MovieChat Forums > All Creatures Great & Small (1978) Discussion > Ugh... TRYING to slog through Seasons 4+

Ugh... TRYING to slog through Seasons 4+

posted 12 years ago by dbh850
11 replies | jump to latest

I saw the series in the '70s when I was a very young woman. Now, close to 60, I bought the DVDs and am watching them again. I've read the books several times.

I thought the passage of time would soften me to the "new" Helen in Lynda Bellingham. Indeed, it did not soften me... I don't know if I even want to SEE those episodes! My goodness, she is so cold and snappish. And I'm sorry to say it - ugly. Lynda Bellingham is a beautiful woman. She really is. But man, the way they did her hair and everything... ugh.

I am particularly struck by an episode I just saw where she lost her diamond ring. James bought a beautiful and very expensive replacement. She didn't even give him a HUG! And she certainly didn't kiss him.

It's horrifying to me. I don't know the REAL reason Carol Drinkwater isn't in those episodes. There are MANY reasons given on the Internet. What really happened? REALLY? I don't know. But I DO know that I can't stand the "new" Helen. She absolutely kills it for me. I guess part of it is the directing - but it doesn't seem like there is ANY chemistry between ANYONE. It's so amazing... the power ONE actress has on the whole lot.

I can't blame Bellingham - it's her personality or how she was directed or - oh, I don't know. But Carol Drinkwater was SUCH a wonderful Helen. I honestly don't think I'll even watch the rest of the seasons. Bellingham is more like a grumpy mum. Ugh.

Maybe I'll just read the books again. The stories are marvelous and so beautifully written. What a shame about seasons 4-7. Sigh...

You know what they say... no one with missing teeth wears an Armani suit.

[–] visionsoffrance 12 years ago

We can never know for sure what happened but the most consistent story is that the real-life James and Helen were having an affair which, given the nature of the show, could not be tolerated. So somebody had to leave and it wasn't going to be Christopher Timothy. He wrote a book in which he admitted the affair so that much is true.

I agree that Linda is not nearly as good in the role but, for me, the enjoyment comes mostly from the interactions of the three vets, especially Siegfried and Tristan (whom I adore by the way!). Season four is one of my favorites despite the "new Helen."

[–] !!!deleted!!! (41638798) 11 years ago

Yes, the Helen 1 vs Helen 2 will always be discussed by the fans. LOL

In reviewing some of the old eps, which play every day on my local PBS, to be fair to Lynda, how on earth was she going to compete with Drinkwater?

Drinkwater's entire persona was sweet, warm, her smile lit up her face and every scene she was in dripped with kindness and warmth toward everybody. She brought a real peace to every scene and exuded charisma like nobody's business.

And boy when she smiled at James, which was often, wowee. She was sex on wheels, too. You had no doubt those two were at it like rabbits and that she ahem rearranged James's formerly staid world, and she was a sex goddess behind those closed doors at Skelldale House.

Drinkwater was such an original kind of actress and had such a specific set of attributes she brought to the warmth of Helen, that I cannot imagine what a nightmare it would be for any actress to try to follow her act! Yikes.

[–] visionsoffrance 11 years ago

You are spot on about the attributes of Carol. She would have been a hard act to follow. Nevertheless, not to disparage Lynda, who is a good actress, surely they could have found someone who was closer to Carol in the part. I was watching the series just the other day and noticed how frumpy Lynda looked. They put her in an unattractive blue apron that covered her clothes which were not stylish, whereas Carol always wore sexy outfits - slim skirts, heels, etc. Oh well, as I said, I can ignore that while I watch Siegfried and Tristan tussle with each other!

[–] FreaksRule 11 years ago

From the interviews I've seen and read, it seems that the Wights were present at most of the tapings and were very concerned over the romance that was obviously blossoming between Christopher & Carol. Christopher was married with 6 children at the time and the Wights felt that it would create a scandal they did not want to be associated with Herriot stories. So Carol had to go. And they had the romance toned down between the new Helen and James and made her appear less glamorous. So it's not Bellingham's fault; she just did as they asked.

[–] Lilthings 11 years ago

Actually, while the concern is true about the romance between Christopher & Carol, there is more to the decision.

The series originally ended after 3 years, in 1980. There was a few specials with Carol Drinkwater afterwards. The series picked up again in 1988. There was a large gap between series. Carol Drinkwater did not wish to return. If I remember correctly, the reason was that she wanted to focus on other roles and was married by this time.

After reading so many negative reviews of the new Helen, I was determined to like her. I would have too, if Carol Drinkwater hadn't been so absolutely wonderful for this role. She was so warm, funny, and engaging with the rest of the cast. Her charm brought the cast together.

"Do you mean now?" ~Yogi Berra, when asked for the time.

[–] 4dbirds 11 years ago

The show after series 3 could not compete with itself. Yes, Hideous Helen (as my wife and I call Lynda Bellingham) from series 4 on was a part of the problem. The main problem was that series 1-3 was so close to being perfect but series 4 on was just an average show. They were repeating previous show plots with very little changes for example and the charm was gone. And Tristan missing from the bulk of the later episodes was another big problem.

We are big fans of ACG&S but what we have here are basically 2 different shows: Series 1-3 is a TEN and Series 4-7 is a FIVE or SIX tops. Thus, the show taken as a whole is around a SEVEN AND A HALF. Still a quality show but it dragged on way too long.

[–] Lady Cole 11 years ago

I did not warm to Lynda in the role at ALL. She had none of the natural warmth and chemistry with Christopher that Carol brought to the role of Helen. Although I've also read that her reasons for leaving were far more pragmatic than simply the end of an affair...she felt like the character had gone as far as she could go, and the role wasn't really stretching her enough as an actress.

Granted, to be perfectly honest my main reasons for not having too strong of a liking for the later seasons is both the fact that we saw less and less of Peter, and the complete lack of any real character growth for Tristan. He was still being written as comic relief for the most part...a complete buffoon who is treated like an annoying insect by his overbearing older brother (especially when he tries to stand up for himself, something even James would laugh at him over), grossly irresponsible and slightly incapable most of the time, with short (and quickly forgotten by Siegfried) bursts of utter brilliance and imagination. Plus, as Peter himself mentioned on one of the episode commentaries, he found it somewhat embarrassing to be pushing 40 by the end of the show, and still chasing around girls in their 20's, if that! And I have to agree with him on that point, sometimes it was painful to watch.

We are the Mods! We are the Mods!

[–] visionsoffrance 11 years ago

I adored Tristan so when he wasn't in the series I lost all interest in it. But I did love the interactions between Siegfried and Tristan because they were so funny. Without these I'm not sure the program would have lasted as long as it did so they probably thought they had to keep that up.

[–] Lady Cole 11 years ago

I did like the banter in the early years, but when the show returned to the air it just seemed odd that Siegfried was still treating Tristan as if he was still a vet student. Plus, I actually felt that there were a few times in different episodes where Peter seemed to be on auto pilot, even a few where it seemed like he phoned in his performance.

We are Mods! We are Mods! We are, we are, we are Mods!

[–] mafrie 10 years ago

I was given the book for Christmas a few years ago and just recently started reading it and cannot put it down! Such an idyllic time of hardships and joy. I want to crawl back in time to experience the simple pleasures of life without all of the electronic bizzing in our lives. I had seen some of the episodes on BBC America way back but they seemed too slow and boringvto my younger self. How wrong I was to not have given the series a.chance. I found the acting a bit too unnatural back when I was a teen but after reading the books, the characters are mostly spot on. Except for one and don't pounce. Maybe I envisioned Helen a bit differently than the original Helen on tv. She isn't quite right and her acting really never seemed in sync with the rest of the characters. There's just something two dimensional about her acting like she's never quite sure what to do with herself on screen but in later episodes she has grown into the part a bit better. She's sort of just there not the important Helen of the book. It is just my expectations from reading. I guess I saw her differently. But everyone else was really perfect! I'm sorry if that offends some.

[–] SkiesAreBlue 9 years ago

I really can't remember if I read the books first or watched the tv show before reading the books. Probably both together. I loved the books because how Alf (James) describes characters and scenes. In my mind's eye some characters were completely different from how they portrayed on tv. I agree with you on Helen. In the book she seemed to be Jame's lifeboat, his hold onto sanity. How he wrote about her, " how I would return to bed like something out of the South Pole and Helen would wrap her warm body around mine", their marriage was indeed a very romantic one. Carol was well liked and was a marvellous Helen, however, I just had someone different in my mind.

SkiesAreBlue