What You Need to Know About the Show
All Creatures Great and Small is based on the memoirs of James Herriot, a veterinarian who worked in the Yorkshire Dales from the 1930s onward. The stories cover his daily rounds treating farm animals and pets in a rural English setting. There have been two major adaptations. The 1970s series ran for five years on BBC1. The 2020 reboot on ITV and Netflix is the one most people are watching now. The core of everything is simple. A young vet arrives in a small village, learns the ropes from an older mentor, makes mistakes, and slowly earns respect. Each episode is basically self-contained. You can jump in at any point without worrying about plot continuity. The running through-lines are his relationship with Mrs. Hall, the housekeeper, and his courtship of Sarah, the farmer's daughter. I watched the original series back when it aired and the new one during the lockdown. The tone is different but the skeleton is the same. Gentle comedy-drama about country vet life. Nothing groundbreaking structurally. It just works because the pacing is unhurried and the casting is solid.
If you want a quick breakdown, here is how it divides: Series 1 of the new version covers material from "All Creatures Great and Small" and "So Please, Mr. Morland." That is roughly the first couple of years in the narrative. Series 2 pulls from "Everything and Anything" and adds some new scenes. The storyline with Tristan and the sheepdog trial gets expanded here.
Series 3 shifts focus toward Siepi's storyline and the war timeline. The earlier seasons had more standalone animal cases. Later seasons lean harder into character arcs. The books themselves are the source. Herriot wrote four main volumes plus some supplementary collections. The show takes liberties with chronology and combines characters occasionally. If you are comparing them, expect differences in sequencing and some composite characters. I ran into a specific issue when someone asked me which book a particular episode came from. The show blends multiple sources. A single episode often pulls from two or three different book chapters. My workaround was to check the episode transcript against the book index and note which sections contributed. It is tedious if you are doing it for every episode. Most fans just accept the blending and move on.
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One thing the show does well is depict the actual work. Not the glamour. The mud, the cold, the long drives, the animals that do not cooperate. The original books describe this accurately because it was Herriot's real job. The 2020 version uses practical locations around Malham and surrounding villages. That matters for the feel of it. There is a common misconception that the series is purely lighthearted. It is not. Several episodes deal with euthanasia decisions, financial hardship, and the realities of wartime vet work. The tone balances warmth and difficulty. If you expect constant cheerfulness, you will be off balance. The main cast changes between versions. Alan Turner played Siepi in the original. Christopher Douglas played him in the reboot. Nicholas Boulton took over later in the new series. If you are watching both, the difference in portrayal is noticeable but not jarring.
For someone wanting to understand the full scope, reading the books alongside the show gives a complete picture. The show condenses. The books have more detail on individual cases. Herriot's writing style is dry and observational. It translates reasonably well to screen but some of the humor lands better in text. The 2024 announcement of a fifth and final series means the show is wrapping up its run. There is not going to be an open-ended continuation. Plans are to conclude the narrative arc properly. If you are looking for where to watch it, the new series streams on ITVX in the UK and Netflix internationally. The original series is available through BBC platforms and select streaming services depending on your region.
There is also a companion book called "All Creatures Great and Small: The Early Years" which covers material not used in the show. It is worth a look if you want more of the same tone and subject matter after you finish the series.
