All Creatures Great and Small (TV Series) You've Got to Dream (2020) User Reviews

This is great television .

[robfollower · 9/10 · 11 January 2021]

I have no knowledge of the source material as I never read the books nor watch any the original series or films. So this is a fresh viewing experience for me. And I really did not know what to expect.

The opener of the Masterpiece on PBS is truly charming truly heartwarming. Everything you want a British masterpiece PBS show to be, with fabulous characters , endearing animals, wit and humor. Fabulous cinematography of the Yorkshire Dales Countryside that I found to be spectacular.

This is quality fellow feeling television, coming right when I could really use it. I'm very much looking forward to see where this masterpiece on PBS series takes me emotionally. This is great television .

A big break and no brakes for Nicholas Ralph

[xmasdaybaby1966 · 9/10 · 10 September 2020]

I really didn't want to enjoy this. I was brought up reading the books and watching the original TV series which I am sure is still doing the rounds on some satellite channel somewhere. I really didn't want to enjoy it - but I loved it. Samuel West is brilliant trying not to be Robert Hardy as Siegfried and Nicholas Ralph is brilliantly cast. Being an unknown means you aren't spending the whole show wondering what they have been in before. Well written and greatly portrayed with a fine supporting cast. I would give it a 10 but really feel there was no need to remake such a classic show. Such a shame it is hidden away on Channel 5 but still managed to have more than 3 million viewers. Hoping they can keep up the top quality.

You've Got To Dream

[Prismark10 · 7/10 · 3 September 2020]

It shouldn't happen to a vet. Putting his hand up a cow's bum. He could lose his wristwatch.

Channel 5 have learned from the BBCs mistakes when they made the grimy, grey and dull Young James Herriot almost a decade ago.

The focus is on James Herriot leaving Glasgow, his mother fussing over him and hoping he would get a regular job in the docks.

James is heading for the Yorkshire village of Darrowby. A job interview with the imposing Siegfried Farnon who runs the vet's practice.

James has a trial run, but he upsets Siegfried by getting drunk and messing with the cats. However James later proves himself and stands up to Siegfried.

Episode one was a relaunch of All Creatures Great and Small with modern production values. It had a nostalgic glow and even the theme music arrived at the end.

The original series was a firm favourite in our household. So this reboot had a lot to live up to and it did manage to acquit itself well.

There was only one issue. Since when was Mrs Hall so fanciable?

Made with a lot of love for what made the original a classic

[martijn-56 · 10/10 · 22 October 2020]

I was a kid when the 70s series came out first, and the wonderful warm cast, the bucolic scenery and dreamy atmosphere of times long past, have stuck with me (and probably countless others around the globe) all my life. I even dreamt to become a vet after that, and even though life took me in a different direction, this series remains the symbol to me of innocent dreams lost, but not forgotten. This reboot quite moved me since it took me straight back to 1978 (when it came out in Holland), I was a kid again, in a time when life seems so uncomplicated full of illusions, and everything was open still. This episode is done with a lot of love for what made the original tick; cinematography, the music, cast, costumes etc are so good that we are taken back in a time machine to a world long lost in time as if we are there, wishing we could stay, if we could. I am sure young people watching it now could carry this reboot in their hearts as many of us have done with the original. I am sure the original cast will consider this as a proper tribute to them, and I would love to see a series 2 if time allows.. And hey, even Mrs Hall is back in a younger incarnation, this time hopefully for more than 3 seasons!

Nice Feel Good Drama

[raccles · 10/10 · 1 September 2020]

I loved it, it was just what I needed after this year. It's nice to see some real community again too. Can't wait for the next episode, really liked the cast too. Well done!

A successful pilot

[VetteRanger · 9/10 · 10 January 2023]

Millions around the world loved the series of compilation books created with James Herriot's (Alf Wight) stories inspired by his life as a vet. They were popularized on film with the television series started in 1978, and restarted after a few years gap in the later 1980s.

Therefore, this series had a LOT of live up to. Reboots often fail to capture the magic of well-loved originals, and film and TV projects often fail to live up to original written works.

Both the original series and this were limited to stories written by Wight, and I believe that's the success they've achieved and the high regard of fans of both the novels and first series.

This episode covers James Heriot's arrival in Darrowby and his early trials both learning the ropes outside school and trying to gain acceptance as both a newcomer to the trade and a newcomer to the area. The result is brilliant.

Delightful

[safenoe · 10/10 · 21 October 2022]

I must admit that I never saw the original of All Creatures Great and Small, that is the one with a Doctor Who as Tristan Farnon. But I was utterly delighted by this reboot and with the series opener which was broadcast when the world had shut down.

Nicholas Ralph is pretty much perfect for the role of James Herriott (real name James Alfred Wight) although I would have been incredibly impressed if Danny Dyer had been cast instead. Now that would have been something to have a geezer as Herriott. I would have been impressed if say Michael Caine played Siegfried Farnon. That would have been fascinating.

Splendid depistion of Yorkshire scenery, spectacular feel-good family-friendly entertainment.

[aarosedi · 5 October 2020]

Al most took my breath away with that scenario having the cat Jasper in a switcheroo muddle. Sure made me clutched my pearl necklace that I almost broke it. Gasp. Nice complement to [title=tt5016662] if you could get ahold of some episodes of that docu-series. Decent pilot episode indeed this one.

Decent start

[darkdementress · 6/10 · 23 September 2020]

I remember the original show from my childhood and I was excited to see that they were remaking it and hopefully it would be a little more modern as well as getting to watch it in hd. But I don't understand why they decided to make James a bumbling idiot? What does getting stuck and falling in the mud have to do with proving you'd be a good farm vet? Let's all watch him fall because if you can't stand being dirty then you can't be a vet.. ha ha ha.. so funny. Also not a fan of the actor that plays James. and I'm not sure why they decided to start the story before he was even a vet maybe to give a bit more backstory? Or maybe the books started like that?..But the original series he was already a married vet and his brother was there so idk.

So far so promising

[studioAT · 5/10 · 16 September 2020]

So here we go, another remake/reboot to pass the time.

This is a decent attempt to reimagine the original series and clearly a lot of effort has gone into it.

If you've never seen the original show this will no doubt be an hour of escapism during these troubled times, but those who have I'm sure will make their own comparisons, be them favourable/not.

However, so far this looks promising.

dumbed down sitcom of a classic

[ilenegs · 8 February 2021]

Sigrfied Farnon could be peremtory, highhanded and exasperating, but NEVER pompous, aloof or mean. He was ALWAYS endearing. This one is repellent. Mrs. Hall, who was heavyset, over 60, and a absolutely wonderful character, is now young, beautiful and sleeps in a delicate nighty, like all Yorshiire woman did back then in their unheated houses, Herriot is too dimwitted to know what time the bus arrives in Darrowby or ask the driver to let him know when it arrives there. The pots in the kitchen look like they were bought yesterday at William Sonoma. Even the music is annoying. The only thing that remains true is the physical beauty of the Dales. After rewatching the original (which holds up beautifully, especially the first set), this first episode is tremendously disappointing. I guess they didn't have to pander in the 70s.