All Creatures Great and Small (Original)

Life for a newly qualified vet in the Yorkshire Dales isn't at all easy, as James Herriot discovers. To begin with, you have to find employment.

The result of the post-mortem is known and James finds that while a vet's life is not altogether enviable, a dog's life might well be.

James seems to be falling into the routine of being a country vet, but the peace is shattered when Siegfried employs a secretary and James meets Helen Alderson.

Siegfried has a major victory and Tristan has to deal with pigs in more ways than one. James discovers that he has a rival.

The practice in Darrowby goes from strength to strength - unlike James's private life. Tristan decides to remedy matters and arranges a double blind date.

James makes a date with Helen, without Tristan's help. The practice loses a customer, with Tristan's help. Siegfried stops smoking, which doesn't help anyone.

James' luck changes for the better in his romance with Helen, but for the Dalby family there seems to be no turning of the tide.

The Dalby family fortunes dwindle even more until, almost by accident, James stumbles across the reason for the herd's illness.

Some farmers like to do their own vetting, but James discovers that sometimes the vet can cure the farmer.

Richard Carmody, a superior student, accompanies James on his rounds to learn, but it becomes clear that there is very little that he doesn't know.

What can a country vet do when a herd is struck by a disease for which there is no cure - especially when a man's life savings are at risk?

James returns to Angus Grier and, to his shame and Grier's pleasure, is coerced into giving the wrong treatment. Grier's triumph is short-lived as James discovers his guilty secret.

Siegfried discovers that a gift given in good faith can deal out death. James discovers that dealing out death can accidentally be the gift to life.