What A Balls Up! – As this episode of All Creatures Great and Small begins, James Herriot (Nicholas Ralph) visits the Ministry of Agriculture and hears the Divisional Inspector Charles Harcourt (Adrian Rawlins) yelling nearby. James is told by the receptionist to take a seat. He notices a newspaper next to him that confirms conscription has started. Once James goes into Charles’s office, Harcourt admits he is bloody annoyed. James insists it won’t happen again even though he doesn’t know what it is. Charles reminds James he said that last time when he found an infected cow in Postlethwaite’s that had already been dead for two years. He questions why James keeps ballsing up the TB testing.

At Skeldale House, Audrey Hall (Anna Madeley) offers to do the laundry for Helen (Rachel Shenton) later. Siegfried (Samuel West) has Tricki Woo (Derek) because Mrs. Pumphrey is still in London. He is worried about James’s meeting with MAG since you usually don’t get called in there unless you’ve done something wrong. Helen hopes James hasn’t done anything wrong. Charles Harcourt says one of his veterinary officers was on that farm and found that James hadn’t served a notice of cleansing and disinfection. Charles says he sent the form to him so he might’ve wanted him to go and disinfect the place. James promises they want the work very much. He begs for another chance. Charles says they can’t afford any mistakes if they’re going to win the war against TB.

They begin going through the procedure again to make sure James will know what to do. Although it is a lot to cover, Charles thinks a child could understand it. Siegfried has to stop Tricki from eating Jess’s food before Helen questions if James is in trouble. Siegfried thinks so because he is dealing with Harcourt. He reminded James that the whole testing business is more trouble than it’s worth and they could be shut down if it goes wrong. James confirms to Charles that he will be visiting Rudd’s farm again. Charles warns him not to mess up because there can be no more chances after this. Tristan (Callum Woodhouse) returns home with a car that Dinsdale said is as solid as a tractor. He offers to give Helen a ride up to Heston Grange. She gives him a list of visits James wanted him to make today.

As they leave, Siegfried realizes he is responsible for the surgery. While driving back, James runs into soldiers training. Helen talks to Tom (Lamin Touray) about Skeldale while they work on the gate. He tells her about Postlethwaite having the MAG over at his farm trying to test a cow that had been dead for two years. James meets with Dick Rudd (Alexis Platt) who starts bringing cows through for him. James starts testing the cows. Dick mentions that Richard Alderson said he could charge extra for his milk now that he’s had testing done. When the cow blows snot, James decides to take a sample back to the practice. Gerald (Will Thorp) and Audrey go for a walk with their dogs. Audrey mentions being out of a job so Gerald suggests she could be a woman of leisure and travel.

He tells her about an Elgar recital at the village hall this week. Audrey agrees to meet him there. Tristan visits Florence Pandhi (Sophie Khan Levy) to check on Daisy. Florence says the dog is fine before they begin talking about his Morris Cowley. Tristan confesses he came by to say hello. Before he leaves, he offers to take her for a ride in the car. Florence tells him to pick her up at two tomorrow so they can see what this lady can do. Siegfried complains about Tristan’s car which will scare half the animals in the district. When he mentions it to Tristan, he is told he’ll be wearing pearls and feeding Tricki foie gras next. Siegfried doesn’t think the vehicle is suitable. He talked to Dinsdale and he has agreed to take it back but Tristan refuses. Siegfried learns that he is taking the daughter of their rival for a drive in the car tomorrow.

Although Siegfried tries to forbid it, Tristan only laughs at him and leaves. Audrey thinks Siegfried should be happy since he is taking initiative. James tests the sample. Once he finishes, he approaches Helen who has been busy painting. James confesses it hasn’t been a good day because Rudd has a cow with TB. Helen reminds him that he isn’t giving it to the cows and he is stopping it from spreading. James admits the farmers don’t see it that way. Helen argues farmers are never happy unless they have something to grumble about. James says he has a right to be upset because they’ve had a lot of positive cases. Helen asks why he is keeping it to himself. James insists he isn’t, but he knows he pushed for the testing and Helen and her dad took such a risk siding with him. He feels like he is letting everyone down.

Helen argues he could never let her down. She stood by his side because he is her husband and it was the right thing to do. James tells her about the final warning from Harcourt this morning. Helen suspects there is something else, but James won’t tell her what else is on his mind. In the morning, Helen helps James with the forms and gives him the ones that Rudd needs to sign. She’ll make a start on the rest today. When James tells Dick, Rudd admits it could’ve been worse since it could’ve impacted the whole herd. James gets him to sign the forms while telling him that the statutory value is five pounds. They can appoint a valuer if Dick doesn’t agree with that assessment. Dick says his wife usually signs the paperwork and she went to the market. James asks if Dick can sign them so he can get Jeff Mallock to come and get the cow.

He goes on to tell Dick that he’ll have to temporarily shut the farm down until the MAG can come down and retest the herd. Dick doesn’t like that because it is going to hurt. He suggests it is just paper to them although James says it is more than that to him. Audrey finds Siegfried trying to convince Tricki to come out of hiding to eat Battenburg. She teases him. Siegfried complains about the car and again says it needs to go. Audrey argues Tristan is proud of it and would be prouder if Siegfried approved. She eventually gets Siegfried to admit that he wanted to buy Tristan his first car. Audrey thinks he has to let Tristan make his own decisions even if he buys a rust bucket. Siegfried asks about her date, but Audrey insists it isn’t a date and she is only going to the recital with Gerald. Tricki finally comes out of hiding.

James asks Helen if she’d like a job after mailing the forms. As they pass the bus, they notice that Tom is one of the soldiers getting on board. Helen admits he never said anything about it and his parents must be worried sick. James thinks they’d be proud too since Tom is doing his duty. Helen hopes James realizes the TB testing is important because he is saving lives. She explains there is a reason his job is protected even though James can’t in good conscience watch those young boys go off for their training while he stays here. She reminds him it wasn’t his decision to make because the people in charge said he was needed there. Helen needs him there and she needs to know that he is listening to her. She says he is staying here even if it is selfish.

James needs to make sure Mallock has taken Rudd’s cow and get the last forms sent. Audrey notices the other couples kissing when she meets with Gerald who is holding flowers. She believes they need to talk. They agree to walk around the block instead. He blames himself for pushing her to come. Audrey denies that because he has been kind and she enjoys his company very much. She wants to explain herself since he deserves it. Audrey explains she isn’t used to talking like this. She loved her husband and things happened that were out of their control so she had made peace with it. Mrs. Hall confesses that it hurt and still hurts her. She feels safe with the way things are and with her place at Skeldale. Gerald understands she isn’t ready to change that. Tristan takes Florence out for a picnic.

Tristan admits she makes her nervous. Florence has gotten so used to people looking at her funny and asking where she is from that she has grown thick skin. She believes they’re all just trying to figure things out as they go. Tristan feels he spends half his time doing what everyone else wants and the other half worrying he has done it wrong. He admits he doesn’t know what he wants from life and has never had his own dream. Florence argues that Tristan is the only person holding him back. When James meets with Dick, he learns that Mallock took the wrong cow. Dick worries that he’ll be ruined because he’ll slaughter his best milker. James speeds off to see if he can catch up with Jeff before passing Tristan and Florence on the road. Once James spots Mallock’s vehicle in the distance, his car breaks down.

Tristan picks him up seconds later. Audrey returns home and tells Siegfried it might’ve been a date after all. Helen interrupts to ask Siegfried for a word in private. While Audrey looks at Edward’s picture, Helen tells Siegfried about James, Tom, and the war. Helen knows it sounds selfish but she doesn’t want to lose James. Siegfried won’t let that happen because James is vital here. Harcourt visits seconds later. James stops the vehicle only to find that it isn’t Jeff. When they make it to Mallock’s place, it looks like it might already be too late. James is relieved when he learns that Rudd’s cow is still in the wagon. Mallock agrees to take the cow back to Rudd’s farm and get the other one. Tristan drops off Florence who claims that was the best date she has ever been on.

They kiss before Tristan gets back in the car with James who says he is exhausted. He admits Siegfried might’ve been right about the testing being more bother than it is worth. He isn’t sure he can do it anymore so he has to tell Siegfried even though Tristan doesn’t think that is a good idea. When he gets back, Harcourt is there waiting for an update. Charles learns that James has been handling the testing alone. He tells James that his work will have already saved lives before shaking his hand. Siegfried volunteers him to help with the next district since it has fallen behind. Then, he asks Tristan to show him how the car runs and Audrey joins them. Helen hopes James sees how needed he is now. He does.

 

All Creatures Great And Small Review

Each episode of All Creatures Great and Small this season has been unique and emotional in various ways. In this episode, James was pushed to his limits with the TB testing program after a meeting with Charles Harcourt. He is also continuing to contemplate following Tom to war although Siegfried and Helen want to prevent that from happening.

James nearly had a disaster with Dick Rudd’s cows only to be saved at the last minute, but the encounter made him question his decision to take on the responsibility of the testing program. For now, James is content with that decision and that he is needed at Skeldale. The episode was good even though it wasn’t as emotional as the previous one.

There is a good possibility that some viewers are going to complain about the series becoming too modern. The modern prerequisites are being added while detracting from the actual factual story of James Herriot and that could be a problem for some viewers. A lot more could be done instead of throwing almost every character into a romance of sorts.

The episode 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 work and enable an independent voice by following this link.