What on earth is Siegfried Farnon's problem?

It's just a quirk of his personality which drives everyone else crazy. He was definitely a one of a kind character. But he had some good qualities too. He loved his brother and was kind to children. If he were a bland character, the show probably wouldn't be nearly as much fun to watch - especially the interactions between him and Tristan.

He was just rehearsing for his role as Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge a few decades too early, that's all

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

Here is a little information about Donald Sinclair, the man on whom Siegfried was modelled:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Sinclair_(veterinary_surgeon)

As you can read, there are those who thought the portrayal was fairly accurate. Robert Hardy, who played Siegfried, didn't meet Sinclair until some time after he had settled into the character. He says that he wished he'd met him earlier in order to perfect the characterisation.





Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain.

After watching the whole series on Netflix, I find Siegfried to be the salt of the earth. He also is very much the head honcho in the vet practice (and everywhere else). He is bombastic, but I don't think there is a mean bone in his body. He has to be practical and tries to run a tight ship, but in the end is rather a cream puff on hard issues. In the first two season, I think his borderline behavior is due to his brother, Tristan. I mean, that guy would try the patiece of Job. I wanted to reach right through the screen and throttle the little twit. But starting in season three he matures some and there are behavioral changes and it's all the better for poor, benighted Siegfried. Also, I have never in my life seen such drinking of alcoholic beverages during working hours (and after). It's any wonder he has memory lapses! 😜

The real life Siegfried (Donald Sinclair) was wildly eccentric, according to Jim Wight's biography of his father. if anything, his eccentricity was underplayed by jAmes Herriot. He himself wAs completely unaware of being eccentric, and apparently was quite offended by his portrayal in the books.