Honeymoon’s Over – As this episode of All Creatures Great and Small begins, James Herriot (Nicholas Ralph) rushes home where he finds Helen (Rachel Shenton) cooking eggs. She asks about Mr. Harper’s sow. James distracts Helen causing her to burn the eggs, but he eats them anyway. She jumps on him seconds later. Mrs. Hall (Anna Madeley) tells Tristan (Callum Woodhouse) she is still trying to get used to the idea of them being up there. Siegfried (Samuel West) thinks they’re probably enjoying themselves more than she thinks. Helen and James join them before they learn that Tristan is saving up his money for something. James thinks Siegfried might’ve made a mistake. He checks it over and confirms it is correct. James finds it odd he is learning less than he was before and less than what Tristan is getting now.

James suggests they should talk about going to work since there is more he could be doing. Siegfried changes the subject by asking James if he is visiting Kate Billings today. James meets with Kate (Lynda Rooke) who was expecting Siegfried. Tristan tells Mrs. Barber she should stop bringing in the cake because they’re terrible for his waistline. Once Siegfried takes the cake from Tristan, Hall asks if that is one of the perks of being in charge. She doesn’t think he should make promises that he can’t keep. Hall explains that he made James a partner so he should start treating him like one. Siegfried eventually agrees that she is correct and will make amends as soon as he can. James checks on the calves for Kate Billings who says they’ve been sick. James finds that the lungs are clear before learning Kate won Best in Show. He figures out that they’re suffering acute abdominal pain so he asks what she has been feeding them.

Kate has been giving them milk and nuts. James decides to give them morphine for the pain and a charcoal solution. Hopefully, that’ll help pass any toxins through. As he leaves, he tells Kate that he’ll be back to check on them tomorrow. Mrs. Hall learns that Siegfried is going to show James everything about the business. When James enters, Siegfried asks him to detail the profit and loss accounts of the last 12 months and make a list of any unpaid invoices. He leaves because he is going out with Diana. James believes it’ll all make sense once he gets going. He asks Tristan about it, but Tristan isn’t going to be able to help. After Tristan leaves, James gets to work. In the morning, James tells Siegfried that everything went well before thanking him for letting him have a look. He admits he is struggling a bit so he thought Helen might be able to help him understand how everything works.

Helen used to run the farm’s accounts so she doesn’t think it’ll be a problem. Siegfried is at a loss for words but concludes it is very generous of Helen. When James visits Kate, he learns that she lost the calf and the other one is starting to go the same way. James checks the animal and thinks it is acute gastritis. He doesn’t know the cause although he thinks they’ve eaten some type of irritant. He’ll perform a postmortem on the other calf to see if they can find anything. He tells Kate he’ll get the kidneys over to the lab in Harrogate to test for lead estimation. Kate confesses the calves are like family to her. She explains why Annie won’t be able to help them. Kate suggests getting help from Siegfried because he has always been her vet and knows the farm. James believes he’d say the same. Kate questions whether she is going to lose any more of them. Helen goes through the financial paperwork.

Siegfried tells her she doesn’t have to do it because he can sit down with James, but Helen is happy to do it. He tells her that they put their petty cash in a pot. That is similar to what they did at Heston Grange. Tristan is sent out to deal with a dog that has taken a turn. Helen finds some uncashed checks. Siegfried knows it looks haphazard, but he insists the system has never let him down yet. Tristan isn’t happy to see Florence Pandhi (Sophie Khan Levy). She tells Tristan that Daisy was fine and running around the drive when she suddenly seized up and toppled over on her side. She reveals she works at a bank and took a room here a couple of months ago. Tristan quickly checks the dog and is unable to find anything wrong so he tells Florence the bill will be in the post. James returns and reminds Tristan that he is technically his boss now. Siegfried warns James he’ll never be able to successfully run the practice by being soft on Tristan.

Tristan tells James that Siegfried has never wanted a partner because he likes being in control too much. James learns that Helen is cooking and it smells like something is burning. He asks how it went with Siegfried and quickly figures out it wasn’t great. Helen tells him that she started understanding it and found a few uncashed checks. James is surprised they paid four pounds for the TB testing because that is more than they make in a week. He wonders if he can still catch the Minister of Agriculture, but Helen thinks he should speak to Siegfried first. James thinks he might be able to change Siegfried’s mind about not wanting a partner. He calls the department of TB testing. Later, a package arrives at Skeldale House addressed to the Herriot Veterinary Practice. James talks to Siegfried about the TB testing because it brings in so much money, but Siegfried worries it’d risk their relationship with the farmers.

Siegfried visits Kate who reveals she has lost two calves now. When he checks one of the calves, he agrees with James’s assessment that it is gastritis and they’ve likely suggested some type of irritant. He can only hope that his partner has news from the lab that throws some light on the problem. Tristan hears Mrs. Hall and Gerald Hammond (Will Thorp) laughing nearby before finding them sitting cozily together. Tristan tells Gerald that they care a great deal about Jess and they’d hate for her to get hurt. Gerald says Rock cares a great deal about Jess too and would never do anything of the sort. Florence enters yelling for help because her dog started having fits about half an hour ago. She doesn’t want Tristan to work on her dog because the surgery is messy, but he warns her the dog could die otherwise. He quickly finds that something is impacting the dog’s airflow.

Tristan takes a closer look and discovers a pea in the dog’s larynx. The dog begins asphyxiating so Tristan asks Florence to anesthetize the throat area. Then, she holds the dog still while Tristan makes the incision. He successfully removes the pebble. Once he finishes, he tells Florence she’ll need to remove the stitches in 10 days, but she already knows. She tells Siegfried that she’ll be sure to tell her father what an excellent job Tristan did. Tristan and Florence thank each other before she reveals that the answer to his crossword is vicissitude. James visits Kate who is sitting with her calves. She admits the calves are the only thing she has left. She claims she is perfectly fine as she is, but James suggests everyone needs support from time to time. Kate says Annie doesn’t have time for them anymore. James thinks Annie might surprise her if she knew the calves were ill.

He reveals the tests came back negative for lead. When he says he is none the wiser, Kate admits that is what Siegfried said. Helen gets home and receives the package from Mrs. Hall only for Siegfried to take it. When he opens it, he reminds James that he told him they wanted nothing to do with the TB testing program. James explains he just called to see if they could do more testing and make more money. They get into an argument about the practice, James being a partner, and Siegfried going behind his back. Siegfried yells this is why he didn’t want a partner in the first place. In the morning, Helen wakes James to tell him they’ll have to get breakfast downstairs because the stove is out. James doesn’t want to have breakfast with Siegfried, but he doesn’t have a choice. During breakfast, Helen and Mrs. Hall try to convince James and Siegfried to visit Kate together.

They arrive and try to figure out what is poisoning the animals. James and Kate begin looking around outside to see what they can find. Kate thanks James for his kindness yesterday. Siegfried finds something in the animal’s milk. He shows the dead horn bud to James. Kate reveals she disbudded their horns just recently. A guy came around selling the product she used because Annie used to deal with all the business side of things. Kate can’t read. Siegfried and James learn it is butter of antimony which is a deadly poison. Kate can’t believe she poisoned them and could’ve killed them all. James insists she couldn’t have known. He encourages her to make amends with Annie. James makes it back and finds Tristan cleaning the surgery after yesterday’s experience. Siegfried asks James about the TB testing. He knows James should be free to make those decisions although he’ll be solely responsible.

Helen and James agree they’re finished cooking upstairs just before they sit down for dinner.

 

All Creatures Great And Small Review

This episode of All Creatures Great and Small was a bit slow at times, but it had everything viewers could ask for including drama, emotion, and plenty of animals. The performances are solid even when James and Siegfried are in the middle of intense arguments. Tristan’s surgery on Florence’s dog was well done and the actual incision looked authentic.

The season has been solid through two episodes. It should remain that way as long as the bickering between James and Siegfried doesn’t become too much. There are tons of other things to focus on including the animals, surgeries, and rescues. This episode did a good job of showcasing these things without getting bogged down in the business or personal dramas.

It scores a 7.5 out of 10. All recaps of All Creatures Great and Small can be found on Reel Mockery here. Consider supporting our work by following this link.