‘THE LAST MAN IN’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
I greatly enjoyed watching the fifth episode of Series 2 of the new ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ series on Thursday the 14th of October 2021. I was watching this episode in style at a Premier Inn. 😀
I was away in Bedford when I watched this particular ‘All Creatures’ episode. I was looking forward to attending the ‘Bedford Who Charity Con 6’ that coming weekend and it was pretty worthwhile. 🙂
I would be seeing Sarah Sutton, Peter Davison and Janet Fielding at a ‘Doctor Who’ convention in a long while following the Covid-19 pandemic. I had two things to enjoy in the build-up to the event. 🙂
There was this ‘All Creatures’ episode on Thursday and a ‘Grantchester‘ episode on Friday before attending ‘BWCC6’ on Saturday. There was also ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ at the cinema, but it wasn’t very good.
I found this a particularly light-hearted episode in the new ‘All Creatures’ series. This is surprisingly so, considering the episode features the return of an old flame for Rachel Stenton as Helen Alderson.
There’s also a game of cricket involved in the episode. Beforehand, I watched the ‘Doctor Who’ story ‘Black Orchid’. The cricket scenes featured in this episode did put me in mind of that ‘Doctor Who’ story. 🙂
It’s surreal that I was rewatching a ‘Doctor Who’ story featuring a cricket match before watching an ‘All Creatures’ episode that had cricket in it on Channel 5 TV. It couldn’t have happened at a better time.
But yes! Matthew Lewis returns as Hugh Hulton in the episode. I didn’t think that we would see Hugh again following the 2020 Christmas Special where Helen had jilted him on their wedding day. 😐
There was tension once Helen and her family caught up with Hugh in the episode as well as when Nicholas Ralph as James meets up with him to attend to his cow. I wondered how things would turn out.
Hugh has been away in France for quite a while. Understandably, James is worried that Hugh has returned to vie for Helen’s attentions. I didn’t know what direction this episode was going to go in. 😐
This episode could have easily ended up rather badly with arguments being aroused by Hugh Hulton causing trouble. James and Helen could’ve fallen out due to some distrust they had with each other.
Thankfully, the episode didn’t do that. On the contrary, by the episode’s conclusion, Hugh seems to be happy that Helen has found happiness with James. I found that pretty sporting of the chap indeed.
Also, James does something during the cricket match which impresses Helen and makes her love him even more. I found that genuinely heartwarming when watching this certain episode on Channel 5. 🙂
I’m very pleased that we get to have a cricket match featured in this new series ‘All Creatures’ episode. It would’ve been a shame if there wasn’t any cricket featured in this new ‘All Creatures’ TV series.
Thankfully, the cricket match in this new series episode isn’t like the one in the original series episode ‘The Name of the Game’. James got tricked to play a cricket game by Tristan in that episode.
Also, Tristan had a rotten time playing cricket in that episode, especially against a pretty mean opposing bowler. I’m glad that at least this ‘All Creatures’ episode was a bit happier involving cricket.
And it turns out that James volunteers to join the Darrowby Eleven team to compete against Hugh Hulton’s team when they participate in Mrs. Pumphrey’s annual cricket match. That makes a change.
And yes! Patricia Hodge as Mrs. Pumphrey appears in the episode. It was very nice to see Mrs. Pumphrey for a cricket match in this episode. She does have a little trouble with Tricki-Woo though.
Apparently, Tricki-Woo seems to be pining for the dog that belongs to Nigel Betts as Dennis Handshaw. Oh yeah! Nigel Betts has been in the new ‘All Creatures’ series before (both in Series 1 and 2). 😀
He gets everywhere, that Nigel Betts. First, it was in a few ‘Doctor Who’ episodes, then a ‘Grantchester’ episode, and now here in new ‘All Creatures’! I’ve also met Nigel Betts in real-life once. 😀
Mrs. Pumphrey acquires the help of Samuel West as Siegfried when Tricki-Woo seems to be pining for another dog (which isn’t his breed, I believe). I’m not sure how that relationship would work out. 😀
It’s interesting that Mrs. Pumphrey asked Siegfried to help out and not ‘Uncle Herriot’! In the original BBC TV show, I recall James Herriot being asked to help out with Mrs. Pumphrey’s Tricki-Woo all the time.
I also like how James is trained into shape for the cricket match by Siegfried, Callum Woodhouse as Tristan and Anna Madeley as Mrs. Hall. Siegfried seems to be quite hard on James in mid-training. 😐
Tristan meanwhile gives James some encouraging words of support. It’s intriguing how Siegfried and Tristan differ in terms of helping James when they have him ready for what might be a serious game.
Also, I couldn’t help think of Callum Woodhouse getting ready to perhaps play an ‘unbound’ version of Peter Davison’s Fifth Doctor in ‘Doctor Who’. This is especially with the cricket knowledge he has.
Tristan also hasn’t forgiven Siegfried for lying to him about not passing his veterinarian exams since the previous episode when this episode starts. He can’t join the team, since he isn’t a qualified vet. 😦
That seems to be one of the rules for this cricket match here. No non-vets allowed. This is until one of the Darrowby Eleven is unable to play and Tristan pitches in. Tristan forgives Siegfried by the end.
By the way, Helen’s father, Tony Pitts as Richard Alderson, is in charge of the cricket team that James, Siegfried and Tristan are in. Helen’s father has more to do in the new TV show than in the original show.
The Aldersons, including Helen, her father and her sister Imogen Clawson as Jenny, also receive a surprise from Hugh when he offers them his new cow to make amends. They decline his kind offer. 🙂
It was nice to see Will Thorp as Gerald Hammond again, as he appeared in the second episode of Series 2. It appears that Gerald is becoming a love interest for Mrs. Hall. This seems to be really nice.
There’s also Jessica Clark as Margot Sebright Saunders, who was in the previous episode. Tristan has a thing for Margot in this and the previous episode. This is before Tristan sees Hugh with Margot here.
Whatever did happen to that nice bargirl called Maggie that Tristan liked? We haven’t seen her for quite a while. I’m sure she and Tristan got on well with each other since the 2020 Christmas Special.
And whatever happened to Ella Bruccoleri as Anabel Dinsdale. Mark Noble as her father is in this episode! I’m sure Tristan could meet up with either Maggie or Anabel in the TV series anytime soon.
I enjoyed the set-up of the cricket match featured in this episode, especially when things seemed to get rather brutal between the Darrowby Eleven and Hugh’s men during the match. It’s quite intense.
I forgot about the cricketer who received a bloody nose from bating during the episode. That was quick a shock. Let’s be thankful that no-one employed the ‘bodyline’ technique by Douglas Jardine. 🙂
Whilst watching the episode, as well as the ‘Doctor Who’ story ‘Black Orchid’, I couldn’t help feel that there were echoes of the ‘Dad’s Army’ episode ‘The Test’’ featured throughout, which is funny.
In fact, I thought this episode was going to end on a note where the Darrowby Eleven nearly lost and James saved the day with surprising luck. James could’ve got his team ‘a six’ like dear old Godfrey. 🙂
As it turned out, it didn’t happen that way whilst watching the episode. It seemed that James deliberately lost the game to prove a point. Tristan noticed. So did Helen. It seemed okay in the end.
‘The Last Man In’ is a great episode in Series 2 of the new ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ series! I’m glad I saw this episode whilst I was away in Bedford for a thrilling weekend that I was looking forward to.
This was a nice ‘All Creatures’ episode to sit through whilst I was in my Premier Inn hotel room. The performances of the cast are superb and the cricketing atmosphere featured throughout was lovely.
I also liked how the Hugh Hulton storyline ended in this episode and how James and Helen’s relationship seemed to develop so far. It would become intriguing once it came to the season finale.
‘The Last Man In’ rating – 9/10
| Go back to | Go next to |
| Return to All Creatures Great and Small | |
| Return to Drama |
Bradley's Basement 