All Creatures Great & Small: Series 1, Vols. 1-13: Amazon.ca: Christopher Timothy, Robert Hardy, Peter Davison, Carol Drinkwater, Jack Watson, Mary Hignett, Frank Birch, Janet Davies, Cyril Appleton, Stephen Bratt, Dickie Arnold, Joe Holmes, Christopher Baker, Peter Moffatt, Terence Dudley, Anthony Steven, Brian Clark, Brian Finch, James Herriot, Johnny Byrne: DVD

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Set in the serene beauty of the Yorkshire countryside, this classic follows the true-life adventures of veterinarian James Herriot. Includes all thirteen episodes from the first season.

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26 Reviews

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4.8 out of 5 stars (26 customer reviews)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars All Things Wise and Wonderful, Feb 16 2004

By

Sarah Hadley (Murfreesboro, Tennessee USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Creatures Great & Small: Series 1, Vols. 1-13 (DVD)

One of the great joys of my childhood was when my family would gather round, each and every Saturday night, and watch an episode of this series on PBS. This charming little series is based on the wildly popular, real-life James Herriot veterinary stories set in the Yorkshire Dales. A mixture of drama and very witty comedy, the main characters are played to perfection by Christopher Timothy, Robert Hardy, and Peter Davison, supported by a fine cast of British character actors as the "good country people" of the dales.

The DVDs are pretty standard - the interior video footage is quite clean and nice, but the 16mm film exteriors is often grainy and dirty (this is improved somewhat on the series 2 set). The only supplement is on disc 4 - a one-hour 1980s interview with the real James Herriot, veterinarian Alf Wight. Still, the real joy is in the episodes themselves. Although the series is set in the '30s, it has dated a little bit; it can be unusually slow on occasion. Nonetheless, this is recommended viewing for BBC fans, as well as families who enjoy gentle comedy and (of course!) animals.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Real Life Comedy, Jan 9 2004

By

John D. Dooley "PhiloX" (Southern California United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: All Creatures Great & Small: Series 1, Vols. 1-13 (DVD)

Our Background: My wife, who was born in Russia, yet lived near Kiev Ukraine in a Soviet commune farm, loved reading the books "All Creatures Great & Small" from James Herriot (real name: Alf Wight). When we got married & she moved to the United States, we both fell in love with movie adaptations from Jane Austin's novels. This lead to a British TV series invasion in our house, starting with "Darling Buds of May" & later when we found the DVD book set of "All Creatures Great & Small". Let's give it a try...

The Production: The TV series "All Creatures Great & Small" started in Great Britain on January 1978 with no nonsense photography with the typical grain of that time period. Some photography scenes were taken direct off Yorkshire farms. There are very little special effects, the only ones I can think of is either drugged or fake animals to act out certain quick scenes. Were some of the animals trained to act like they were sick or dying? Sometimes certain operations were preformed with a human hand, checking the rear of certain animals for pregnancies or intestinal problems. At times when the actors themselves are seen performing inspections on the animals, their hands were either hidden behind the animals or the actors were making faces with the lower parts of their bodies off the screen. Very down to Earth & as real as possible with great effect.

The Actors: Christopher Timothy plays James Herriot, a Scottish newly qualified Veterinarian traveling down to Yorkshire England for a job interview with Veterinarian Surgeon Siegfried Farnon, played by Robert Hardy, in the town & farming community of Darrowby during the 1930's. Later Veterinary student & Siegfried's younger brother Tristan, played by Peter Davison (later to become the fifth Dr. Who), who travels back & forth during college. Also in the house is the housekeeper, Mrs. Hall, played by Mary Hignett. At last after dating James through the first of the series & then marring him is Helen, played by Carol Drinkwater. Our favorite minor character is Mrs. Pumphrey, played by Margarette Scott, a rich widower who has a Pekingese dog Tricki Woo. Mrs. Pumphrey constantly over feeds the dog almost to death, which James rescues with a diet, & he is awarded grommet treats of cigars & Port.

Commentary: The first program started out rather slow with references to British & Scottish language problems & it was not until the third or fourth program that we both started to understand & enjoy the series. In the end it was like experiencing new neighbors in our family room each night. This box set comes with 4 DVD's: at three to four 50 to 55 minute programs per DVD. The last DVD comes with an interview with the real James Herriot: Alf Wight.

If you like the first DVD box set series, there are now two other DVD Box sets, the second & third seasons, & a single DVD of 2 specials from the mid 1980's. "All Creatures Great & Small" did return to British TV in the late 1980's with 4 seasons, but these are only on VHS at this time. A good buy if your into real life comedy.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Seems like the DVD is edited, Aug 6 2002

By

"slondi" (Lynnwood, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Creatures Great & Small: Series 1, Vols. 1-13 (DVD)

Although this is my all time favorite books, I was a little disappointed with the DVD. While we were watching the episodes, it seemed like the film was edited. The part mosted notable was when James was getting back at Tristan by calling the surgery and telling him the "calf bed" fell out again. Before the scene was over it cut to the surgery the next day where James and Tristan were stiching up a rabbit. There were other jumps in the film. I know that scenes were not jumped by the DVD player. Anyway it is still a great story. If anyone has had any different experiences I would like to hear about them.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Remains a wonderful period piece
A classic BBC series that stands up well to the passage of time. The gentle humor which infuses the series playing on rather obvious human foibles remains timeless. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Bruce W Drake

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally on DVD!
Finally the BBC has put this on DVD! Having grown up reading about the adventures of the Yorkshire vet and then following it on TV in the BBCs great adaption, I find that now,... Read more

Published on April 7 2004 by Tina Morris