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The Best Episodes of All Creatures Great and Small

Every episode of All Creatures Great and Small ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of All Creatures Great and Small!

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The trials and misadventures of the staff at a country veterinary office in Yorkshire. James Herriot, a young animal surgeon, moves to a small Yorkshire town to begin his first job.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    All Creatures Great and Small Season 1 Episode 8 - Advice and Consent
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #1 - Advice and Consent

    S1:E8

    The fortunes of the hard-working Dalby family look set to dwindle even further until almost by accident James discovers the cause of their herd's illness. However, James still needs a push start on other fronts, and Siegfried and Tristan decide to remedy matters with their own expert advice.

    Director:Peter Moffatt
    Writer:Brian Finch

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  2. All Creatures Great and Small Season 2 Episode 2 - Attendant Problems
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #2 - Attendant Problems

    S2:E2

    The return of lambing season brings a boost to Siegfried's spirits, but James, laid up in the surgery, is reminded of the harsher realities of a vet's life.

    Director:Christopher Barry
    Writer:Johnny Byrne

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  3. All Creatures Great and Small Season 2 Episode 3 - Fair Means and Fowl
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #3 - Fair Means and Fowl

    S2:E3

    Nerves are frayed as Tristan's encounter with an "exploding" bullock leads to a lawsuit, and Siegfried's venture in guinea raising runs foul. Meanwhile, James is sent to assist "on of the biggest boozers in the business."

    Director:Robert Tronson
    Writer:Anthony Steven

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  4. All Creatures Great and Small Season 2 Episode 11 - Ways and Means
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #4 - Ways and Means

    S2:E11

    James concludes that the drawbacks of a vet's life -- long hours, fierce dogs and a cunning sow named Prudence -- pale in comparison to the rigors of making a speech to the Darrowby Youth Club.

    Director:Christopher Barry
    Writer:Brian Finch

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  5. All Creatures Great and Small Season 3 Episode 11 - Alarms and Excursions
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #5 - Alarms and Excursions

    S3:E11

    The Darrowby Bell Ringing Society is suspending its operations for the duration of the war and they have one, final "meeting" at the local pub. James and Tristan go to the bell tower with not unexpected results. The vets have to deal with a series of dog poisonings. They soon identify the farmer responsible, but not before several more animals die. Siegfried treats Joan Clifford's dog Saxon, but the case has very specific implications for her. James treats Mr. Hanson's pigs but it's Mr. Hanson who is most entertaining in that he always speaks at the top of his lungs.

    Director:Richard Bramall
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. All Creatures Great and Small Season 4 Episode 3 - The Bull with the Bowler Hat
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #6 - The Bull with the Bowler Hat

    S4:E3

    James has a crisis of professional confidence while treating a cow with a new drug. Tristan tries to convince a local farmer of the virtues of artificial insemination but Siegfreid only succeeds in enraging the farmer's bull.

    Director:Peter Moffatt
    Writer:Johnny Byrne

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of All Creatures Great and Small

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  7. All Creatures Great and Small Season 4 Episode 5 - Hail Caesar!
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #7 - Hail Caesar!

    S4:E5

    The church fete looms for the Darrowby vets, along with the dreaded Scottish country dancing display. Can Tristan brush up his steps in time to woo the fair Deirdre? Or will his colleague Calum's back-to-nature approach sweep her off her feet?

    Director:Peter Moffatt
    Writer:Alfred Shaughnessy

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  8. All Creatures Great and Small Season 4 Episode 8 - The Healing Touch
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #8 - The Healing Touch

    S4:E8

    Trying to save the life of a badly injured, much-loved cat, James and Tristan seek the help of Granville Bennett, who runs a small animal hospital. The fruits of Bennett's practice are clearly much richer than the hard graft of the Dales, and James is intrigued to find that Bennett is looking for a partner.

    Director:Roderick Graham
    Writer:Johnny Byrne

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  9. All Creatures Great and Small Season 4 Episode 9 - City Slicker
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #9 - City Slicker

    S4:E9

    Andrew Bruce, an old school friend of James' comes to stay for a long weekend. Andrew, a city bank manager, is rhapsodic about the idyllic countryside and Yorkshire Dales courtesy, and he cannot understand why James should want to change such an ideal lifestyle -- until he finds himself in a rural nightmare.

    Director:Roderick Graham
    Writer:Terry Hodgkinson

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  10. All Creatures Great and Small Season 5 Episode 1 - Against the Odds
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #10 - Against the Odds

    S5:E1

    James Herriot finds himself skiing through snowy dales to save a litter of dying piglets. Helen is confined to bed having a slipped a disc and Tristan is hoping that Siegfried will give him a job as he has resigned from the Ministry of Agriculture.

    Director:Robert Tronson
    Writer:Johnny Byrne

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  11. All Creatures Great and Small Season 5 Episode 4 - The Playing Field
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #11 - The Playing Field

    S5:E4

    A typical Yorkshire farmer is transformed into a cowboy; with Siegfried in London, Tristan is left with the worst patients.

    Director:Robert Tronson
    Writer:Terry Hodgkinson

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  12. All Creatures Great and Small Season 5 Episode 12 - Two of a Kind
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #12 - Two of a Kind

    S5:E12

    Siegfried buys a television set, and James has to deal with a man who has cancer.

    Director:Tony Virgo
    Writer:Johnny Byrne

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  13. All Creatures Great and Small Season 6 Episode 4 - The Nelson Touch
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #13 - The Nelson Touch

    S6:E4

    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.

    Director:Bob Blagden
    Writer:Roger Davenport

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  14. All Creatures Great and Small Season 6 Episode 10 - In Whom We Trust
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #14 - In Whom We Trust

    S6:E10

    An old friend of James and Siegfried, an itinerant raveler 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 lurcher dog, Murphy, is the culprit. However, the situation turns serious when an elderly local farmer accuses Murphy of sheep killing.

    Director:Tony Virgo
    Writer:Johnny Byrne

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  15. All Creatures Great and Small Season 6 Episode 11 - The Rough and the Smooth
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #15 - The Rough and the Smooth

    S6:E11

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

    Director:Tony Virgo
    Writer:Johnny Byrne

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  16. All Creatures Great and Small Season 6 Episode 12 - The Best Time
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #16 - The Best Time

    S6:E12

    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.

    Director:Tony Virgo
    Writer:Johnny Byrne

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  17. All Creatures Great and Small Season 7 Episode 4 - A Friend for Life
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #17 - A Friend for Life

    S7:E4

    Tragedy strikes Bill Shadwell when his herd of dairy shorthorns contracts Johne's disease. As Shadwell approaches retirement, his son is keen to move into more profitable Friesian dairy cattle -- a move which means both James and Siegfried are caught up in the family's battle of wills. Mr. Grimsdale's bull poses problems of a different kind when Siegfried is convinced it has swallowed a dangerous metal object. But tightfisted Grimsdale is not convinced that an operation is needed. Tristan's new metal detector could prove to be the solution to a tricky dilemma.

    Director:Steve Goldie
    Writer:Michael Russell

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  18. All Creatures Great and Small Season 1 Episode 1 - Horse Sense
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #18 - Horse Sense

    S1:E1

    Life for a newly qualified vet like James Herriot is not at all easy. He travels all the way to Darrowby, Yorkshire to secure a job, but by the time his prospective employer, Siegfried Farnon, turns up for the interview, James has fallen asleep!

    Director:Terence Dudley
    Writer:Brian Clark

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  19. All Creatures Great and Small Season 1 Episode 3 - It Takes All Kinds
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #19 - It Takes All Kinds

    S1:E3

    Sigfried declares that the business is in shambles financially, and his solution is Miss Harbottle, a meticulous secretary who rules the cash box with an iron hand. Amid a relentless succession of new faces - many gruff, some eccentric - James meets the lovely Helen Alderson.

    Director:Christopher Baker
    Writer:Johnny Byrne

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  20. All Creatures Great and Small Season 1 Episode 7 - Golden Lads and Girls
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #20 - Golden Lads and Girls

    S1:E7

    James' temper is fraying fast -- what with two car accidents in the space of a week, an inauspicious meeting with Helen's family and his rival still lurking around Helen like a "big glossy spider".

    Director:Terence Dudley
    Writer:Brian Finch

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  21. All Creatures Great and Small Season 1 Episode 11 - Bulldog Breed
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #21 - Bulldog Breed

    S1:E11

    As James struggles to save the dairy herd in which a friend has sunk all his savings, he discovers a colleague's guilty secret.

    Director:Peter Moffatt
    Writer:Brian Finch

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  22. All Creatures Great and Small Season 2 Episode 1 - Cats and Dogs
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #22 - Cats and Dogs

    S2:E1

    The waiting room is packed at the Darrowby practice, but Siegfried seems more focused on catching his hard-drinking brother asleep on the job.

    Director:Peter Moffatt
    Writer:Brian Finch

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  23. All Creatures Great and Small Season 2 Episode 5 - Judgment Day
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #23 - Judgment Day

    S2:E5

    The Darrowby Show is a much-anticipated event for the whole community, except for the duty vet. This mixed honor falls to James this year.

    Director:Christopher Barry
    Writer:Brian Finch

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  24. All Creatures Great and Small Season 2 Episode 6 - Faint Hearts
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #24 - Faint Hearts

    S2:E6

    While James struggles to cope with the procrastinations of the Bellerby family, Tristan succumbs to the charms of a millionaire shipbuilder's daughter with a penchant for lobster.

    Director:Robert Tronson
    Writer:Anthony Steven

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  25. All Creatures Great and Small Season 2 Episode 7 - Tricks of the Trade
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #25 - Tricks of the Trade

    S2:E7

    James gets a taste of the high life when he comes to the aid of a city vet, Granville Bennet, while Siegfried juggles the care of Mr. Wilkinson's awesome "colt" with the fine art of debt collecting.

    Director:Kenneth Ives
    Writer:Johnny Byrne

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Best Episodes Summary

"Advice and Consent" is the best rated episode of "All Creatures Great and Small". It scored 10/10 based on 1 votes. Directed by Peter Moffatt and written by Brian Finch, it aired on 2/26/1978. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Attendant Problems".