Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

How sad is this?

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

I fondly recall this British series very well, along with many others in the early days of PBS. Christopher Timothy was excellent as James Herriott, the serious and dedicated vet whose television stories inspired me to read the original books. These were great books--literate and hilarious. I also remember a coffee table book about the moors that was inspired by the TV series. The TV series brought many extraordinary characters from the Yorkshire moors where James practised his veterinarian trade among the locals. The landscapes with its hills, streams and heather were outstanding under the often dark, forbidding skies. Much of the real fun came from the two brothers Siegfried and Tristan Farnon. The rivalry between the brothers was often instigated by Robert Hardy, as the older Siegfried. Tristan, played by Peter Davison, could never live up to his brother's standards and he was often trying to cover his tracks before Siegfried could catch up with him. When James's new wife Helen came into the show, the series took on a new focus. Helen was perfect and had to navigate among the male egos. My favourite was Robert Hardy who went on to other roles as a great actor. In this series he sparkled as the bossy brother of Tristan, mentor to James, dear friend of Helen and a great neighbour to the proud and independent people of the moors. I'll never forget this series, one of my favourites of the British television shows of the1970's.

I have to start by saying I love this series. I grew up with it as a child, I watch it now, and I'm just charmed to pieces, my American girlfriend loves it too. The only black eye so far is Johnny Byrne. The episodes were written by a few different people... so for example, in Series 1, episodes 1,2,4 were written by various others, 3 and 5 by Byrne. We had to fast forward through parts of 5 it was so bad. These nicely drawn characters with their witty byplay collapse into 2 dimensional cutouts when he writes, the plot points are preached at you directly, rather than played out... We got to the beautiful music at the end of 5, which is the part at which you normally feel uplifted, and we both just felt violated instead."Why do you do this endearing thing?" says James to some minor character whom we see only once."Because {SOB STORY ABOUT YOUTH}""Oh I see. Well, bye then."or"Good morning James. You look tired" (rather than James just LOOKING tired, or "Late night there James?", or something involving actual drama)"Yes I am tired. Because {PLOT POINT}. I really think it's because {EXPLANATION OF PLOT POINT}."Arghhh! Now given that this guy wrote about a third of the episodes, we're undecided about whether to just skip the rest he wrote or to plow through. I love the show so much I'd be loathe to miss them (especially Robert Hardy, who's the only one who carries off any of Byrne's lines really at all), but I don't know if my heart can take the beating he lays on it.

This film (and indeed series) is set in 1930's Britain, not the 1940's as stated elsewhere in this site, as Britain was involved in that fracas called the Second World War from 1939 and both Farnon and Herriot joined up with the Royal Air Force.... The books did carry on for the post war period but the film is firmly in the 30's! The attention to detail - even down to the advertisements by the roadside, is extraordinary, whilst the realisation of pre-war Britain, with its optimism, rugged individuality and, determination in sometimes very difficult circumstances is heartwarming. As a small piece of trivia, Christopher Timothy, who plays James Herriot has a limp in the later series, as he (for real) broke his leg during the filming of series two. Hardy, who played S. Farnon, is now even better known for his role as the Minister For Magic, in the Harry Potter films!

I'll make it unanimous (so far). When All Creatures first aired in the States, I had already enjoyed the books immensely and doubted that a television production could do author James Herriot's work justice.(A pen name, I believe his real name is Alfred White.) I was delighted to be wrong in that assumption, brilliantly adapted and endearingly performed. It quickly became and remains to this day one of my favorite programs. I particularly recommend the earlier seasons for a number of reasons, not the least of which is Carol Drinkwater as Helen Herriot. I only wish that like Holly the computer on Red Dwarf, who had Lister wipe his memory banks of the collected works of Agatha Christie so that he would have something interesting to read. That I could experience All Creatures Great and Small again, for the first time.