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All Creatures Great & Small Season 4 Episodes
Season 4 Episode Guide
7 Episodes 2023 - 2023
Episode 1
Broodiness
Sun, Jan 7, 202452 mins
It's Easter. Siegfried has been in a more disagreeable mood than usual, partly due to trying to quit smoking, he having told Mrs. Hall to hide his tobacco which doesn't stop him searching Skeldale House for it, and partly due to missing Tristan which he doesn't really want to admit, he having trouble putting down in a letter his thoughts and feelings in response to Tristan's letters. Exasperating his disagreeability is that Clifford Stavens, a seasoned farmer, has been asking for more assistance from him of late for very basic veterinary tasks which he should be able to handle without Siegfried's help. Helen doesn't want to add to that exasperation in having made an error to one of his directives, especially as she had stated in no uncertain terms that she had everything under control. Meanwhile, James has been having antagonistic encounters with a teen he doesn't recognize. He learns from Helen that he is Wesley Binks, known as troubled and a troublemaker. Despite their encounters, James decides he has to intervene in Wesley's life in believing that Wesley's dog, Duke, has distemper a result of Wesley, from a poor family, being unable to care for him properly. James knows that he has an uphill climb in this matter from his and Wesley's past interactions. And Mrs. Hall herself is going through an emotional crisis in deciding that it is finally time to embark on a what she assumed would be a simple legal matter, and as such doesn't tell anyone or therefore ask for assistance in the matter.
Episode 2
Carpe Diem
Thu, Oct 12, 202352 mins
With Tristan gone and thus the practice being down one body, what has been neglected, especially in the current busy season, are the administrative duties, with areas related to the practice having to do with paperwork, notably Siegfried's office, a total mess. Siegfried, as is James in knowing nothing about it, is somewhat surprised, partly in forgetting that he made the casual offer, that Miss Harbottle, who he met on the dance floor at the Farmer's Ball, comes unannounced into Skeldale House ready to take over as the practice's secretary/clerk/bookkeeper in considering herself an administrative whiz. While she is able to clear up some of the items that have fallen through the cracks, she, in believing that she knows best in unilaterally implementing changes to the practice, causes an uproar with everyone else: with Siegfried in his dealings with Mr. Dakin, who is dealing with the end of productive life of his oldest dairy cow, Blossom; with James, who wants to help a slightly reluctant Joe Coney, who James and Helen met at the Drovers, with his pet ferret, Wilf, and a growth of some sort on Wilf's head; and even with Mrs. Hall in her personal life, in she not yet having told anyone, except Siegfried but least of all Gerald, about filing for divorce.
Episode 3
Right Hand Man
Sun, Jan 21, 202452 mins
James and Helen have been run off their feet, making them not only tired but giving little time for themselves as husband and wife, more important now that they have decided to start a family. That's why James in particular is excited by the student vet he is bringing into the practice, Richard Carmody from London. In that personal end goal, James plans for Richard to be his assistant, James to act more as a mentor for Richard, after which Richard could take over much of the lesser tasks in the practice without James needing to be a constant presence overseeing his work. Others that know of Richard's imminent arrival believe that Siegfried will chew him up and spit him out resulting in Richard not lasting more than a day or two, thwarting James' plan. The question becomes if this situation is an either/or, or if there is a third possible end. After Richard's arrival, this issue has a clearer end in the goings-on at a party hosted by Mrs. Pumphrey, the gathering at which she has invited many of the British soldiers training in the area. Mrs. Pumphrey has already done her personal bit for the war effort in fostering Cedric, a dog, in his master being away at war. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hall contemplates telling Gerald about filing for divorce, something for her that is easier said than done.
Episode 4
By the Book
Sun, Jan 28, 202452 mins
While admiring his studiousness to the profession, Siegfried believes that Richard is much too engrossed in book learning, those books upon which he solely relies, as opposed to hands on learning. As such, Siegfried tells Mrs. Hall to confiscate all Richard's books and sends Richard off with James on James' latest call, it to the Crabtree farm, they novice farmers new to the region. Sid Crabtree is raising dairy cows for the war effort in lieu of not serving in the military. The problem with the herd is only one faced by the Crabtrees who are seemingly not getting along with their neighbors. While James gently chastises Richard for coming to a diagnosis based solely on the stated symptoms even before examining the cows, that diagnosis of a bacterial infection called brucellosis which is indeed the case and which could potentially wipe out the herd, James sees a bigger problem with Richard in his bedside manner, he much too clinical rather than humanistic in dealing with people. With Richard arguably exacerbating the problem with the Crabtrees, Helen, who doesn't yet want to tell anyone of her pregnancy but will not be able to hide it much longer, believes that she, as a farmer, can be of more help to James with the Crabtrees than Richard. That help in combination with Richard sneaking back into his books in trying to find a research topic for his thesis leads to a potential problem with Helen's pregnancy.
Episode 5
Papers
Thu, Nov 2, 202352 mins
It's two days before James is scheduled to go off to training for the RAF in being called up, his personal situation much different now than it was months ago when he and Tristan signed up, especially in Helen expecting. Beyond wanting to spend as much time with Helen as possible, James has some professional responsibilities in ensuring the practice survives his absence. The biggest question thus becomes whether they should retain Richard beyond his current apprenticeship. Besides his continuing bedside manner not being up to snuff, with their most discernible client, Mrs. Pumphrey, already stating she only wants "Uncle Farnon" to look after her canine charges in "Uncle Herriot"'s absence in Richard not indulging her anthropomorphism of especially Tricki, the biggest problem with Richard is a more fundamental one for a Yorkshire country vet: he doesn't know how to drive with his lessons with James and subsequently Siegfried going poorly. Helen is already missing James in she trying to find things to do to fill her time. She advises Siegfried, James and Richard on a case which may be that appropriate surrogate for an expectant mother. And Mrs. Hall has to decide what to do about an unexpected announcement by Gerald on their latest date, it the first ever meal he's cooked for her, with the announcement probably being the exact opposite of what she may have anticipated.
Episode 6
The Home Front
Sun, Feb 11, 202452 mins
Changes are afoot at Skeldale House. With James already off training with the RAF, Helen is feeling at a loss. As such, she takes Mrs. Hall's advice to visit with her father and sister. In that visit, Helen contemplates staying there for the foreseeable future including to have her baby, largely in seeing her injured father hobbling around as he does his farm work which she sees as a bigger issue of him getting older. While Richard welcomes Helen "home", he forbids her to do any heavy farm work in her delicate condition which is against the primary reason she would decide to stay. Their disagreement sometimes veers into epic family proportions, but also touches on unexpected issues which they arguably did not foresee. Learning of Helen's decision makes it more difficult for Mrs. Hall to give her notice in feeling Siegfried slowly being abandoned both professionally and personally, especially as Richard is less than yet an independently self-sufficient vet. The situation is only exacerbated by a basic household issue at Skeldale House which an overburdened Siegfried already feels is his responsibility to repair.
Episode 7
On a Wing and a Prayer
Sun, Feb 18, 202452 mins
It's Christmas. The plan is for Helen to drive the thirty miles to meet with James in the town near where he is stationed, however that plan is kiboshed by Helen's condition which makes it unfeasible for her to travel. Above and beyond missing Helen especially in her current condition, James feels an especially strong need to see her this Christmas for things happening within his military situation including imminently being shipped off into bomber training. Partly in using his veterinary skills on base to nurse an injured raptor who they need to fly for service, James will learn the importance of being able to count on one's military brothers, a personal life which needs to take a back seat. Back in Darrowby, Mrs. Hall, supported by Siegfried and Mrs. Pumphrey, has made the decision that their usual Christmas gathering will be a community open one at the Drovers seeing as to many people in town needing that sense of community due to the war. Another change this season is Richard, who, from an atheistic family, will be celebrating his first Christmas ever, he thrown into the Darrowby Christmas festivities whether he wants to or not, and despite being as physically incapacitated as Helen. Helen's situation prevents her being able to attend as she and the women in her family - Jenny and Mrs. Hall - stay at Skeldale House to await the arrival of the midwife, who may not make it in time leaving Helen to do what many an expectant mother has done since the dawn of time in having the baby without medical intervention.
