All Creatures Great and Small's Tristan returns – but there's some disappointing news
He's back, but for how long?
It's the moment All Creatures Great and Small fans have been patiently waiting for: the return of Tristan Farnon.
In tonight's episode (Thursday 3rd October), Siegfried received a letter from his brother informing him that he was travelling back from Cairo, where he'd been based with the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, and would be arriving shortly in Darrowby.
But after his initial relief, Siegfried was concerned.
Why was his younger sibling coming home? Without any detail or clarification in his letter, Siegfried's mind started to race.
Had he been discharged due to a life-altering injury? Would their reunion be a happy one?
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Fortunately, all was well as they embraced on the train platform. Tristan had come back to them in one piece and he appeared to be in good spirits, his cheeky chappy persona fully in tact – although we know the war has had an impact on him, which will be explored in the coming episodes.
But it wasn't quite the comeback that many of the All Creatures faithful will have been hoping for.
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Tristan's return doesn't mean he's free from the shackles of military service. He has a new role lecturing vet recruits in Doncaster for three days a week, with the rest of his time his own. But his future is still unknown.
There may well come a time when he's redeployed, which means there's every chance that he may be ordered to move on, and that could mean another spell abroad.
And with the war continuing to ramp up in intensity, who knows what tragedy that could bring, for both Tristan, and, indeed, all of Darrowby.
Before season 5 of All Creatures was announced, it wasn't clear if Callum Woodhouse would reprise his role. But the actor has since clarified that it was "always the plan" to revisit Tristan.
"It was really nice to take the time away to do other projects and then come back home to my family, really," he said. "It was slightly daunting in the sense of, 'Is it going to feel weird? Am I going to feel a bit out of the loop?' But my first day back was a full day in The Drovers, which is probably the best place to film Tristan's first scenes back.
"We did the morning and warmed into it, and then coming back after our lunch break it didn't feel like I'd been away at all to be honest.
"I just slotted back in so comfortably and so well and was having all of the same banter and jokes with all of the same cast and crew that's still with us from series one. It was just really lovely."
All Creatures Great and Small seasons 1-4 are available to watch on My5. Season 5 is airing new episodes on Thursdays at 9pm on Channel 5 and My5. You can order James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small from Amazon.
If you're looking for something else to watch, visit our TV Guide or take a look at the rest of our Drama coverage. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
