All creatures great and small.

Hi Callistermon - You are right, Helen was a secretary. I think they met at a dance.

DanniRae

I am enjoying this new series but I have to force myself to not keep thinking "Helen didn't have a sister" etc. I too love the house but I am sure that in the original there was a pack of dogs charging about in it. Oh, sorry there I go again!!

"Helen" aka Joan wasn't a farmer's daughter either, as far as I know.

ginny

I found myself shouting at James and Helen ‘Oh, get on with it !

I agree about that. Same thing happens in films. Bit Jane Austen’ish. Just blurt it out will you, I feel like saying. At least ACGAS won’t have the obligatory drive to the airport to prevent the beloved person flying away forever.

I found myself shouting at James and Helen ‘Oh, get on with it !

Helen did have a little sister I believe DannieRae and there might have been another sibling...can't recall wthout looking at the books. Also 'Aunt Lucy' ran the house with Helen's help.

I am enjoying this new series but I have to force myself to not keep thinking "Helen didn't have a sister" etc. I too love the house but I am sure that in the original there was a pack of dogs charging about in it. Oh, sorry there I go again!!

Do we ever learn why the lead characters are called after Wagner operas? Siegfried and Tristan aren’t exactly everyday British names.

I seem to remember in the original TV series Siegfried telling James that his father had been a big Wagner fan, hence the names.

We love the new series. BBC did a prequel a few years ago and it died a death but this one is lovely. It needed to be different to be acceptable. DH has been smitten right from the start. He’s the one that discovered it. It fits in well with all the other Yorkshire programmes.

I too prefer the original series.

Oh yes, The Yorkshire Vet is lovely, both Peter and Julian make references to 'James Herriot', particularly Peter who was a 'Herriot' trainee. Sam West has indeed got very talented and famous parents and is a good actor in his own right, but not, for me, as Siegfried.

Do we ever learn why the lead characters are called after Wagner operas? Siegfried and Tristan aren’t exactly everyday British names.

They're the names James Herriott picked - perhaps he liked opera?

James Herriott was Alf Wight and was Scottish
Siegfried Farnon - Donald Sinclair
Tristan Farnon - Brian Sinclair
Helen Herriott - Joan

I loved series 1 and am happily into series 2. I did watch the original years ago, but I like this remake too. I think it is well acted and the main characters are doing fine with their own interpretation of it. It’s wonderful mid week easy watching. I hope it continues for a good few years yet.

I was at a vintage car rally recently and the car from the original series was there.

The original series is on Britbox.

I love it. I didn’t follow the old one very closely, so I’m not constantly comparing, I have read the books, but not for years. The casting seems quite convincing to me.

Samuel West, who plays Siegfried, is the son of Prunella Scales and Timothy West. I can see both of them in him.

Do we ever learn why the lead characters are called after Wagner operas? Siegfried and Tristan aren’t exactly everyday British names.

I haven't seen it as of course it's not available here in Germany but I agree, the old version can't be "dated" - it depicts the 30s and is probably more accurate than the new version because there will have been people involved who actually remember those days. Only conjecture - I will be happy to be proved wrong. But keep a lookout for the language. I bet there are some modernisms in there.

I first read the books in the early seventies - I was captivated by the gentle and humerous tales. The first, older series was excellent and this new one is enjoyable but strays far from the original story. All the busines about Helen's cancelled wedding and so on - it didn't happen in James Herriot's books. However, it is a warm and comforting progamme for a grey and chilly evening. We also visited Thirsk and the original Skeldale House, now the Herriot museum.

I loved the original with Robert Hardy I like this too. It's good tv far better than rubbish soaps that snap up awards each year! The Yorkshire vet also a family favourite real life thats worth watching.

We like watching The Yorkshire Vet

I loved the original version and lived in the area. I also worked for Heriot Hospice at home. The original version is truer to the text I feel. I am watching the new version for the views and complaining about the narrative especially about the housekeeper.

I can't watch it. I miss the old curmudgeonly farmers, the commanding, pompous and self-assured Siegfried, Mrs Hall being an actual housekeeper rather than the matriarch, Helen being likable rather than scratchy and uptight and James having some joy in him. Tris seems the only believable character to me.

I also find it horribly wooden...people march purposefully into the scene, say their piece in a theatrical way and then leave woodenly again. But then I think the same of Downton Abbey which I also find unbearable but millions see to adore. Both seem designed and acted for children to me.

The only character I do like is Siegfried's house so I'm with you on that Floriel.

They're not fictitious. They are reflections of real people that Herriot aka James Alfred Wight worked with and met during his long career, albeit with pseudonyms

In my post above yours is a photo of Peter Davison with the real-life 'Tristan' aka Brian Sinclair.

Veering topic slightly, does anymore else LOVE Siegfried’s house? So solid and cosy, soft lamps and comfortable chairs. No grey walls and industrial kitchens, no gyms and wet rooms and block paving (showing my pet peeves here I know)

They're not fictitious. They are reflections of real people that Herriot aka James Alfred Wight worked with and met during his long career, albeit with pseudonyms. The old Creatures wasn't dated at all as it was supposed to be during the 1930's, just before the war when James first qualified, and the 1950's as the books described, and it absolutely reflected that era. The new Tristan is just ridiculous along with Mrs Hall .

I like the new James but do find Tristan annoying rather than endearing like Peter Davison.