The creators of PBS Masterpiece’s latest remake of James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small have succeeded in making a story move beyond the strictures of the novels and earlier adaptations, freeing the writing staff to have fun with characters and relationships. Fresh writing and performances by the talented cast made the sixth a season as engaging as the first as beloved characters now get to move well past World War II. Can they keep up the momentum for Season 7?
With an eighth season already locked in, PBS has released its first trailer for Season 7. Check it out:
Just as you’d expect, returning for the seventh season is Nicholas Ralph as vet James Herriot, Samuel West as his mercurial mentor Siegfried Farnon, and Callum Woodhouse as Tristan Farnon, recovering from the horrors of war. Anna Madeley returns as the matriarch of Skeldale House Mrs. Hall, along with Rachel Shenton as the charismatic Helen Herriot, Patricia Hodge as the wonderfully sophisticated Mrs. Pumphrey (including her aging, adored, pampered Pekingese Tricki), Tony Pitts as Richard Alderson, and Imogen Clawson as Jenny Alderson. And Caolan McCarthy joins the cast as rival veterinarian Granville Bennett.
The latest adaptation of James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small masterfully maintains a perfect balance and tone–for its characters and its story. It juxtaposes an idyllic setting with personal issues of life and death, all as a world war is happening not all that far away. The series that made it into the borg Top 10 television series of the past decade continues a new spin on the stories of James Herriot, as viewers return to Darrowby to join its unconventional and much-loved Skeldale House family and the colorful ensemble of farmers, animals and townsfolk living in the Yorkshire Dales in the 1940s, filmed on location.
This will they/won’t they of Siegfried and Mrs. Hall continues, but it’s all sidelined again because of the return of Van Der Valk co-star Maimie McCoy as Dorothy. More interesting will be newcomer Gaia Wise (star of The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim and lookalike daughter of Emma Thompson) as Charlotte, who brought the perfect pairing with Tristan’s balance of humor and shyness. This commonality brings two people of different economic situations together, and it’s much better than the thread of Mrs. Hall and Siegfried. And don’t forget Mollie, played by Mollie Winnard, hit hard with the death of her husband off in Burma last season.
And, of course, the animals. Herriot’s books are autobiographical, and the TV series is likely more pastoral and tranquil than the gritty realities of the 1930s and 1940s. The balance of the calm and the heart-pounding is a big part of why this series works for today’s audience. Then again, our blood pressures could all probably do just fine to watch the staff at the Darrowby office sit quietly for an evening in front of the fire with no animal maladies or missing family members.
Catch the first six seasons (that’s six “series” in the UK) of All Creatures Great and Small, UK Channel 5’s highest rated drama ever, via PBS Passport, the PBS app, or the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel. Look for Season 7 beginning January 17, 2027, in the U.S. airing at 8 p.m. Central Time. Subscribe (at right column or below depending on your viewing device) and keep coming back to borg for more coverage of the series in 2027.
