would debut on the second Sunday of January 2026 wasn't exactly news, but rather a confirmation of what viewers already knew. However, it is nice to have the exact start date, since this not only confirms All Creatures, but also will be the debut date for whichever other series Masterpiece will air alongside it. (The past few years, that has been Miss Scarlet, both with and without The Duke.)

Here's the official Season 6 synopsis:

Season 6 takes us back to the beautiful Yorkshire Dales for more heartwarming human and animal tales but, this time, we find our beloved Skeldale gang in a somewhat different situation as we join them in 1945, just as the war in Europe is coming to a close. We arrive back in Darrowby to veterinary advancements, expanded families, and new faces as they all look ahead to a brighter and more peaceful future. This season will see Herriot's wonderful characters navigating the opportunities that a new world brings, a host of animals great and small, and of course, each other.

Season 6 stars the show's usual core ensemble of Nicholas Ralph and Rachel Shenton as James and Helen Harriot; Samuel West and Callum Woodhouse as Siegfried and Tristan Farnon; Tony Pitts and Imogen Clawson as Richard and Jenny Alderson; Anna Madeley and Patricia Hodge as Mmes Hall and Pumphrey, and Dora as adored, pampered Pekingese, Tricki-Woo. Also back for Season 6: Mollie Winnard as barmaid Maggie, Conor Deane as Mrs. Hall's son Edward, plus Lamin Touray and Cat Simmons as friends-of-the-family Tom and Grace Chapman. 

Season 6 will also introduce a few new characters, including Jonathan Hyde (The Brutalist), Philip Martin Brown (Death Comes to Pemberley), Chris Gascoyne (Patience),  Lucy-Jo Hudson (Hollyoaks), and Gaia Wise (The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim).

Series creator Ben Vanstone returns for Season 6 along with a writers' room that includes Neil Jones, Karim Khan, Robin French, Nessah Muthy, Nick Leather, and Damian Wayling. Directors Brian Percival and Andy Hay return to helm episodes, along with new addition Stewart Svaasand. Yvonne Francas returns as Producer.

Vanstone and Percival continue as executive producers, alongside Colin Callender, Melissa Gallant, Sharon Moran & Alexis Hood for Playground; Louise Pedersen & David Swetman for All3Media International; Susanne Simpson for Masterpiece; and Sebastian Cardwell, Paul Testar & Greg Barnett for 5.

All Creatures Great & Small Season 6 will debut on Channel 5 in the U.K. on Thursday, September 25, 2025, followed by PBS airing and streaming the series in the U.S. beginning Sunday, January 11, 2026. Seasons 1 through 5 are streaming on the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel and for members on PBS Passport.