User Reviews

While young men continue to enlist, James and Tristan are exempt as a protected profession. Veterinarians are needed to support farmers, and farmers are needed to produce food.

Again, the veterinary drama is light, mostly focused on a stray Springer Spaniel left tied out front of Skeldale House. Siegfried declares the dog cannot say, which creates a problem with placing him, or he may have to be put down.

Mrs. Pomfrey reappears. There has been speculation among fans regarding why Tricky Woo appeared but not Mrs. Pomfrey. Looking at Patricia Hodge's schedule, she may have been unavailable due to appear on stage for earlier filming weeks.

The major vet drama involves a cow with TB at the Alderson farm and a mistaken form sent to the Ministry. Will James be held responsible for falsifying a form to aid his wife's farm?

And finally, German has invaded Poland and the UK declares a state of war. A time of very hard times approach, not only for Skeldale House, but for all of Europe ...

For Whom the Bell Tolls is quite an emotional episode of All Creatures Great and Small, with it being set in 1939, and you know the news ain't going to be good. Chamberlain's attempts to stave off a world war (the second one) wasn't going to end pretty (and it reminded me of the famous appeasement photo that was mocked in movie The Naked Gun 2 1/2). Sophie Khan Levy plays Florence Pandhi, to whom Tristan proposes to in this episode, but sadly Florence turned him down. Also, an abandoned dog becames part of the practice, and at the end we see James and Tristan signing up together for the war effort.

The first two seasons it was hard to find anything I didn't like. I love all the characters and the writing and directing was superb. I was ready to hold my tongue on minor annoyances but this episode ruined things with Tristan's picnic dialogue with Florence.

Tristan seems less Tristan-like. I get that he's growing up and the writers/director are showing this girl is different to Tristan, but his personality is suddenly too lacking in confidence and I'm missing his lovable brashness. This all seems in response to Florence.

Also, Tristan may have started out going to veterinarian college because of his brother, but he really had a moment of choosing it for his own in season 2. I don't buy him never choosing anything for himself till this moment and because of Florence.

And Tristan was far too smart to give a girl a flower that had the roots still attached. He's boyish, but not that unpolished or stupid.

I love Helen, but it was weird that she accompanied James to see the Director of TB. Her speech was great but it still seemed out of place and un-1930s that she went with him.

As soon as James Herriot agreed to do government testing for tuberculosis I knew Helen Herriot father should off sold all his dairy cattle, it was very restrained of the writers that it was the the second case of TB in Yorkshire instead of the first but to then make it into he could lose his veterinarian license entirely of there own making and blame the government for being inflexible was just bizarre but it did continue the third series more gritty and depressing plot lines and really making Farnon and Mrs hall so kind of soul mates was even more depressing now I'm just waiting to see how many arms and legs mrs halls son loses on the war.

We're also heading towards more agenda-pushing scripts and dialogues. Last year, while sick in bed, I found this beautiful, endearing series about a young, optimistic, kind veterinarian James and an older, cynical but loving, respected and wise veterinarian Siegfried Farnon and his colorful little Brother Tristan, who's also part of the home-clinic. There's a busy-body housekeeper Mrs. Hall who's part annoying, part tolerable and you have other side cast members, including James' love interest Helen. Mrs. Hall and Helen were my least favorite from the start. Nevertheless, the cast seemed to balance each other out and you could escape to the 1930s small British countryside town and it beautiful landscape and animals. It cheered me up as I laid sick in bed. That was the first two seasons. Season 3 has too much Helen. She is in every scene with James. She speaks on his behalf, accompanies him to his veterinarian appointments, and even to a trip to a government office to save his veterinarian license (after she and Mrs. Hall screwed up in the first place!). Helen is a know-it-all and her little 14-year old sister makes it known she and her sister don't need James saving them. How 2023 CW Network of her. Their Dad now seems useless as Helen bosses him around. Reminder: This is the 1930s. Will James and Tristan ever be able to have a Helen-less pint again at the local pub?! They used to in the first two seasons. Siegfried who's a pretty stoic no-nonsense type acts goofy, too emotional and now and has been labeled as some relic of the past by his younger brother because Tristan's new abrasive love interest introduces him to the great divine woman religion or culture or something and she advises him to discover who he is with his big brother Siegfried. What? What happened to the hot blonde barmaid he seemed to be getting serious with in Season 2? Also, the bleak, sad tone of this episode and the previous one doesn't make me look forward to this show, when I used to love it. Lastly, please show, don't go there with a love connection between Siegfried and Mrs. Hall. They have no chemistry. If Season 3's finale this coming Sunday isn't good, I'm done.