All Creatures Great and Small

James meets Basil Courtney, a cowhand for a local farmer. Basil has worked in a circus, been a teacher, has knowledge of art and a palette for good wine! James is intrigued until he discovers that Basil has not been giving the farmer's calves their treatment and, as a result, they are showing no signs of improvement.

The romance between Calum Buchanan and Deidre McEwan flourishes. Siegfried has been hoping that the love affair would quiet down but instead it seems to be going full blast. However, the course of true love never runs smoothly, and it is left to Siegfried to help solve the young couple's problems.

Deidre and Calum are busy planning their wedding. Deidre discusses her future with Helen, who hopes the couple will stay in Darrowby. However, Calum gets offered a job in Nova Scotia. Siegfried believes he has forced Calum into applying for the job and hopes he can persuade him to reconsider.

Siegfried visits a farm to treat a sick cat and pulls off a brilliant piece of human diagnosis at the same time. He also gets an unexpected visit from the puritan Mr. Hopps who does not have an animal with him.

James meets a pair of elderly twins. Oliver and Roland Strong, rabbit breeder and prize cabbage-grower respectively, have divided the cottage left to them by their mother and have not spoken to each other for 50 years. Now Oliver is convinced that Roland has poisoned one of his rabbits

When James treats a sick cat, he finds himself in an awkward position with Mrs. Pumphrey and Mrs.Tibbett. These two formidable and mutually ferocious Darrowby matrons compete both in presents for the invalid and in hounding James for information of the patient's progress.

When Lady Hulton's cat falls ill, Siegfried embarks, with typical zeal and encourages the practice to cater for such refined clients. Lady Hulton, however, calls him out on his disingenuousness. James' problems lie with an affable but lazy farmer, Vernon Harker, whose plans to save himself from work even extend to marrying a tower of strength with a grown son to match.

Jenny Garston and David Rayner, individually charming farmer and horse-breeder, have been sworn enemies since their earliest school days. When a triple birthday is marred by tragedy it falls to Siegfried to negotiate with the uncivil neighbors.

James is persuaded to play for the "Gentlemen's" team in the annual village cricket match. Young, and already legendary, Freddie Trueman is the team captain and Siegfried tries to persuade Freddie to play all out against the pompous Colonel Jenkins, captain of the "Gentlemen's" side. He lives to regret this when James is injured while playing and Siegfried is himself forced in to bat against "Fiery Fred".

An old friend of James and Siegfried, an itinerant traveler called Roddy Travers, arrives in Darrowby. He appears to be stealing instruments from the practice but Siegfried and James are relieved to discover that Roddy's recently acquired dog, Murphy, is the culprit. However, the situation turns serious when an elderly local farmer accuses Murphy of sheep killing.

Siegfried insists on singing the praises of his new time- management system, a personal diary, much to the annoyance of James. James is particularly annoyed by Siegfried's successful demonstration to his nemesis, vile Mr. Ripley. However, Siegfried's morning is spoiled when he has to deal with Humphrey, an exuberant Great Dane.

Siegfried is perplexed when the usually-caring Grandma Clarke snubs her neighbor, Franco Pedretti, who is the new shepherd on the estate where she is a tenant farmer. It soon becomes apparent that she blames Franco for the untimely death of her son in Italy during the war and the subsequent death of his wife in childbirth.