All Creatures Great and Small to make TV comeback but fans will be gutted
The beloved series All Creatures Great and Small is making a comeback on our telly screens, but it's set to be a bittersweet experience for fans.
Channel 5 will be airing the first series of All Creatures Great and Small once again, with the inaugural episode scheduled for Monday, August 11, at 4pm.
First hitting our screens in September 2020, All Creatures Great and Small has since been adapted into five series, allowing fans to journey back to the show's humble beginnings.
Revisiting the debut episode, You've Got to Dream, will undoubtedly stir up nostalgia among viewers. However, it'll also be tinged with sadness as we see Dame Diane Rigg reprising her role as Mrs Pumphrey.
The late actress graced the first season of All Creatures Great and Small with her presence, before being succeeded by Patricia Hodge in the second series, reports the Express.
Diane passed away in 2020 from lung cancer at the ripe age of 92, marking All Creatures Great and Small as one of her final television endeavours. She featured in a total of two episodes.
Patricia then stepped into the shoes of Mrs Pumphrey during the second season, which premiered in September 2021.
The main cast of All Creatures Great and Small includes Samuel West, Anna Madeley, Nicholas Ralph, Callum Woodhouse, and Rachel Shenton. James Anthony-Rose joined the ensemble in the fourth series.
Set against the backdrop of Northern England in the 1930s and 40s, the series is based on Alf Wight's books about a Yorkshire veterinary surgeon, published under the pseudonym James Herriot.
All Creatures Great and Small centres on a trio of vets in the Yorkshire Dales, with Samuel West as Siegfried Farnon, Nicholas Ralph as James Herriot, and Callum Woodhouse playing Tristan, Siegfried's younger sibling.
The opening episode's blurb for All Creatures Great and Small goes like this: "Newly qualified veterinary surgeon James Herriot travels from his home in Glasgow to the Yorkshire village of Darrowby for a job interview at Siegfried Farnon's practice. Siegfried takes James to his first job treating an abscess in a gelding's hoof. James meets Helen Alderson while treating an injured calf, and she urges him to stand up to Siegfried, who will respect him."
It continues: "The locals get James drunk and he mixes up a pair of cats while trying to feed them, resulting in Siegfried almost neutering the wrong one. James manages to prove himself after saving the lives of a cow and her calf, leading Siegfried to offer him a permanent job as his assistant."
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