It's Dog Eat Dog in 'All Creatures Great and Small' Season 6

The original Season 6 penultimate episode of All Creatures Great and Small, “Fixes,” begins with James Herriot attempting to fix the pressing problem of Skeldale’s chaotic accounts even before he gets out of bed. Among the paperwork, he discovers a letter from the nearby Hensfield Dog Track, which is looking for a veterinarian to attend races – something Siegfried has ignored and discarded. But maybe this will bring in extra income and fix the practice’s shaky finances. What it does achieve is to open James’s eyes to a different sort of fixing.

(As usual, PBS will tack on the Christmas special as a special finale episode as the U.S. Season 6 finale.)

James asks Siegfried about the opening at Hensfield Dog Track and gets an earful of complaints about how animals are treated in both dog racing and horse racing. Despite Siegfried’s refusal to be involved, James arranges to visit the dog track that day. To make a good impression, he takes Siegfried’s precious Rover. (Siegfried has fallen out with the horse racing elites several times in the past; as he says so often, it’s the humans, not the animals, who are the problem.)

Wee Jimmy is enjoying his stay at Skeldale House, becoming fast friends with Siegfried, who encourages his explorations of animal excrement. Despite Jimmy and Siegfried bonding, Helen isn’t keen to move back to Skeldale House. The problem is that the alternative is to stay at the Alderson family farm, Heston Grange, which would put James far from clients, and an unideal situation, despite Alderson’s caving on having a phone. (Alderson grouchiness vs. Farnon loony tunes – it’s an impossible situation.)

Tristan is on a house call to the Ainsley family, who have recently adopted a parrot, George. Despite the children’s attempts to provide an authentic parrot environment with drawings and recorder playing, George is stressed, with a rich, dirty vocabulary, plucking his feathers out. After receiving a bite, Tristan decides to play it safe and diagnoses psittacosis, which is contagious to humans, forcing him to remove George from the situation.

Siegfried takes great pleasure in declaring the parrot Tristan’s responsibility, forcing him to make a quick visit to tell Charlotte he won’t be able to attend dinner. She offers to come back to Skeldale with him to meet his family, but he doesn’t think that’s a good idea.

Maggie, owner of the Drovers Arms, calls in at Skeldale House to borrow a dartboard for the WVS (Women’s Voluntary Service). As usual, Audrey asks after Maggie’s husband, who’s in a camp in Burma, but Maggie still hasn’t heard from him. Audrey, it turns out, is an excellent darts player, having been taught by her daughter-in-law, and Maggie invites her to play at the pub.

James arrives at Hensfield Dog Track, where a mischievous boy (Frankie Ainley), a future gangster, as James will discover, is there to offer to look after the Rover and immediately starts beeping the horn. Harry (Chris Gascoyne), a jovial villain, introduces James to dogs and their owners, including Willie Stockwell (Max Runham), who lost an arm serving in Africa during the war. Despite bonding over their military experience, James has to tell him his dog, Blackpool Rock, the favorite for the first race, has a full stomach and can’t run. Between dealing with a suddenly angry client and Harry’s drunken friend Ambrose (Philip Joslyn), James now understands Siegfried’s reluctance to participate.

James comes home and tells Siegfried about his day. Siegfried tells him that he’s witnessed an example of “Stopping the Dog.” When a dog is fed before a race, it slows down, and after several such losses, its odds are reduced. Then, the dog makes an unexpected comeback, and those in the know will have placed large bets on a win.

Siegfried and Audrey both believe that James shouldn’t return to the dog races, but once they learn about Blackpool Rock, they insist on accompanying him for the final race of the day. Audrey, in the driver’s seat and clearly enjoying herself, drives fast enough to scare Siegfried.

When they arrive, James tells Harry he needs a place to use as a treatment room for Blackpool Rock. Willy confesses to James that since coming back from the war with a disability, he can’t support his family, and he’s struggling. He agreed to the scam just once. Meanwhile, Harry sets his henchman, Tommy Brazendale (Joseph Evans), to intimidate him. Siegfried joins in, telling Tommy he is fully versed in greyhound racing code, and distracts him enough to enable James’s escape, with Blackpool Rock concealed in a blanket. Tommy sees Siegfried carrying a dog-sized bundle and chases after him. They start fighting when Siegfried flourishes an empty blanket – no dog – while James and Blackpool Rock escape to the car. (Siegfried is enjoying himself far too much.)

Once again, Audrey is in the driver’s seat, also enjoying herself immensely; however, James is concerned about the dog, which is now very sick and needs emergency treatment. They pull over, and James and Siegfried improvise a stomach tube to reduce Blackpool Rock’s gastric dilation. Siegfried compares himself to dogs that are “...Loyal, dependable, willing to fight for their pack if required.” Woof!

Tristan is now sure that he has found the source of George the parrot’s distress, having asked the Ainsley family about his history. They had taken George in after his elderly owner died, and Tristan tells the bird he understands he’s been abandoned twice, first when he lost his flock, and then when his human died. Tristan tears up, distressed at the memory of his wartime experience. He tells George he lost his flock, too.

Back in Darrowby, Audrey passes by Maggie’s house and sees her reading a letter by the window, weeping, as we realize she has finally received official notification of her husband’s death.

Having had a grand time poo-hunting with Siegfried, Jimmy earnestly tells him his mother said, “Siegfried was a shellfish.” After a moment of translating Toddler into English, Siegfried is mortified to realize that Helen said he was selfish and that he has upset his family and friends. He’s worried enough that he consults Audrey, who tells him he’s fine so long as everyone else agrees with him. Humbled, Siegfried decides to write to Helen and apologize.

Tristan braces himself for Charlotte to meet all the inhabitants of Skeldale House, and she fits right in, particularly impressing young Jimmy with her paper airplane prowess. Everyone joins in, using the abandoned bills and letters that gave James so much grief at the beginning of the episode.

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.