‘SEMPER PROGEDIENS’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
I greatly enjoyed watching the second episode of Series 2 of the new ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ TV series. I even found the second episode of Series 2 better than the first one, which is a good sign.
I recognised some familiar faces featured in this episode and I liked how James and Helen’s love story was developing. Little did I know how promising Series 2 would get as the episodes progressed.
In this episode, the Daffodil Ball is about to take place. I’m not sure if there’s a Welsh connection involved with it being called the Daffodil Ball. Are Daffodils common in Yorkshire as well as in Wales? 😐
If James were in Wales instead of Yorkshire, it would make sense. Heck, it’d be far more fitting for Christopher Timothy as James Herriot in the original 1978-1990 TV series, as the actor’s a Welshman.
Anyway, each member of the Skeldale practice is caught between their duties to their patients and their potential dates. It was fascinating to see the Skeldale family balancing out their lives with work.
Nicholas Ralph as James also becomes frustrated when Samuel West as Siegfried takes Callum Woodhouse as Tristan with him on his rounds, whilst he’s doing all the hard work that’s in surgery. 🙁
It was also interesting to see how James is in receipt of the tantalising job offer with the Glasgow practice, which was established in the previous episode. James gets caught in a moral dilemma here.
His mother seems keen for him to take the job instead of being a vet in Skeldale. Surely James should be making that decision himself. But then, mothers can be very besotted with their offspring.
I like how James shares his indecision about whether to accept the Glasgow job offer or not to Anna Madeley as Mrs. Hall. She also assists James in sharing some of the workload in the Skeldale surgery.
This is while Siegfried and Tristan are out on rounds. Mrs. Hall is also aware of James’ feelings for Helen. 🙂 The only thing that can keep James in Yorkshire is a possible romance with Helen Alderson.
I like the scene where Helen (who assumed James wanted to see her, according to Tristan) is invited to join him at the Daffodil Ball. I like how it’s played out between Nicholas Ralph and Rachel Stenton.
Even though we don’t see it, Helen takes one of the tickets from James. I was wondering if she had taken one of the two tickets James had on the table. It was a relief to see that she had taken the ticket. 🙂
I enjoyed the scenes between Siegfried and Tristan when they were going about on their rounds. Siegfried is given the impression by his brother Tristan that he’s becoming too diffident and ‘past it’.
This was amusing to watch and hear whilst seeing the episode. The bickering between Siegfried and Tristan when they’re driving in the car is a joy to watch and it highlights more on their relationship. 🙂
Like I said, there are some familiar faces I recognised in this episode. There’s Dorothy Atkinson as Diana Brompton, who gives out the invitations to the Daffodil Ball at Skeldale, which was nice to see.
Dorothy Atkinson was in Series 2 of ‘Call the Midwife’, as she played Jane Sutton. I knew I recognised her from somewhere. 😀 She becomes Siegfried’s latest love interest in Series 2 of ‘All Creatures’.
There is mention made of the woman that Siegfried liked in Series 1 and in the 2020 Christmas Special named Dorothy. I did wonder whether we were ever going to see Dorothy again sometime soon. 😐
There’s also mention of Maggie, the barmaid at the Drovers from Series 1. I wondered what became of her, as she and Tristan had been getting on well in that season. 🙂 I hoped that we’d see her again.
I instantly recognised James Fleet (Hugo Horton in ‘The Vicar of Dibley’) as Colonel Merrick, a demanding client that Siegfried attends to during the episode. I found James Fleet amusing to watch.
I couldn’t help laugh out loud when Colonel Merrick’s cow was unblocked by James and Siegfried. The cow’s stomach burst spectacularly, especially when splattering all over Merrick, James and Siegfried. 🙂
Even James and Siegfried’s new white overalls got ruined. It was unexpected, yet a welcome comedic moment. I’m amazed the new ‘All Creatures’ series is able to make me laugh out loud like that. 😀
I was equally delighted to see Ella Bruccoleri as Anabel Dinsdale, along with Mark Noble as her father Henry Dinsdale in the episode. Ella Bruccoleri is well-known as Sister Frances in ‘Call the Midwife’. 🙂
It was a surprise to see her in this episode and without the habit for a change. I wish she was in more episodes of Series 2. Anabel Dinsdale likes Tristan, as she meets her at her dad’s farm and at the ball.
Tristan seems to have his way with women in this episode, especially when she meets up with Anabel at the Daffodil Ball. They’re kissing each other when Siegfried and Diana leave the building. 🙂
Cleo Sylvestre returns as Anne Chapman. She last appeared in the 2020 Christmas Special. Watching the 2020 Christmas Special on the Series 2 DVD makes a huge difference with revisiting this episode. 😀
Mrs. Hall also seems to be enamoured by a new client – Will Thorp as Gerald Hammond. Wait a minute! Will Thorp as in Toby Zed from the ‘Doctor Who’ story ‘The Impossible Planet’/’The Satan Pit’? 😮
Wow! He looks so different in this ‘All Creatures’ episode compared to that ‘Doctor Who’ story. I almost met the chap, as he attended the ‘Time Warp’ convention in Weston-super-Mare in July 2014.
I hoped that this wouldn’t be the last we’d see of Gerald Hammond, as Mrs. Hall seems to like him. The dog Jess also seems to like Gerald’s dog Rock, when he’s being attended to in surgery by James.
It’s also ironic that there happens to be one dog at Skeldale House whereas in the original TV series, Siegfried had plenty of dogs to look after in the home. It’s better to have one dog than have many. 🙂
I enjoyed the romance developed between James and Helen in the episode when they danced together. Helen seemed to be happy when she was dancing with James, which I was glad to witness.
Even after James left Helen to dance with someone else, she visited him the next day to thank him for inviting her to the ball. The tender moments between James and Helen are very sweet indeed.
I probably shouldn’t say this, but the romance between James and Helen is better in the new ‘All Creatures’ series compared to the original BBC show. Something I didn’t expect to find myself say. 😐
And don’t get me wrong, I like the romance between James and Helen in the original series fine enough, but there wasn’t a reason provided as to why Helen fell in love with James in the first place.
Here, you can see why Helen would fall in love with James, as he helps to make her feel better after she felt guilty and didn’t get out much following the aborted wedding in the 2020 Christmas Special.
It’s nice to see the emotional depth of James and Helen’s relationship in the new series explored compared to the original. There’s also a moment where Helen gives James a kiss on the cheek before she leaves.
I must admit, I was expecting James and Helen to go into a full-on kiss towards the end of the second episode. It felt like it was actually going to happen. Maybe it was too soon a moment by this point. 😐
I was hoping for James and Helen to be together by the end of Series 2 and that James would stay in the Yorkshire Dales. I had no idea what to expect when it came to checking out the third episode. 😀
‘Semper Progrediens’, the second episode of Series 2 of the new ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ TV series is very satisfying to watch. This was the first of so many good episodes in the rest of Series 2. 🙂
I was hopeful for good things to happen to James in the rest of Series 2, especially in his relationship with Helen. I also hoped for good things to happen to the rest of the Skeldale family. 😀
At this point, I wondered when we would see the new Mrs. Pumphrey (played by Patricia Hodge) with Tricki-Woo in the new ‘All Creatures’ series. Thankfully, we would see her in the next episode. 🙂
By the way, I’m glad the show’s title sequence came back into the second episode of Series 2 after being absent in the first episode. I currently wonder if this pattern will be recurrent in Series 3 and 4.
‘Semper Progrediens’ rating – 9/10
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