After posting about The Dick Van Dyke Show a couple weeks ago, we have had a lot of readers ask what other shows we enjoy.
The other show we are currently watching is All Creatures Great and Small. A few of you mentioned this one, but if you haven’t seen it, we highly recommend it. The show follows the adventures of a young veterinarian when he leaves the big city to take a job in the Yorkshire Dales of England. It is set in the 1930s and is based on the books written by James Alfred Wight under the pen name James Herriot.
There have been many books, films, and shows about James Herriot, but the one we are watching currently airs on PBS and can be purchased on Amazon Prime.
Warning: If you watch this show, you will fall in love with the Yorkshire Dales and be very tempted to drop everything and move there. (Mr. Handsome is currently trying to figure out if his dental license is valid in England.) The filmography is incredible, and the show is worth watching just to see the panoramic views of the hills and trees of the Yorkshire Dales. It really looks like paradise.
The acting is quality, and you really feel like you know the characters as friends. Anyone who has ever tried to prove themselves in a new town will relate to the city slicker James, as he tries to convince the country folk that he belongs among them. There is a great romance brewing between James and a local farmer’s daughter. James wants to win her heart, but she is engaged to the richest man in town, who also happens to own the farm where she and her family are tenants. Talk about pressure!
Interestingly, Mr. Handsome recently met veterinarian who chose his career after reading the original books. Based on the show, it is easy to understand how someone could be drawn to the life of James Herriot and his lovable small-town friends.
Nikki
Eli,
Do you still watch When Calls the Heart?
Ellie
I do! I love it!
Eileen
Isn’t it just the nicest show? Just love it! The acting is so well done and the scenery so very stunning. The James Herriott books were my sister’s fav books growing up, she has also been watching this PBS and thinks it is excellent and true to the books. She has a daughter named for Helen!
Anonymous
Have you seen the original version that began airing in the 1970’s? That’s the one I remember. We had friends who lived in Yorkshire and we spent some time there when I was young. The moors are beautiful but the landscape can also be bleak and moving (think Wuthering Heights), depending on where you are. We also had a friend who was a veterinarian from Scotland who came to the US to work at various cattle farms, doing vaccinations. His home outside of Edinburgh was in beautiful country, but more northerly and rugged than Yorkshire (the Ice Ages really carved that part of the world) . If you’re longing to visit England, you should read Susan Branch’s pictorial travelogue A Fine Romance. I also got quite a feel for the southern coastal region of England by reading every book Thomas Hardy ever wrote.
Ellie
Haven’t seen the original. That’s very interesting info. Thanks for sharing!
MarriedUK
I’ve been to the Yorkshire dales many times!!! (Being English makes it easy…)
There is a show on tv in England about a lady who was inspired by James Herriot and aged about 19 went to live in Yorkshire, with a strong desire to be a shepherdess. She ended up married to a farmer and had 9 children. There is a reality show about them. The kids spend all their time running around on the moors. I’ve never watched it (so can’t promise anything about the nature of the content… but it’s unlikely to be sordid) but you might like it!!!
Ellie
How interesting! What is it called?
Louise
It’s called Our Yorkshire Farm Ellie, and I have watched all the series which are fabulous. It’s all about their day to day life combining bringing up their nine kids and running a large hill farm.
It’s fabulous scenery and the way they all work together and look after each other is great. Very interesting and entertaining. If you get a chance to see it I think you’d love it.
Netta
We have been watching another tv-series set in Yorkshire for years. We buy the dvd’s eventhough it might be a bit old school. It is called Heartbeat and is a police series set in a small village called Aidensfield in the 1960’s. It’s a kind of feel good-series. There are 18 seasons.
Ellie
Going to add that to my list! Thank you!
MarriedUK
I think it’s called “Our Yorkshire farm”. I once read an interview with her in which she said her home was so remote, she never made it to the hospital in time to have any of her babies… about half of them were born by the side of the road!
Ellie
Oh my! That must be very remote. I looked up the show. It looks cute! Thanks for sharing, Louise and MarriedUK
Anonymous
Does Mr Handsome watch the Ryan Hall Y’all Youtube channel? That is really interesting. I live in the prairie area of Canada and I like watching Ryan’s weather reporting. He covers the weather in the area you live. His report for your region is serious today (Monday March 28/22) I hope all goes ok.
Ellie
We haven’t seen it. I’ll have to look it up. Our weather today has been pretty normal. What did he say?
Anonymous
He said it’s very dry, not to do anything involving fire. But I don’t know if today the warning is relevant still. There’s winds due now I think. Ya look his channel up, I’d say. Because he’s also very knowledgeable and dedicated. A similar type A young professional as you and Mr Handsome are.
Justine
Ellie!!! I love All Creatures Great and Small, made me a vegatarian, (in my family we would have a Sunday Roast. It seemed that What we were eating on Sunday, what was getting saved, so That is why I really became a veggie), lol!!!! My Mother is English, so I love every one of those episode!!!! Have U heard, of ‘Wind in The Willow’??? Love U Fab 4!!!
Ellie
I haven’t heard of Wind in the Willow. Is it a show?
Justine
YES, English too, I used to watch it as a kid, and my little niece fell in love too!!! U can watch it on YouTube, and it is not the cartoon, it is Clay animation. From The 1980s, and from Thames Production!!!! TRUST ME, it will be the next wonderful thing, we came up with so many adventures, and we all bonded on those adventures!!!!! I was a kid, back then, I really grew up on them!!!!!! Love U Fab 4!!!!!!
Anonymous
We just started watching this and it is SO GOOD!!! Definitely a new favorite!