Catch Up With ‘All Creatures Great & Small’ Before Season 2 Begins

Enjoy a marathon of All Creatures Great and Small Season 1 airing Saturday, Jan. 1, from noon until 7:30 PM on the PLUS Channel. This new Masterpiece adaptation of James Herriot’s beloved books opens in 1937, when Herriot, fresh out of Glasgow Veterinary College, follows his dream to become a vet in the magnificent Yorkshire Dales, one of England’s most beloved and beautiful landscapes. He soon discovers that treating the animals is as much about treating their owners, and the Dales’ farmers are a tough crowd to please. At Skeldale House, James gets to know his newly formed dysfunctional family: his chaotic and erratic boss, Siegfried Farnon; Farnon’s wayward brother, Tristan; and the shrewd Mrs. Hall, who is endlessly steering the ship. When local beauty Helen Alderson attracts James’s attention, he finds another, more endearing reason to stay in the Dales.

Following the Season 1 marathon, stay tuned for All Creatures Great and Small: Between the Pages (7:30 PM), a 90-minute special that transports viewers behind the scenes of the hit series and offers a sneak peek at Season 2. The program includes interviews with cast members Anna Madely (Mrs. Hall), Nicholas Ralph (James Herriot), Rachel Shenton (Helen Alderson), Samuel West (Siegfried Farnon) and Callum Woodhouse (Tristan Farnon), as well as the producers and writers behind the series. The special looks back at Dame Diana Rigg in her final role as the delightfully eccentric Mrs. Pumphrey, reveals what it’s like to work with the animals, visits the timeless set of this sweeping drama, and explores the love triangle that provides laughter, tears and romance. The special airs again Sunday, Jan. 2, at 10:30 PM on the IDAHO Channel.

Season 2 of All Creatures Great and Small begins Sunday, Jan. 9, at 9 PM on the IDAHO Channel. As the new season opens, James returns from Glasgow where he has been visiting his parents for Easter. While there he is offered a job at a modern local veterinary practice, and he must decide between staying home in Glasgow with his elderly parents or returning to his new life in Yorkshire.