All Creatures Great and Small Complete Collection [DVD] [2013]

Well this is the best one I think of All Creatures Great and Small. It was well done. I was in hysterics at Tristan and Seigfried! The pranks they played on each other and James. On the serious part you sometimes are in suspense 'What is going to happen here? Is the Animal going to survive?' It is close to the book. Its a must see!!

I hadn't watched these since they were on TV originally and things have a bad habit of dating terribly, but this hasn't really. I found it as charming as ever, and I was a big fan of James Herriot's books when they were new. This falls into the class of heartwarming Sunday-night viewing occupied by Call the Midwife and Doc Martin these days, and if you like that sort of thing you're bound to like this. There's an obvious divide though that I hadn't noticed at the time I first watched this series. The pre-war stuff is clearly superior to the post war stuff. Before the war, there's a real sense of a story building, the war coming, new treatments on the horizon, James getting married and having children, becoming a partner... the build-up to the war and what it means for all involved is really well done. But after the war, when the stories become more generic and veer away from Herriot's books, there's more of a soap opera feel to things. Stories are rehashed (one or two shamelessly redone) and become more ridiculous and trivial. It does lose its edge. Siegfried gets a new Rover, that seems out of time to me, and we also get the new character Cameron Buchanan. Although John McGlynn plays him charmingly, his stories often seem done more for laughs than for drama, which slightly trivialises the whole thing, and his unrealistically hotheaded on-off affair with Dierdre is a bit hard to believe. Also after the war, Helen, James's wife, is (unfortunately) played by a different actress (Lynda Bellingham instead of Carol Drinkwater), and that doesn't quite work as well. And it's a great shame that we lose the wonderful Mrs Hall. By the very end of the series it rather morphs into some bland amalgam of Heartbeat, Call the Midwife and Only Last of the Summer Wine. The foundation remains though: Christopher Timothy's James, and Robert Hardy's Siegfried. Peter Davison remains as Tristan, but his appearances become more and more sporadic until he makes a welcome return in Series 7. I think I would say I love this series despite Christopher Timothy. I don't find him particularly likeable, that's the problem. I think he plays the character rather inconsistently, bumbling about like Stan Laurel one minute, arrogant and supercilious the next. It's quite a schizophrenic performance, and often an awkward one. He has something, for sure, but too often makes me uncomfortable. But Robert Hardy makes up for any lack in Timothy's performance – in spades. Hardy is utterly brilliant, gives a dazzling performance that is a wonder to watch, a masterclass in how to act. I'd forgotten how good he was in this. Davison's Tristan is irresistible too. There are 89 episodes (including the specials) so enough here to keep you going for ages. this is something I will watch several times over the years I'm sure. Something to treasure.

A wonderful series from the days when the BBC actually made their own dramas and produced ones that the whole family can enjoy. The latter is so rare on TV these days it's no wonder the OK but nowhere near as good Channel 5 version has proven so popular. The cast is uniformly excellent and the stories amusing, touching, uplifting and sad. Some of the skills Christopher Timothy, Robert Hardy and Peter Davison had to learn and perform to convince as vets, such as shoving their arms up to the elbow in places ordinary folk wouldn't ever want to, are not allowed on the recent remake but make this BBC adaptation so much more believable. It's so refreshing to watch a drama with convincing period details and no swearing. They're very few and far between these days.

This boxed set of 'All creatures Great and Small' was a present for my mother on the occasion of her 90th Birthday. I wanted something that we both remembered that would last for more than a few minutes and also be watchable by everyone; not something that can be said of most modern productions which are either silly or violent or gruesome or contain foul language. There are about 89 episodes if I remember correctly and we are about halfway through them as I write this. Most episodes are very good although a couple were (inexplicably) quite 'silly' as if being played for laughs; fortunately this is not the case with the vast majority. Whilst James Herriot did not exist, nor did the Farnans or Darraby, and the stories are set a few years earlier than the writers experiences (upon which these are based), it doesn't diminish the enjoyable and nostalgic feel of the series at all. One slightly annoying feature is the stream of credits at the start of each disc and the constant badgering about not copying etc. ; anyone who buys the discs legitimately like myself, wouldn't copy them and anyone who was criminally inclined wouldn't care about the warnings, so they are just annoying. Other than that, this set is very good and well worth the money.

This original version of All Creatures Great and Small, based on the James Herriot books, is by far the best version and preferable to the recent remake. It was made with the assistance of Alf Wight, the real James Herriot, and very faithful to the books and character portrayals in them. It has a gentle sense of humour, always affectionate in its portrayal of the Dalesman and fellow vets. It is carried most of all by Robert Hardy's ebullient and wonderful portrayal of the beneign but mercurial Seiogfried Farnan, senior partner in the practice. Helen changes from Carol Drinkwater to Lynda Bellingham in a fairly seamless way halfway through the series. And Peter Davison's portray of Tristan Farnan is delightful. This complete collection has subtitles for those who need them and is a very gentle and thoroughly enjoyable watch.

Yes, I am really pleased to have got this set. I think the price was an absolute steal! Yes, there is a difference between the first three series, and the rest of them, but we all know that in the later series of things (like in DCI Banks) they will cleverly say that the series is based on the books, and then go their own way with filming! In some cases, the television programmes are not related to the book content at all! That aside, I did enjoy the series, which took one back to an earlier more gentle time. And if Linda Bellingham hadn't taken over the part of Helen Herriot from Carol Drinkwater, I am sure there would have been complaints. Years ago, I went to the original surgery in Thirsk when James Herriot (Jim Wight and Siegfried (Donald Sinclair) were still in practice. Brian Sinclair (Tristan) was in reality extremely ill, and was hospital bound. My Mum, Dad, and my late Great Uncle came with me, and we commented on the way the film makers had tried to keep the characters of the practice and surgery going. I was a little disappointed that there was no info given on episodes, but having got all 9 series of "Allo Allo from the same firm, I knew what to expect! Subtitles a boon! I am 55 by the way. and live in Sheffield.

Bought for my mum although she had now lent it back to me to enjoy, this is gold star TV at its very best. 70's TV which I have fond memories as a child on a Saturday night, gentle bitter sweat and charming stories based on the books of James Herriot.Tricky Woo the dog is hilarious writing to James Herriot thanking him for his treatment going to Fat Club ! Fantastic acting, Robert Hardy is amazing, dialogue between the characters is witty and sharp. My children (11 and 14) groaned when I put it on but slowly they cast an eye to the TV screen andI see them getting drawn in. Box set is excellent value, all episodes from 1978 to the close including xmas specials (which are not in order accordingly to my mum). But great stuff. Enjoy. Great for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Slightly damaged but finally delivered

Heerlijk nostalgische serie met de typisch Britse humor. Sinds ik de TV 2 jaar geleden heb uitgezet zijn de Yorkshire Dales een fijne plek om te vertoeven. De kwaliteit is een tikje korrelig maar dat is verder geen probleem en misschien te verwachten bij een serie van die leeftijd. Onvergetelijke personages. Er is een kortere nieuwe serie uit 2020 gebaseerd op de boeken maar voor mij is er geen andere Tristan Farnon dan Robert Hardy!

Alles gut gelaufen! Danke, für die problemlose Transaktion! Empfehlenswerter Anbieter!

We run these disks through a Sony multi region BluRay DVD player to a 4K tv. The scaled-up image is great. The actors are wonderful. This costume drama of Yorkshire in the 1930's is true to the times and the dales. What a treat! Heriot's tales and anecdotes ring true today. Lovers of farm life and all farm animals will come away with good feelings and smiles.

I watched these years ago when they were new on PBS and loved the series. While these don’t always follow the original stories to the letter, they maintain the flavor. The shows are in some ways better than the books because the humor comes out better as action and the stories are fleshed out a little more. The books are very descriptive of the scenery, which can be shown in a video. There is a good mix of humor and drama, just like life. When the local PBS station announced the re-make, I was excited until I watched them. The stories were changed. They drained most of the humor. The Farnons had become unlikable characters. I got this set so I could enjoy the stories again. Used discs are in excellent condition and in a sturdy case. Seasons 1 to 3 are in one plastic case and 4 to 7 in another. The first 2 seasons have 6 discs each, season 4 has 3 discs and the other seasons have 4 discs. The two Xmas specials are on individual discs. All of the discs are in single trays. Seller took time to make sure that I have an all-region player before shipping. The non-US region discs play on my all region Sandoo player. Main complaint is that the discs don’t have the episode names on them, and there’s no insert with a table of contents. [Discs are labeled as Series #, Vol #, and disc #.] Some of my discs insist on showing closed captions no matter how I set them, which is a minor problem. A plus is the first disc in each series does not have ads for other videos.

Es un retrato de un paisaje desaparecido. Describe el trabajo de un grupo de veterinarios en un pequeño pueblo en los Yorkshire Dales en los años antes de los técnicos de "factory farming". Me ha encantado hace 30 años, y no ha perdido encanto...