‘WHERE THE HEART IS’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
It’s time to talk about Series 2 of the new ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ show! At the time in September 2021, I was amazed it was one year ago the new ‘All Creatures’ show was shown in 2020.
I was looking forward to seeing Series 2 after enjoying Series 1. I hoped my expectations would be met and that Series 2 would be a satisfying season. Perhaps it would even surpass my expectations. 😀
I was happy to find that the new ‘All Creatures’ cast were back for the new TV series’ second run. There’s of course Nicholas Ralph as James, Samuel West as Siegfried and Callum Woodhouse as Tristan.
There’s also Anna Madeley as Mrs. Hall and Rachel Shenton as Helen. It felt like these new characters hadn’t been away, especially with Series 1 made from 2019 to 2020 and Series 2 made in 2021. 🙂
As I established in the previous review, the Series 2 episodes were being shown on Thursdays at 9pm instead of Tuesdays at 9pm on Channel 5. It was a very intriguing move. I was okay with the change.
I’m sure it wasn’t easy for the cast and crew to make Series 2 of the new ‘All Creatures’ show, since they filmed the season during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. It was easier when making Series 1. 😐
But like with Series 10 of ‘Call the Midwife’ and Series 6 of ‘Grantchester’, it was hard to notice the cast doing any social distancing, since they acted quite naturally in the scenes in Series 2’s first episode.
There’s even a moment in ‘Where the Heart Is’ where Mrs. Hall hugged James upon his return to Skeldale House. Brave! ‘Call the Midwife’ seems more careful than ‘Grantchester’ and ‘All Creatures’.
I’m not sure how it was handled in terms of the filming in a ‘bubble’, but I’m sure it was sorted out well in terms of health and safety guidelines. They must’ve had Covid advisers when making Series 2.
Anyway, the first Series 2 episode called ‘Where the Heart Is’ begins with James temporarily working in Glasgow for a bit before he returns to the Yorkshire Dales. I was startled to see James in Glasgow.
This was an interesting way to begin Series 2 of the new ‘All Creatures’ show. In the original BBC TV show, we never saw James return home, as he was always there in Darrowby from beginning to end.
Mind you, it didn’t help when James sounded less Scottish than he was supposed to sound when Christopher Timothy portrayed him in the original series. He should have been Welsh, not Scottish. 🙂
I found it intriguing that this episode didn’t begin with the opening title sequence, as featured from the second to the sixth episodes of Series 1 of new ‘All Creatures’ as well as in the 2020 Christmas Special.
Thankfully, the opening title sequence would be played in the second to sixth episodes of Series 2, but it’s quite unusual how each season doesn’t start with an opening title sequence as you’d expect.
When in Glasgow, James is offered a permanent role at a more sophisticated veterinary practice. He has to choose between his mother’s wishes for him to be close to home and his place in Yorkshire. 😐
This is a fascinating character arc for James and this would be ongoing in Series 2. I wondered how this character arc would progress and how it would resolve with James deciding to stay in Yorkshire.
Initially, James’ return to the Dales is a happy one. Mrs. Hall, Tristan and Siegfried (in his way 😀 ) are glad to have him back at Skeldale House. I’m pleased James got a good welcome home in Skeldale. 🙂
Trouble ensues however when James faces a clash of rural values. The dog of Imogen Clawson as Jenny, Helen Alderson’s sister, is frightening a farmer’s sheep. Naturally, the farmer is upset by this. 🙁
There’s no evidence of bite marks on the sheep, but the Aldersons, including Helen and Tony Pitts as her father wish to put the dog down. I was initially shocked by this decision the Aldersons had made.
I liked how James tried to resolve the issue without resorting to putting the dog down. He has Jenny train her dog to be around the sheep and not frighten them, which turns out to be very successful.
I also liked it when James persuaded people like Helen and Siegfried to overcome their traditional Yorkshire values and find new ways of handling their animals without resorting to harsh methods.
I didn’t think Yorkshire would have those kinds of values in watching the new ‘All Creatures’ show. There’s a moment where James tells Helen not to feel guilty about herself over jilting Hugh Hulton. 🙂
I know the conversation was about Jenny’s dog, but I could tell he was talking to her about feeling guilty over dumping Hugh. I’m pretty sure Helen knew what James was talking about in that scene too.
This is after James and Tristan heard from Jenny about what happened in the aftermath following the aborted wedding in the 2020 Christmas Special. I’m very glad that scene set up the later scene. 🙂
I hoped that the love story between James and Helen would continue to have a positive outcome. I had no idea on whether Series 2 would conclude with James and Helen being together as a couple. 🙂
I didn’t know if it would continue in the 2021 Christmas Special. It did seem be to lean-in towards that direction when watching the opening episode of Series 2, and I’m glad my predictions were correct.
There’s a subplot where Siegfried struggles to conceal from Tristan that he didn’t do well in his recent exams in the 2020 Christmas Special. I’m glad I revisited the new series to double-check that.
Mrs. Hall meanwhile susses it out. It was very amusing how she got him to tell her the truth about it. There’s more of an active role for Mrs. Hall in the new TV series compared to the original TV show. 🙂
It’s interesting Siegfried didn’t blow his top off about Tristan failing his previous exams in the 2020 Christmas Special. I’m sure the Siegfried in the original TV show would have made a fuss about it. 😀
As Series 2 progressed, I wondered if Tristan would ever find out the truth about Siegfried lying to him on passing his veterinary exams. One thing was certain. It wouldn’t end on a particularly happy note.
There’s also an amusing subplot where Tristan accidentally kills his first patient, which turns out to be a budgerigar. This storyline had been used before in the original TV show episode ‘Faint Hearts’. 🙂
However, in that episode, it was James who handled the budgerigar. Intriguing Tristan handles the budgerigar this time. In this new series episode, the budgerigar’s owner is actually a blind woman. 🙂
Surely that was taken from the original series TV episode ‘Alarms and Excursions’ where Siegfried attended to a blind lady who had a guide dog. I couldn’t help laugh my way through this subplot. 😀
This is especially when Tristan puts the dead budgerigar in a drawer at Skeldale before he went to buy another one. Mrs. Hall and Siegfried’s reactions to the dead budgerigar in the episode are hilarious.
I found ‘Where the Heart Is’ a good start to Series 2 of the new ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ TV series. I was looking forward to seeing more of Series 2 and how the main regulars would progress. 🙂
Would James stay in Darrowby or would he move back to Glasgow? And would James and Helen be a couple? I was keen to find out as I watched more of Series 2 when it was transmitted on Channel 5.
Incidentally, James seems to have become more confident in Series 2 compared to how he began in Series 1. I quite like that character development, especially as he expresses his aspirations as a vet. 🙂
This is especially when Siegfried was a bit rough on James at Skeldale House concerning the Aldersons’ dog. James was able to stand up to Siegfried by the episode’s end, which I’m glad he did.
‘Where the Heart Is’ rating – 8/10
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