‘ANOTHER FARNON?’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

After checking out the first episode of the new ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ series called ‘You’ve Got to Dream’ on Channel 5, it was only fair that I check out the second episode. I greatly enjoyed seeing it!

‘Another Farnon?’ features the debut appearances of Tristan Farnon, Mrs. Pumphrey and Tricki-Woo. I was so looking forward to how this episode would introduce these characters in the new TV series.

I know the 2020 remake of ‘All Creatures’ can’t be as good as the original 1978-1990 TV series, but I would like to think that the new show is a unique adaptation of the original ‘James Herriot’ books. 🙂

Whether the 2020 remake is closer to the source material than the 1978-1990 TV series is a matter of opinion. Both versions are very likely to have taken liberties in adapting the source material for TV.

I know I said I enjoyed seeing the second episode of 2020’s ‘All Creatures’ and I really did. But on first viewing the second episode on TV, I did have mixed feelings about the characters featured in the series.

This is especially in the relationship between James and Siegfried so far. It was early days at the time and I hoped that their relationship would improve as the series progressed further whilst watching it.

I’ll delve more into what I mean by that later in the review. Anyway, in the episode, Nicholas Ralph as James meets Callum Woodhouse as Tristan Farnon, Siegfried’s young brother for the first time. 😀

Tristan says that he passed his veterinary exams. Samuel West as Siegfried is very pleased to hear the news and he even rewards Tristan with a car. Tristan is quite overwhelmed by the generosity. 😐

As the episode progresses further though, it turns out Tristan may not have passed his exams after all. Anna Madeley as Mrs. Hall learns the truth when she discovers Tristan’s exam results in his jacket. 😐

Meanwhile, James is romantically interested in Rachel Shenton as Helen Alderson, giving him a reason to stay in the Dales. James also attends to Tricki-Woo, a dog owned by Diana Rigg as Mrs. Pumphrey.

First of all, I think Callum Woodhouse is good as Tristan Farnon. I wouldn’t say he’s good as Peter Davison’s version of Tristan, but he does provide a really enjoyable portrayal of Tristan’s character. 🙂

I think Callum’s version of Tristan is a little naughtier than Peter’s. He also doesn’t work much as a vet whenever James is conducting a vet case. He also laughs at James shouting “Cush!” to a cow in this.

The most enjoyable parts of the episode are Diana Rigg as Mrs. Pumphrey and her dog Tricki-Woo. Honestly, I loved it when Diana’s Mrs. Pumphrey and her dog Tricki-Woo were warming to James. 😀

I loved it when she called James ‘Uncle Herriot’ and he responded to that by calling Tricki-Woo ‘nephew’. It’s really sweet and it demonstrates the creative input the makers of the new TV series have. 🙂

The relationship between James and Helen seems rather promising so far, especially when they interact and are rather sweet on each other. James wishes to see Helen again on a date sometime. 🙂

However, that’s hampered when Matthew Lewis as Hugh Hulton interrupts James and Helen at Mrs. Pumphrey’s party. It’s revealed that Hugh Hulton is actually dating Helen in this ‘All Creatures’ series.

Now that’s interesting! In the original series, the wealthy landowner who competed for Helen’s affections with James was Richard Edmundson. I think the name Hugh Hulton is closer to the book. 🙂

It’s also nice to see how Anna Madeley as Mrs. Hall interacts with Callum Woodhouse as Tristan in the episode. Mrs. Hall is clearly the person who tries to keep everyone in Skeldale House together. 🙂

Going back to the issue I have with James and Siegfried’s relationship, I feel there’s not much interaction between them as partners. At least that was what I felt when I first watched the episode.

In the original TV series, the chemistry between Christopher Timothy as James and Robert Hardy as Siegfried was pretty evident. Their characters got to share cases with each other in many of the episodes.

Here, the relationship between James and Siegfried is stricter. It’s like Siegfried doesn’t trust James to do his job properly. Maybe it’s based on real life, due to James being inexperienced with Siegfried.

Maybe it might be down to the inconsistency of Siegfried’s character coming into play here, but it does feel rather off. In many ways, Siegfried treats James in the same manner as he treats Tristan. 😐

Perhaps this will change as the series progresses and maybe James and Siegfried will grow to like each other more, but it does feel unsettling. It seems a struggle for these two to become buddies. 😐

I liked it when Robert Hardy’s Siegfried and Christopher Timothy’s James interacted with each other in the original TV series, as they behaved like they were genuine friends. At least that’s what it felt like. 🙂

Robert Hardy was also more cheerful and friendlier compared to how Samuel West plays Siegfried. And I know Samuel West can’t do a Robert Hardy version of Siegfried, since he must make it his own.

There’s a situation in the episode where James attends to someone’s cow. He keeps attending to it since there’s still something wrong with it. Siegfried is quite hard on James when he gets it wrong. 🙁

Also, and I hate to say it, but there are times when James can be a little irresponsible for his actions. In the original series, Christopher Timothy as James tended to be more responsible when being a vet.

Chris Timothy’s James was open about the mistakes he made in certain cases. I don’t know if it’s inexperience, but in this new series, Nicholas Ralph as James can be reckless at times when viewing him in the series.

Incidentally, the second episode opens with a brand-new title sequence, which wasn’t in the first episode. I found that really odd. I quite like the show’s title sequence and the theme music is decent enough. 🙂

Mind you, it’s not a patch good as the original TV show’s title sequence and theme music. Hopefully it will grow on me as I watch more of the series, but there should be more of Johnny Pearson’s music. 😀

I also wonder if title sequences being introduced in the second episode of a brand-new TV series seems to be the norm nowadays. I sense a pattern here with a new TV show being introduced.

This also happened in ‘Doctor Who’ when Jodie Whittaker’s title sequence was first introduced in ‘The Ghost Monument’. This isn’t a complaint. It’s just an unusual way of doing things in new shows.

Overall, the second episode of 2020’s ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ was good to watch. I was getting used to the atmosphere and the tone of the new TV series so far, though it was still early days at this point.

The performances of the cast are still very good and at least the stories themselves were keeping me interested in wanting to watch more. I hoped the episodes would be better whilst watching them. 🙂

I have in mind to do a Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Billy story where Peter Davison’s Fifth Doctor is switched out for a bit and is replaced by Callum Woodhouse’s Fifth Doctor. ‘The Mind Robber’ logic? 😀

‘Another Farnon’ rating – 8/10

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