‘MANY HAPPY RETURNS’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
I saw the fourth episode of Series 2 of the new ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ TV series on the 7th of October 2021. It felt we were going through the season very quickly, especially as I enjoyed it a lot. 🙂
Yes, I was enjoying Series 2 of new ‘All Creatures’. I particularly liked how the fourth Series 2 episode of the new ‘All Creatures’ series is more Tristan-focused as opposed to being James-focused so far. 🙂
There’s still some James stuff going on in this Series 2 episode of new ‘All Creatures’, but it’s good Callum Woodhouse gets more attention here, especially with this being about Tristan’s birthday. 🙂
Yes! It’s Tristan’s birthday in this particular episode! I really enjoyed how the episode began with Tristan opening his presents, including the suitcase his brother Samuel West as Siegfried gives him. 🙂
Nicholas Ralph as James and Anna Madeley as Mrs. Hall are also there to celebrate Tristan’s birthday. It’s like nothing awful can ever happen, provided Siegfried doesn’t ruin things in the process.
It’s fitting this episode was shown on WilliamsFan92‘s birthday, wasn’t it? 😀 I had a bowl of grapes whilst I watched the episode after having had a KFC and after doing some shopping at a nearby Tesco. 😀
As well as his birthday, Tristan gets given new responsibilities as a vet. He’s sent by Siegfried to check on some horses, belonging to Steven Hartley as John Monkham. Wow! It’s quite a challenge indeed.
This includes checking on a wild black horse that gives Tristan a kicking in the shin. Ooh! Nasty! I felt his pain once I saw that happen on the TV screen. I hope that Tristan didn’t suffer permanent damage.
Siegfried does attempt to secretly check up on Tristan after he and James leave Monkham’s. Tristan soon finds out and he’s annoyed that Siegfried checked up on him after he and James left the place.
I found it funny when Tristan tried to impress Jessica Clark as Margot Saunders, a pretty-looking woman who’s really keen on horses. Whatever happened to Maggie the barmaid from the Drover’s?
I wondered whether she had gone and left Darrowby, as I thought that she and Tristan had got on well with each other. Little did I know that Maggie would soon return in Series 2 for its season finale.
Meanwhile, Tristan invites Margot to the dinner party that he’s having at Skeldale House to celebrate his birthday. Apparently, Margot is an old friend of Helen’s, which was interesting to learn.
Mind you, I found it insensitive of Margot to bring up Helen’s ex-fiancé Hugh into the conversations when at the dinner party. Although to be fair, Margot did apologise to Helen at the episode’s end. 🙂
I’m also glad that no emotional upsets occurred on Helen’s part. Helen does have a quiet strength within her and she doesn’t get into emotional outbursts a lot, which James must quite admire in her.
Going back to Tristan, he attends to the delivery of a cow’s calf at the farm of Jon Furlong as Mr. Dobson. It was funny when Tristan groaned in agony in attending to the delivery of the cow’s calf. 😀
Callum Woodhouse as Tristan does a similar thing that Peter Davison’s Tristan did in the original series. Yeah! It’s amazing how you’re able spot similarities between the original and the new shows.
In the original series episode called ‘Breath of Life’, Peter Davison’s Tristan acted like he was in total agony when attending to someone’s cow. Here, Callum Woodhouse’s Tristan does a similar thing. 😀
He acts like he’s in agonising pain whilst attending to the delivery of a cow’s calf. Very soon, James sees that Tristan play-acted during the event, as his shoulder isn’t bad, and he calls him a ‘bugger’. 😀
It was funny to see that scene in the episode. Mind you, I recall Peter Davison being more over-the-top doing that certain scene compared to Callum Woodhouse doing it. Peter Davison screamed a lot.
I also found it very funny when Siegfried gave Tristan his car to drive in whilst going off to attend to Mr. Dobson’s pregnant cow. Siegfried must’ve put a lot of trust in Tristan to let him drive his own car. 😀
It was funny when Tristan went the wrong way as he drove out in Siegfried’s car. Callum’s doing a Peter Davison ‘Doctor Who’ thing. 😀 Thankfully, Tristan doesn’t crash Siegfried’s car when on the road.
At the Skeldale dinner party, there’s James, Siegfried, Tristan and Mrs. Hall as well as Margot, Rachel Shenton as Helen and Dorothy Atkinson as Diana Brompton, who was in Series 2’s second episode. 🙂
Although Maimie McCoy as Dorothy from Series 1 was mentioned in Series 2’s second episode, I still wonder what has become of Dorothy since Siegfried liked her. Now she has Diana Brompton to like.
By the way, how come Tristan didn’t invite Ella Bruccoleri’s Anabel character from Series 2’s second episode? It’d make sense, as Tristan had a more romantic interaction with Anabel than with Margot.
The dinner party is mostly cheerful, but it ends abruptly once Siegfried inadvertently reveals that Tristan didn’t really pass his veterinary exams, despite saying he did so in the 2020 Christmas Special.
Ooh dear. This is a bad way on Siegfried’s part to reveal to Tristan that he didn’t pass his veterinary exams on his birthday! Tristan is very upset and disappointed that Siegfried didn’t tell him the truth.
All this time, Tristan believed he was a fully-qualified vet. I wasn’t sure where this storyline in Series 2 was going to go next and whether Tristan would ever forgive Siegfried properly for being lied to. 😐
I like how the romance between James and Helen is blossoming so far. They seem happy together, though Mrs. Hall reminds James that he needs to tell Helen about the job offer he’s been given lately.
It’s a job offer that James’ mother is keen for him to have. James struggles to tell Helen about the job offer, especially when he visits the Aldersons’ farm to check up on their pregnant mare Candy. 😐
Mrs. Hall accidentally reveals to Helen about the job offer that James has been given in Glasgow before he had a chance to tell her. It was really fascinating to see Helen’s reaction to that revelation.
I liked it when James took Helen home. He’s about to tell her about the job offer before she tells him that she already knows. It’s so well-played between the two characters and the actors playing them.
James shares how much he wants to be in Darrowby and how much he wants to be with Helen, but he doesn’t want to upset his mother. Helen is hopeful that they will be able to sort something out. 🙂
I like how the new ‘All Creatures’ series doesn’t sexualise James and Helen’s relationship, which was something that the original BBC TV series’ Helen actress Carol Drinkwater had feared about in 2019.
There is a subplot in the episode about a dog who whines a lot after receiving an anaesthetic from Siegfried. I don’t think this plot went anywhere. That dog simply wanted attention whilst in Skeldale.
This was either from Siegfried or Mrs. Hall. I did wonder whether there was really something wrong with the dog. It did put me in mind of a very similar situation in the original TV show’s third episode.
The episode concludes with James and Tristan heading off to the Drover’s to continue celebrating Tristan’s birthday. I liked that Tristan didn’t give up celebrating his birthday after Siegfried ruined it.
I did feel like “Is that it?” once the episode had ended? I wanted it to continue! Even when the Channel 5 announcer annoyingly couldn’t wait for the end credits to roll up, I didn’t want it to end. 🙂
‘Many Happy Returns’ is a good Tristan-centric episode in the new ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ TV series. I’m pleased this episode turned out to be great as expected when I watched it back in 2021. 🙂
I became curious about what would happen next, as Tristan knew the truth that he didn’t pass his veterinary exams? Also, would James and Helen continue to have a happy, long-lasting relationship?
At this point, I was hoping for James and Helen to be married by the time the 2021 Christmas Special came along. It’s fascinating how you make these predictions, as they don’t exactly match in the end.
I was looking forward to the next ‘All Creatures’ episode, especially with the prospect of cricket involved. I would also see the next episode whilst attending a ‘Doctor Who’ convention in Bedford. 🙂
‘Many Happy Returns’ rating – 9/10
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