MovieChat Forums > All Creatures Great & Small (1978) Discussion > New to All Creatures Great and Small

New to All Creatures Great and Small

posted 13 years ago by ortegatwins
3 replies | jump to latest

I first became interested in the series awhile back when I watched a few episodes on youtube. Since then I have read the first of James Herriot's books which I asked for and recieved as a christmas gift last month. I finished reading the book last week and then proceeded to watch the entire first series, which I checked out from my local library, and just finished watching earlier today.
Overall, I liked what I have seen of the tv series so far, although I was surprised at how the animal stories are in a different order compared to the book. Also, even though I liked his performance Robert Hardy looks nothing like the Siegfried described in the book (the way Herriot describes him he looks alot like John Cleese).
One other thing, can anyone tell me if the scenes showing Tristan masqurading as a ghostly monk were in one of the Herriot book are were they just made up by the writers of the tv series?

[–] nonamefacenow 13 years ago

This was in one of the books but I can't remember which! The series doesn't follow the books exactly. You will enjoy reading all of the books! I have read them multiple times over the years and my kids have now read them as well. We are also checking out the series from our library - this is our 2nd time.

[–] FreaksRule 11 years ago

None of the televised stories were invented. The directors promised Alf Wight that they would never do that. But they have combined several stories into one to make the one-hour episodes. Although Hardy looks the opposite of Siegried's description, after watching him play the eccentric and charming vet, I can't see anyone else portraying him as well. He is so much fun to watch, a wonderful actor.

[–] Lilthings 11 years ago

At some point in the second half of the series, they ran out of stories to tell from Alf Wight's books. They asked him for permission to create story lines and he gave it. If I remember correctly, he had a say-so in the fictional story lines.

Peter Davison doesn't look like the real "Tristan" (Brian Sinclair)either!

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