All Creatures Great and Small (TV Series) 1983 Special (1983) User Reviews

Welcome home, James

[pdwebbsite · 9/10 · 10 February 2007]

James returns to his small part of the world now that the war is over. The world has gone on while he's been gone. Yet while James is glad to return he can't quite get back into the life he left. There have been changes, yet not. A big change is returning to the son he left as a baby. There is also is insecurity working with the animals once again after a several year hiatus. The residents of Darrowby haven't changed though. What would the series be without the cantankerous Mr. Biggins? James is short-tempered and Helen basically tells him to get his act together. It takes a fishing trip with Sigfried to set things to rights once again.

ACGS is a series that will live forever. It's real, endearing, funny, and tragic. It is a model for what should be on television. I've read the books, read Herriot's biography, watched all the shows, and I never grow tired of it all. Heatwarming seems such an overused word, yet fits. This is a special that is will definitely leave fans satisfied.

Robert Hardy & Christopher Timothy

[lizzyb-1 · 10/10 · 31 October 2005]

Robert Hardy and Christopher Timothy are two of the best English actors ever to grace our screens. Their talent is admirable and never-ending and it is incredible how they both have the ability to bring their characters 'to life' so convincingly.I have the entire series of All Creatures Great and Small and watch these over and over again each year. I shall treasure their films always and look forward to seeing others they act in. Robert Hardy deserves a Queen's honor for his marvelous contribution to acting and film during his acting career and it would be a sad shame for this not to happen before he dies, taking into account he is now reaching 80 years of age. It will truly be a very very sad day when he passes away. There will never be a match for his acting ability any where in the world.He is incredible. When he and Christopher Timothy are both gone, it will signify the end of an era of wonderful nostalgic television for many. God Bless them both. If I lived in England, I would surely try to visit them to compliment them both on their wonderful achievements within the acting/film industry.They are the very best!

great movie

[hubproject · 8 February 2006]

wonderful people, beautiful settings, i just wish they would bring it back for one final time. i have watched all 90 odd episode's and loved every one of them. James is great as are the two brothers. all the stories are wonderful even if you don't come from a farming or animal background. i think it would be a great finale to have one last program seeing the vets as older men and how their lives panned out. then maybe i could be at peace with myself. the programmes are run on UK TV daily and i have watched them each and every day for the past year having seen each one approx 3 times, and still love it. i see that all of the main actors are still alive therefore it could be possible for another programme to be made.

Moving and convincing in showing big transitions to the new era

[kavita816 · 10/10 · 16 June 2021]

Beautifully done. This 1983 special (and the 1985 special after it) have the subtlety and complexity one would expect of this show when depicting the transition from the world of war to a new and sometimes awkward peace. And for those who like Carol Drinkwater as Helen, the specials are the last two more episodes with her and she is delightful in both.

It's sad but realistic to see how much has changed and how difficult it is for James to go back to the "even temperament" he used to have, to quote Helen. Tristan is refreshing and in his element and there is the faintest trace of a new maturity in him though he still gets into escapade after escapade. It was nice to see Mrs Pumphrey and her gardener. And Mr Biggins! Carol Drinkwater in the second last episode she did for the series shines in her role- showing strength and an ability to center everything around her, her beauty growing with the passage of time. It was lovely to see James' father at the start of the episode- I don't remember him making an appearance before. I thoroughly enjoyed this episode- especially because I had been misled by the Britbox lineup (which places the two specials after Season 4 instead of after Season 3 where they belong) and watched this out of order. This is exactly the backstory we needed before launching into Season 4 as many will watching it now I imagine- because the sequencing is messed up on Britbox.