All Creatures Great And Small 2024 Christmas Special – As this episode begins, Siegfried Farnon (Samuel West) picks up a Christmas tree. Helen Herriot (Rachel Shenton) talks to Audrey Hall (Anna Madeley) about Christmas dinner. The butcher told Audrey she likely won’t get a roasting joint. She might be able to get something better, but she’ll have to pop out for a bit. James (Nicholas Ralph) arrives with holly. At the Royal Army Veterinary Corps. Headquarters, Tristan Farnon (Callum Woodhouse) tells the men about mules. He admits it’s not always easy to tell what is wrong with them. Duggins (Jake Hayward) goes through the symptoms of colic in mules. Major Robertson (Adam Best) interrupts to speak to Tristan in private. Robertson reveals he has a special project for Tristan. He needs Tristan to source the fittest and fastest for breeding pigeons.
Robertson says they need the best and they need them before Christmas. Audrey makes a deal with Esme Taylor (Becky Simon) and checks on Christopher (Owen Phillips). Christopher has pet snails. Audrey tells Christopher about Siegfried and his pet rat. Siegfried returns to Skeldale House with the Christmas tree. Audrey returns home to say she just got a goose for Christmas dinner. She explains that Miggins’s sister’s eldest is getting married and she needs extra clothing coupons. James believes Jimmy will be walking by Christmas. Helen talks about having a tea party at Heston for Jimmy’s birthday on Christmas Eve. Audrey offers to make a birthday cake. Tristan enters and asks about the tree outside. He tells them about the pigeon mission. Siegfried says pigeons proved themselves invaluable in the last war. Audrey steps outside and finds a fox in a box. Christopher is hiding nearby.
Audrey asks him what this is about. Siegfried tells Tristan he should talk to Enoch Sykes about the pigeons he needs. A radio report says the HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse have been sunk while carrying out operations against a Japanese attack on Malaya. Tristan and Helen know the Repulse is Edward’s ship. Siegfried thinks he should tell Audrey who returns and tells them about the unusual patient they just received. Siegfried tells her about the Repulse. James says they should know more by the morning. Tristan suggests it might not be as bad as it sounds. Helen agrees they can’t be certain about anything yet. Audrey tells Siegfried about Christopher and the fox. Audrey turns her attention to the potatoes. Tristan and James deal with the tree. Siegfried tells Christopher it’s not a good idea to handle wild animals.
Christopher saw its tail and thought something was wrong with it. Siegfried believes it’s just a little bit of mange and nothing serious. He can give him something to clear it up, but he’ll have to return him to the wild. Christopher suggests putting him in the woods so he won’t be near any farms. He also says he can come. Siegfried agrees. He tells Audrey they need to take the fox back to where he belongs. Audrey watches them go and thinks about Eddie (Conor Deane). In the morning, Siegfried joins the others in the kitchen. Tristan returns with the newspaper which contains news about the Repulse. He tells Audrey they believe around half of the crew has been lost. They will be publishing a list of causalities in the paper in the next few days. Audrey asks them to pick up the goose from Miggins on the 21st. In private, Tristan, James, Siegfried, and Helen talk about Eddie possibly being dead. Tristan believes Siegfried is assuming the worst.
Siegfried thinks they should carry on as normal. Tristan visits Enoch Sykes (Duncan Preston) to talk to him about his pigeons. Enoch accuses him of sneaking about and spying. Tristan tells him that their deposits have a green tinge and that could point to a handful of gastric conditions. Enoch insists there’s nothing wrong with his birds. Tristan says some of the green feces looks almost luminous. He offers to take a few samples just in case it’s something nasty. If he can sort it out, they’ll discuss the breeding program. Enoch says Ripley has been out of sorts. He agrees to let Tristan take him until tomorrow. Helen tries to speak to Audrey about what she’s going through. Audrey says she’s grateful, but she asks Helen to go to Heston. At Heston, Helen and Jenny (Imogen Clawson) talk about Edward’s ship. Richard (Tony Pitts) asks about Audrey. He believes Jimmy will be talking soon.
They talk about the tea party. Tristan returns with one of the pigeons. He tells Siegfried about them and their possible issue. Siegfried points out that the pigeon is dead. James and Tristan try to figure it out later. Siegfried annoys Tristan who tries to cut the pigeon open. Tristan puts the pigeon in an envelope so it can be sent to the lab. Audrey checks the newspaper. She begins checking for her son’s name. His name is not there. Tristan gets a call from Enoch Sykes. Tristan pretends to be Siegfried and hangs up on him. He tells Siegfried he’ll call him as soon as he gets the lab results. Tristan admits he’s having trouble finding a breeder. Audrey finds out that the fox has returned. When she approaches it, the fox runs away. She decides to feed it. It eats and climbs into one of the cages. When Tristan returns, he finds out that Enoch has visited.
Enoch wants the pigeon back. Tristan has to break the news to him. Enoch claims they’re all dying now that Tristan showed up. He’s already warned the other breeders. Later, James thinks about Jimmy’s presents. Tristan gets the lab results. He’s surprised to find out that it was lead poisoning. Audrey receives a card from Edward, but it was posted before the incident. When she leaves, Siegfried says they never should’ve got her hopes up. Audrey looks for the fox. She reads the letter in which Edward tells her a pal named Paddy Grainger has been invalided back home. Edward asks her to take him a bottle of rum and some shortbread. Enoch tells Tristan that two others died a while back and the pigeons are fine now. Enoch still believes Tristan is to blame. Tristan suggests it could be something in the feed. He points out that Enoch could barely get out of the chair last time. Enoch blames lumbago.
Tristan wants to look inside the loft again. He notices paint chipping from the ceiling of the loft. Enoch shows him how he threw food to the pigeon causing chips to fall into the loft. He realizes it was his doing. Tristan thinks Enoch owes him an apology. Later, Tristan tells Siegfried that Enoch has agreed to lend him six of his finest to take back to Doncaster. Tristan says he’ll do his best to make it back for Jimmy’s party. Helen wonders if they should cancel because of Audrey. In the morning, Audrey yells for Siegfried because the fox has been injured. She says he was curled up in the shed. Siegfried believes he’s been bitten by a dog. He says this is what happens when animals lose their fear of humans. Siegfried says the wound is infected so it would be kindest to put him down. Audrey doesn’t want to put the fox down though. She asks why Siegfried should get to decide whether he gets to live or die.
After she storms out, Helen checks in to see what Siegfried said to her. Tristan returns to Robertson with the pigeons. He gives Tristan a picture of the men who were given their deployment orders last week. Robertson tells Tristan he’ll be staying put for a while because he’s more useful there as an instructor. Audrey visits Paddy Grainger (Elliot Franz). She brings him rum. Paddy says Eddie always gave him his rum ration because he didn’t care for it himself. Paddy reveals his arm was crushed when it got trapped in a winch. He wasn’t supposed to be working there and was only helping out. Audrey knows he worked in the engine room with Edward at the bottom of the ship. Audrey wants to ask him something and wants him to be honest. Both have been checking in the papers every day. Paddy admits he wouldn’t have stood a chance if he was in the engine room when the ship was hit.
He goes on to say Eddie was a good. Audrey gets upset and has to step out. Helen thinks her cake looks okay. James says they could do their presents. Richard comes in with presents. He shows them the farm toy he got for Jimmy. James reveals he made Jimmy his own little vet’s bag. Richard believes Jimmy will be a farmer. Helen has to stop them from arguing. Audrey returns and finds the fox in the cage. Siegfried tells her he’s not out of the woods yet and might not make it through the night. He’s done what he can. Audrey knows she shouldn’t have fed him. She says she keeps seeing Eddie in the water clinging onto a piece of wreckage or an island with no way of sending a message. Audrey admits she cannot imagine him being dead. As long as there’s a chance, she has to keep believing he’ll come home. James and Helen wake up on Christmas day. Siegfried watches over the fox while Audrey sleeps nearby.
Tristan takes a long-distance call for Audrey. When she wakes up, Siegfried says the fox is no worse and may have even turned a corner. Tristan rushes in to tell her about the phone call. Audrey is relieved to hear from Eddie. The others come down and find out the news. Audrey tells them Eddie is injured but he’s alright in the hospital in Singapore. They learn that Siegfried forgot the goose. Tristan tells Siegfried he found out yesterday that his latest batch of recruits has been deployed. He admits he was relieved to learn he’ll be staying in Doncaster. Tristan says you forget sometimes what you’re sending these men off to. Part of him needs to believe everything will be alright. Richard talks about letting Jimmy do whatever he wants. Audrey talks to everyone about the past few weeks and how they’ve been the hardest of her life.
She thanks everyone. After dinner, everyone gathers to play a game. Audrey looks outside and notices that it’s snowing.
All Creatures Great And Small Review
The 2024 Christmas special of All Creatures Great and Small was a lot better than some of the other series five episodes. The animals were still put on the backburner a bit, but the show did a good job of exploring Audrey’s concern for her son after his ship was sunk. The raw emotions of those scenes carried the episode.
There were still some misses here, especially the fox. The series has lost its way because it doesn’t focus on the animals as much as it used to. It had some hiccups throughout the fifth series, including the passing of Bosworth’s dog Bingo. As for the fox, the story was unfinished and may not even be mentioned again in future episodes.
The series could use more focus because it’s trying to cover a bit too much at once. The Christmas special was still successful largely because of Audrey’s story, but it’d be nice if the show would move past the war soon and get back to the animals. Otherwise, it’s inching ever so closer to being a soap opera.
We also had the story with Christopher that went nowhere and the scenes focusing on Jimmy are fairly bland. The series needs to focus on fewer stories in each episode to prevent each from being flat or forgotten when the credits roll.
This episode scores a 6.5 out of 10. Recaps of All Creatures Great and Small can be found here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Join the discussion here.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
