Why All Creatures Great and Small is more impactful than ever in season 5

But here I am, fully clued up on all of the comings and goings at Skeldale House.

Now, that's not to say I don't understand why All Creatures is so popular, but I've never personally felt its pull, particularly in an era which has given us Succession, Better Call Saul, Slow Horses and The Bear, to name just a handful of my recent favourites.

By contrast, All Creatures has always felt a little bit limp, and dare I say forgettable.

But something curious happened to me while I was watching the season 5 premiere. That feeling that had always previously eluded me miraculously took hold – and not because I was pre-menstrual, or I'd yet to eat lunch and my blood sugar was precariously low, before you ask.

I was genuinely moved by the writing and performances, which have always resonated with so many other viewers, but for the first time were resonating with this particular viewer.

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That feeling first started to creep in when Siegfried proposed a toast to Tristan and James during a typical evening in the cosy confines of Skeldale House.

"To all our boys, may we see them soon," he said, raising a glass to those currently away from their families and homes, and with no knowledge of when – or if – they'll return.

War is no longer just a threat; it's no longer something that's happening elsewhere, or someone else's problem. It has arrived and with it, the irreversible altering of life as people know it.

There's a reason why popular culture is saturated with war-set narratives. It doesn't matter how many already exist, they remain a subject of interest for writers, directors and audiences because of the emotional power they wield – but only when the tone is just so.

When stripped of the jingoistic tub-thumping and nauseating levels of sentimentality, an approach which All Creatures demonstrates masterfully in season 5, such stories stay with you for all of the right reasons.

Of course this isn't the first time the show has addressed the impact of war on the people of Darrowby. Tristan departed in the 2023 Christmas special to serve in the Royal Vet Corps, and James left last season to commence his pilot training. But the conflict has since escalated, and as Siegfried, Helen, Mrs Hall and Carmody are once again confronted by that undeniable reality in the Skeldale House lounge, a haunted expression flashes across their faces.

While the unthinkable is always on the periphery of their thoughts, there are moments when there is nothing to distract them and they are forced to confront the unspeakable horror that could befall their dear absentees, or how they will be affected in the long term if they do survive.

Their "boys" are, indeed, alive, but while Tristan is returning in due course, actor Samuel West has said that he's "obviously changed".

"He's changed in ways I don't fully understand," he elaborated. "He's obviously seen some horrible things which he's not talking about. He's masking with drink."

Mental health is now part of the public discourse, not so much in the 1940s.

While James has since returned, he very nearly didn't, collapsing moments before taking to the skies after contacting brucellosis, a bacterial disease, a year prior while treating an infected herd. Had he taken flight, that would have been the end of him.

And even if James had been ruled fit to fly, he would have been struck by enemy fire while en route to Scotland, which could also have spelled the end for him, as it did some of his comrades.

In light of that, I instantly think of Helen. To be widowed, and so young, when the couple still have so much more growing and sharing to do, at the centre of which is baby Jimmy, who could so easily have grown up without his good, loving and patient dad, doesn't bear thinking about.

Helen would be parent enough, and she'd have the support of the rest of Skeldale House, but Jimmy's life would undoubtedly be poorer without James in it.

I then think about my own dad and what a world without him and his constant love and support would look like. Thankfully, it's not a world I can imagine, or want to, so I quickly stop. Powerful writing also has the capacity to make you reflect on your own life and the people in it.

And it's not just those who have left Darrowby who have taken on new responsibilities.

When Mrs Hall announces that she's going to be a blackout warden, Siegfried is taken a back at first, before then applauding her and assuring the housekeeper that she'll do a fine job. But you can sense his concern as he considers just what that could mean for Mrs Hall. It's yet another reminder that life, as they know it, is no more. It is a warning of what is still to come; the impending storm.

Mrs Pumphrey is also vacating her own home after donating it to the war effort, but she didn’t expect to be moving out quite so soon. Things are accelerating at a frightening rate.

And because of all of that, the daily developments that arrive so often without alert, the humour and more light-hearted storylines are more welcome than ever.

Siegfried and Carmody‘s squabbling is no longer just an amusing detail, but an essential distraction and mood enhancer.

Dot Fawcett's dead cat Frisk, which isn't really dead after all, but had merely developed a taste for her morphine, is a gloriously silly storyline that was more entertaining and vital than it had any right to be.

But it's not just the encroaching conflict that has imbued All Creatures with a greater emotional pull.

During a time in which some particularly harrowing stories have dominated news headlines, from the barbaric attack on Ugandan long-distance runner Rebecca Cheptegei, to the horrors enacted on Gisèle Pelicot in her own home, to the ongoing conflict in Palestine, All Creatures' commitment to gentle storytelling, in which decent people are ten a penny, is something of a lifeline, and reminds us that the capacity for good is possible, even if it often doesn't feel that way.

All Creatures is about community, centring ordinary, kind-hearted people who are doing their bit, and not for any personal gain, but for the welfare of their neighbours. And as war intensifies, so too does their communal spirit and compassion.

Following the release of Netflix's The Perfect Couple, which is the latest in a long line of releases that revolves around the entitled, narcissistic elite, it also struck me that All Creatures is more radical than I'd initially given it credit for.

The sneers and snide remarks that linger throughout the murder mystery, or Logan Roy's rupturing of his kids' hearts and souls in Succession, are both deliciously, intensely entertaining, but there's absolutely room – and need – for both.

And just like that, All Creatures Great and Small has cast its spell on this former sceptic.

All Creatures Great and Small season 5 continues on 26th September. Season 5 will air on Thursday 19th September at 9pm on Channel 5 and My5. You can order James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small from Amazon.

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