Review of All Creatures Great and Small

I have waited a very long time, but at last I am the owner of Season 1 of "All Creatures Great and Small", the well-told tale of a young rural veterinarian freshly indoctrinated into the pre-war pastoral setting of the lush and rugged Yorkshire Dales, England. A PBS hallmark series that originated on the BBC over a generation ago, the show aptly kicks off the saga immediately prior to the advent of medical advances for livestock and the technological revolution that changed a way of life that had endured for thousands of years. Assistant Veterinary Surgeon James Herriott witnesses the crushing tragedies and soaring miracles that profoundly affect the simple Yorkshire folk as they seek but to carve out an existence for themselves and their families. Like the book, each episode contains several tales of the animals that Herriott comes into contact with. All Creatures Great and Small is my favorite book and to see these rich characters and settings brought to life does no injustice to that book. Every step across the sweeping fells by Herriott is a step I take as well. The collective experience makes me yearn to go back to a place to which I have never been.