Barnes & Noble

James Herriott's bestselling memoir about life as a veterinarian in a rural British community took on a life of its own when All Creatures Great & Small was adapted for the small screen by the BBC. Wisely, the show's producers chose to let the series unfold over a period of years rather than freeze it in the 1930s, when Herriott's tome began. The 12 episodes of 1989's Series 6 cover a period following the Second World War; at first they focus on the run-up to the wedding of Skeldale House's Caleb Buchanan (John McGlynn) to his sweetheart, Deirdre McEwan (Andrea Gibb). "Blood and Water" -- one of this year's most memorable yarns -- places Herriott (Christopher Timothy) at center stage in a conflict between two elderly twin brothers, rabbit breeder Oliver and prize cabbage grower Roland, who have not spoken to each other in 50 years. When one of his rabbits is found dead, Oliver accuses Roland of killing the poor little bunny, and the fur flies. A more sober story line is carried off with great skill in "The Best Time," which finds a normally pleasant and charitable grandmother spurning a newly arrived Italian shepherd. She blames him and his countrymen for the death of her son during the war, and the subsequent demise of her brokenhearted daughter-in-law. This episode is more dramatic than most, but All Creatures has the happy facility of blending humor and pathos most skillfully when the plot demands. Series 6 maintains the high level of quality that fans had come to expect, and it holds up remarkably well today. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Yorkshire veterinarian James Herriot (Christopher Timothy) nears his second decade ministering to the animals of Darrowby as All Creatures Great & Small enters its sixth season. Motivating several of this year's plotlines is the on-again, off-again romance between James' young assistant Calum (John McGlynn) and his fiancée Deirdre (Andrea Gibb). This, of course, does not mean that the enduring marriage between James and his wife Helen (Lynda Bellingham) is ignored by the scriptwriters. Although we have now reached the '50s, James' crusty senior partner Siegfried Farnon (Robert Hardy) continues to have difficulty convincing the locals to abandon their traditional medical beliefs in favor of lab-tested modern methods. Siegfried also exhibits his rarely exposed human side when he attempts to heal old emotional wounds amongst those countrymen and countrywomen who can't seem to get along. And, of course, some other things never change -- notably wealthy Mrs. Pumphrey (Margaretta Scott), who clearly continues to regard dogs as nobler animals than any other...including humans. Hal Erickson

Product Details

• UPC: 794051282026
• Source: BBC WARNER

This set contains DVDs which may be available separately:

• All Creatures Great and Small: Here and There
• All Creatures Great and Small: The Course of True Love
• All Creatures Great and Small: The Call of the Wild
• All Creatures Great and Small: The Nelson Touch
• All Creatures Great and Small: Blood and Water
• All Creatures Great and Small: Where Sheep May Safely Graze
• All Creatures Great and Small: The New World
• All Creatures Great and Small: Mending Fences
• All Creatures Great and Small: Big Fish, Little Fish
• All Creatures Great and Small: In Whom We Trust
• All Creatures Great and Small: The Rough and the Smooth
• All Creatures Great and Small: The Best Time