Second Time Lucky – As this episode of All Creatures Great and Small begins, James Herriot (Nicholas Ralph) sees a plane overhead as he drives down the road. He gets out to watch it as the pilot waves at him. Later, Hannah (Gabriel Quigley) and James Senior (Drew Cain) visit their son. Hannah argues he is too young to be getting married and should still be at home with his mommy. James checks on his father who has been working all hours at the docks. They discuss the possibility of a war, but James isn’t sure it’ll come to that. Mrs. Hall (Anna Madeley) asks Tristan (Callum Woodhouse) not to drink too much. She asks him not to let James drink too much either. Tristan tells Clancy it’ll only be one night because Mr. Mulligan will be in to pick him up tomorrow. Siegfried (Samuel West) is surprised that he is already finished for the day. As for Clancy, it is the usual vomiting although there is something on his chest too.

Siegfried wants to make sure he is locked away because he will chew the place to pieces. Tristan tells them they’ll have to find someone else to mother hen before James enters with Helen (Rachel Shenton). Audrey chugs James’s alcohol and gives him milk instead. Siegfried complains about their wedding business being inconsiderate because this is their busiest time of the year. Tristan pretends the ring has gone missing, but he still has it in his pocket. Later, James tells Helen how he was distracted the first time he saw her. He never imagined for a second that this is where they’d end up, but Helen thinks he did. James admits he did before Helen leaves on the bus. Tristan tells him there is still time to change his mind, but James says he wouldn’t do that for anything in the world. Helen checks on Jenny (Imogen Clawson) who says she doesn’t need to worry about her.

Richard (Tony Pitts) is told to watch over James as he leaves home. Helen agrees to let Jenny have her room even though she’ll be back there every day. Jenny believes their mom would be proud of Helen for everything she has done for them. At the pub, Tom (Lamin Touray) tries to give James more alcohol while Tristan talks to Maggie (Mollie Winnard). Tristan doesn’t know what Arthur has that he doesn’t. William Henry (Paul Hawkyard) tells James how he is worried about his herd getting tuberculosis. He needs to know if they have it because people have been drinking that milk. Tristan tells James that he lost his first son to TB due to milk from his own herd. They end up forcing James to drink too much. Audrey finds Tristan sleeping on the couch in the morning. She hopes they didn’t lose James last night. As Tristan gets up, he immediately realizes that the ring is missing.

Audrey learns more about Siegfried’s night and his need for cheese. She has found the ring box, but James is still missing. Tristan tells them about everyone getting involved in a drinking contest. It wasn’t a contest because Siegfried drank them under the table. Once they remember where James is, Tristan has to flee the house and take the car. When James gets up, William brings him a brew. William explains that James insisted on coming back here no matter what. He also said he wanted to get started first thing in the morning. They begin discussing the TB testing. After a bit of talking, they agree to get the cows rounded up so they can be tested. Helen had made breakfast for the family. She tells her family that she’d rather stay busy. Tristan arrives as James continues with the TB tests. Wilfred begins helping and admits he was talking to the recruiting officer last night.

William says there is nothing stopping the young lads from signing up. Tristan is worried that James is having second thoughts, but he insists he isn’t. Williams reminds him he said it could wait until after the wedding. James says they have a job to do and they’ll get it done. Clancy eats breakfast with the ring box nearby. Audrey finds pictures of Siegfried when he was in the military. They begin talking about Evelyn who packed all that stuff up there before she died. Then, Siegfried learns that his ring box has gone missing. Meanwhile, Jenny wonders why Helen is still working and whether she is trying to keep her mind off it. Richard and Jenny are worried about Helen possibly skipping out again. Helen tries to convince them otherwise because she loves James. She doesn’t think anything will get in the way of that. However, she has so much running through her mind like the chickens.

They don’t know what she is talking about because the chickens are fine and Jenny will be caring for the cows. Richard insists James isn’t bad and he isn’t going through that nonsense again. He soon finds out that Helen has been messing with him. James and Tristan talk about the possibility of enlisting in the military even though they’re protected because of their profession. Tristan thinks he would protect more people preventing TB spread than he would with a gun in his hand. William is relieved to learn that his herd is in good shape. There is one cow left down by the stream so they’ll have to test it before they leave. They are going to leave and test it later, but Wilfred finds out that the cow has been injured. Siegfried works with Clancy while waiting for his brother and James to come back. He hasn’t been able to get the dog to vomit even though it usually frequently does.

Audrey suggests sticking his beak in has caused this mess, but Siegfried argues they wouldn’t know where it was if he left the ring with Tristan. He reminds her that he has let Tristan run surgery by himself and he values James. Audrey believes James is only up at that farm because Siegfried made him feel guilty about going away. She gives him the keys because she is going to help Helen get ready and he needs to get James. They have to take Clancy with them. James tells William about the cow’s injury and how it is in a great deal of pain. When William tells James he can go, Wilfred complains that they’re not doing anything. James offers to try a split as a result. It is a long shot and they can go straight to the church when they’re done. Audrey says she is a mother without daughters so she is doing something she never thought she’d get to do.

She tells Helen that her mother is here in her and her sister. Although it didn’t turn out like she had hoped, Audrey had no doubts when she married Robert. Helen says she doesn’t have any doubts about James. Francois (Joseph May) arrives with Tricki Woo and says Mrs. Pumphrey can’t make it. Once Helen joins them, they begin heading to the church for the wedding. As Siegfried arrives nearby, James admits to Tristan that the splint is never going to work. Siegfried looks at the injury. He knows why James felt he had to do this, but he insists some things are more important. Wilfred gives the gun to James so he can put it down only for Tristan to offer to take care of it. Wilfred eventually takes the gun back and does it himself. While driving to the church, James asks Siegfried why Clancy is coming to the wedding. He doesn’t get a truthful answer. Siegfried admits he didn’t sleep the night before his wedding.

James questions if he wondered what type of husband he’d be. He might figure out that he is needed somewhere else. Siegfried tells him he shouldn’t be contemplating such a thing because he is too important here. James doesn’t have his shoes so Siegfried offers to give him his and nearly crashes. Clancy finally throws up in the back. They arrive as James runs into the church. His dad trades shoes with him. Tristan arrives. When they open the ring box, they find out that it is still missing. Siegfried leaves Tristan to deal with it on his own. The wedding starts out messy with Clancy barking and running through the church. Richard walks Helen into the church moments later. Tristan tries to stall when he is asked for the ring. James admits he pocketed it last night before they went out, but it is in his other jacket. Siegfried gives him a makeshift one for the time being.

They’re happy with that so the ceremony continues. The ceremony ends with James and Helen kissing outside. Tristan catches the flowers. Tristan tells Siegfried that James felt he couldn’t give up so his sense of duty will be the death of him one day. James and Helen stop to get out as she says this is the furthest she has ever been from home. One week later, Wilfred prepares to leave. James is nearly approached by a recruiter until he is pulled away by Helen who shows him his name on the wall outside the practice. Siegfried calls it a wedding present but makes it clear that James earned it. He wants to make him a partner. Tristan wants to know all about it. James and Helen go to their bedroom only for the bed to break on them. He promises that they’ll find somewhere new even though Helen says it is perfect. James eventually has to answer the phone.

 

All Creatures Great And Small Review

It is always a blessing to see another season of All Creatures Great and Small back on television because the series has a unique charm that just can’t be found anywhere else right now. Although the episode didn’t have any deeply sad moments, it was emotional in other ways, especially the wedding.

It also was effective in setting up James’s future military expedition. By this point, most people should know that James is going to war. It’ll be interesting to see how they decide to play this since the marriage is fresh. I am curious how long this will happen and whether James’s time in the military will carry over multiple episodes or if it’ll end quickly.

It could get grisly depending on how far the writers push it and it may very well change James forever. As for this episode, it had certain things we had seen in other shows before so it wasn’t original, but it was still fun.

The episode was good for setting up the rest of the season and getting the marriage out of the way. It scores a 7 out of 10. Recaps of All Creatures Great and Small can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent entertainment website by following this link.