Brotherhood Is Complicated in ‘All Creatures Great & Small'

Darrowby holds a memorial service for those lost in the war, as we open this week’s All Creatures Great & Small, an emotional and sobering experience. As the congregation leaves the church, Tristan Farnon seeks a moment’s solitude before Siegfried finds him. Siegfried mentions that the whole town has suffered from the war, and Tristan reminds him that there are some lost who may never return. Arthur, husband of Maggie, who runs the Drovers’ Arms, has been missing in Burma for years. It’s another missed opportunity for the two brothers to engage with each other.

They're not the only ones failing to connect; James and Helen haven’t had much time together, which is why James is working to arrange a night out at the movies. Meanwhile, Siegfried’s top priority is supposedly spending more time with his brother, Tristan, but he keeps putting it off; this time for an invitation to Orley Castle for a chamber music recital. (It's already obvious Tristan isn't doing well, and this does not help.)

Siegfried happily anticipates hobnobbing with the local aristocrats and gentry, including the horse-breeding Beauvoir family whose branch has just inherited the estate. With any luck, he will be introduced to potential customers with large, delicate, and expensive animals – thoroughbred horses – and sustain the practice, which is still dependent on small-animal work.

However, they're thrown together when Audrey Hall gets a call from the Beauvoir estate, asking for "Captain Farnon," and both head off. Former debutante Charlotte Beauvoir (Gaia Wise) is surprised to find two Captain Farnons, both veterinarians, but she escorts them to meet her horse, Philbrick, suffering from a bewildering assortment of symptoms. Naturally, the two have completely polar opposite treatment plans: keep Philbrick confined to his stall (Siegfried) and walk him outside (Tristan).

I’m all for the Tristan–Charlotte romance, but unfortunately, it seems Siegfried is correct when he argues the Beauvoirs expected him, since he is renowned throughout the county for his expertise with horses, whereas Tristan, only recently promoted to Captain, isn’t well known in the neighborhood, and doesn’t register on their aristocratic radar.

This leaves James stranded at Skeldale House since both cars are in use, and forced to haul a battered bicycle out of a shed to see Helen for lunch. He arrives too late; only Jenny and the children are home. He asks Jenny if she’d babysit so he and Helen could go to the movies, but she’s not wildly enthusiastic.

When Charlotte phones again, Tristan goes without telling Siegfried and finds Charlotte playing music on a wind-up gramophone to soothe her horse. (She is the one behind the Elgar String Quartet concert.) She found Philbrick in Sicily, where he was left behind by an Italian army unit. Minutes after Tristan’s departure, Siegfried arrives and chats with General Beauvoir (Jonathan Hyde), who has become convinced that Tristan is the horse expert.

Tristan tells Maggie he's out of his depth with Charlotte, who will be looking for a Mr. Darcy with his 3+ mansions, whereas Tristan lives in his brother’s spare room. But the next time he visits, she opens up to him. She’s enough of the class system and invites Tristan to come with her to the concert at Corley Castle.

James is off on his bike again, in response to a call from Mrs. Pumphrey, and after struggling up hilly roads, isn’t pleased to find she has another ridiculous Tricky task for him. The owner of a female dog is driving over from Sheffield the next day, and she’s been afraid that Tricki won’t know what to do. Although she has attempted to explain the process, she feels a man-to-man talk would be far more effective.

(Mrs. Pumphrey has clearly forgotten Tricki’s post–cricket match romance in Season 2, Episode 5.)

As Tristan and Siegfried each get ready for the concert, both under the impression they'll be escorting Charlotte, Audrey does the Herriots a solid and gives Rover’s keys to James so their movie date will not be derailed by Farnon nonsense. There's a lot of it, too, including her discovery of a Military Cross among Tristan’s clothes, and Siegfried realizes he knows nothing of Tristan’s service. In true Siegfried style, he demands that Tristan tell him what he did to have this, as if it's a stolen good. It goes over exactly as well as you expect, about as well as Siegfried's discovery that Tristan is Charlotte's actual official date.

James advises Siegfried to give his brother his blessing. Offended, Siegfried denies that he is pursuing Charlotte, and she’s too young for him, and anyway, he was trying to get her father’s business. Just then, Charlotte calls about the horse again, and the Farnons set off, bickering all the way.

When the Farnon brothers arrive, Charlotte is in the stall with him in a spectacular red silk gown. Working together, Siegfried and Tristan finally make a diagnosis. Philbright has a kidney infection, treatable with a new antibiotic. General Beauvoir praises Tristan for his skill with horse medicine and is pleased that Siegfried is interested in his plans for expanding the stables. Everyone is delighted Philbright will recover. 

Left alone in the stable, Tristan and Charlotte dance together, and their choice of music is The Sunny Side of the Street. Tristan will call daily to give the horse injections, so it looks like the romance is well underway.

If only we could say the same thing about Tricki, whose Big Day has arrived. Breeder Mr. Bolton (Philip Martin Brown) arrives with a ... poodle. He is, he explains, interested in hybrids and complains Tricky is too old. Mrs. Pumphrey, very annoyed, tells him that Pekingese dogs were bred by Chinese royalty. He counters with Marie Antoinette, a royal poodle fan. While they bicker, the two dogs scamper off, and from the expressions on everyone’s face, it appears that Tricky does know what to do and is doing it right then and there.

Tristan and Siegfried enjoy a quiet evening together with glasses of whiskey at Skeldale House, their differences reconciled for the moment. James and Helen are fast asleep upstairs, getting some much-needed rest. 

All Creatures Great & Small Season 6 will continue with new episodes every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on local PBS stations, the PBS app, and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel. All episodes of Season 6 are available to stream on PBS Passport for members.