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The Worst Episodes of All Creatures Great and Small

Every episode of All Creatures Great and Small ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst 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 Worst Episode
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    All Creatures Great and Small Season 7 Episode 7 - Food for Thought
    7.2/10(82 votes)

    #1 - Food for Thought

    S7:E7

    Buffoon Stewie Brannen, an old friend of Siegfried's, has invited the distinguished Professor Norton to a black tie dinner, and prevails upon Siegfried to host it at Skeldale -- and lend him a dinner suit. But disaster looms when Siegfried and Stewie are called out for a calving, in full evening dress, and James has to hold the fort with an irascible Mrs. Alton.

    Director:Richard Martin
    Writer:Roger Davenport

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  2. All Creatures Great and Small Season 5 Episode 9 - Cheques and Balances
    7.3/10(79 votes)

    #2 - Cheques and Balances

    S5:E9

    Siegfried is determined to make the errant farmers pay their bills.

    Director:Tony Virgo
    Writer:Johnny Byrne

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  3. All Creatures Great and Small Season 4 Episode 1 - One of Nature's Little Miracles
    7.5/10(100 votes)

    #3 - One of Nature's Little Miracles

    S4:E1

    Calum Buchanan joins the practice along with his tame badger, Marylin. Pregnant ewes, the plumbing at Sceldale and Helen's lost engagement ring herald the new arrival.

    Director:Peter Moffatt
    Writer:Johnny Byrne

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  4. All Creatures Great and Small Season 4 Episode 2 - Barks and Bites
    7.5/10(88 votes)

    #4 - Barks and Bites

    S4:E2

    Tristan has been appointed a fertility counselor for the Ministry of Agriculture. He and James are sent to Grimbsby to examine an export consignment Russian vets. The Russian woman vet lives up to Tristan's belief that all Russian women are built like discus-throwers.

    Director:Peter Moffatt
    Writer:Alfred Shaughnessy

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  5. All Creatures Great and Small Season 7 Episode 5 - Spring Fever
    7.5/10(79 votes)

    #5 - Spring Fever

    S7:E5

    The mysterious Mrs. Donovan poses problems for all three partners. Siegfried rashly dismisses her as "a warm-hearted woman who loves animals" -- until she starts interfering with his patients. From sheep to piglets, a howling dog to a hibernating tortoise, there seems to be no limit to her homespun remedies. Tristan has big trouble on his hands when cadging college pal St. John turns up looking for a bed -- and a small loan. Can Tristan keep St. John's presence a secret from Siegfried and the fearsome Mrs. Alton? Lovely Rosemary Brocklehurst attracts the romantic attention of Tristan when she brings in Esmerelda, a tortoise, which won't come out of its shell. Perhaps Mrs. Donovan has the answer...

    Director:Michael Brayshaw
    Writer:Joan Salter

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  6. All Creatures Great and Small Season 2 Episode 9 - The Name of the Game
    7.6/10(106 votes)

    #6 - The Name of the Game

    S2:E9

    James becomes suspicious when the Farnon brothers -- usually keen cricketers -- "volunteer" him in their stead for the annual cricket match between Darrowby and Rainby.

    Director:Robert Tronson
    Writer:Brian Finch

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  7. All Creatures Great and Small Season 2 Episode 11 - Ways and Means
    7.6/10(105 votes)

    #7 - 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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  8. All Creatures Great and Small Season 2 Episode 13 - A Dog's Life
    7.6/10(107 votes)

    #8 - A Dog's Life

    S2:E13

    Despite Siegfried's insistence that he relax and "cultivate the inner man," James can't shrug off the irritations that often make his professions a dog's life. Siegfried's inner man is cramming for the annual quiz that pits the men of Darrowby against the fearsome Women's Institute.

    Director:Kenneth Ives
    Writer:Johnny Byrne

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  9. All Creatures Great and Small Season 4 Episode 4 - The Pig Man Cometh
    7.6/10(86 votes)

    #9 - The Pig Man Cometh

    S4:E4

    James has his eye on a little semi-detached property coming up for sale, with the notion it would make a pleasant surprise for Helen. Unknown to him, however, Helen has grander ideas. There is trouble from a local farmer, which ironically leads Calum to celebrate his departure from the Herriot household.

    Director:Peter Moffatt
    Writer:Terry Hodgkinson

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  10. All Creatures Great and Small Season 4 Episode 5 - Hail Caesar!
    7.6/10(89 votes)

    #10 - 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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  11. All Creatures Great and Small Season 4 Episode 6 - Only One Woof
    7.6/10(86 votes)

    #11 - Only One Woof

    S4:E6

    James and Seigfreid deal with a sheepdog trainer, whose dog is suffering from epilepsy. At Skeldale, two wild cats wander in the garden and Helen takes out food for them. She is hopeful of keeping them but James warns her that they will never come in from the wild.

    Director:Roderick Graham
    Writer:Johnny Byrne

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  12. All Creatures Great and Small Season 4 Episode 9 - City Slicker
    7.6/10(87 votes)

    #12 - 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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  13. All Creatures Great and Small Season 4 Episode 10 - For Richer, For Poorer
    7.6/10(79 votes)

    #13 - For Richer, For Poorer

    S4:E10

    Harvest Sunday proves to be a trying time for the practice. Seigfreid seizes the opportunity to teach Callum cleanliness by example, forcing him to watch "the perfect operation" on a sick cow. Unfortunately, the operation doesn't go according to plan. When Callum is chased by a bull, James goes to his aid.

    Director:Roderick Graham
    Writer:Johnny Byrne

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  14. All Creatures Great and Small Season 5 Episode 4 - The Playing Field
    7.6/10(72 votes)

    #14 - 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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  15. All Creatures Great and Small Season 1 Episode 1 - Horse Sense
    7.7/10(226 votes)

    #15 - 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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  16. All Creatures Great and Small Season 1 Episode 5 - Out of Practice
    7.7/10(140 votes)

    #16 - Out of Practice

    S1:E5

    The veterinary practice goes from strength to strength, but James fears he has wrecked his chances with Helen after a disastrous first date. Tristan decides that a blind date is all James needs to hone his courtship skills.

    Director:Peter Moffatt
    Writer:Johnny Byrne

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  17. All Creatures Great and Small Season 3 Episode 8 - A Dying Breed
    7.7/10(96 votes)

    #17 - A Dying Breed

    S3:E8

    The vets visit a modern dairy farm and are left to wonder who benefits from the cold efficiency. Miss Westerman returns with her dog Hamish and Tristan tries to avoid her, given that he misplaced her dog the last time she him in the vets' care. She is concerned at the rumors that all dogs will need to be destroyed if war is declared but Tristan sets her mind to rest. The vets agree to spay a cat for a minimum fee, but find they may have gotten more that they bargained for. Siegfried treat Herbie Hinchcliffe's aging horse Dolly and becomes emotionally involved in the case when he has to put

    Director:Richard Bramall
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. All Creatures Great and Small Season 4 Episode 3 - The Bull with the Bowler Hat
    7.7/10(90 votes)

    #18 - 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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  19. All Creatures Great and Small Season 4 Episode 7 - Ace, King, Queen, Jack
    7.7/10(89 votes)

    #19 - Ace, King, Queen, Jack

    S4:E7

    The week leading up to the Darrowby Show proves to be a difficult one for James. He finds that he has been asked to judge the dog section at the show, an invitation he can't refuse. Since Mrs. Pumphrey will inevitably want to enter Tricki Woo, James expects to be put in a very embarrassing situation.

    Director:Roderick Graham
    Writer:Terry Hodgkinson

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  20. All Creatures Great and Small Season 4 Episode 8 - The Healing Touch
    7.7/10(89 votes)

    #20 - 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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  21. All Creatures Great and Small Season 5 Episode 1 - Against the Odds
    7.7/10(81 votes)

    #21 - 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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  22. All Creatures Great and Small Season 5 Episode 3 - Choose a Bright Morning
    7.7/10(73 votes)

    #22 - Choose a Bright Morning

    S5:E3

    James receives a cry for help from the isolated Bramley family who last came to town in 1929.

    Director:Robert Tronson
    Writer:Anthony Steven

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  23. All Creatures Great and Small Season 5 Episode 10 - Female of the Species
    7.7/10(74 votes)

    #23 - Female of the Species

    S5:E10

    Siegfried gives a friend's offspring some experience in the surgery. Calum initially resents this, but bucks up when he sees the young student.

    Director:Tony Virgo
    Writer:Brian Finch

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  24. All Creatures Great and Small Season 5 Episode 11 - The Jackpot
    7.7/10(75 votes)

    #24 - The Jackpot

    S5:E11

    James wears his shorts to a visit and is challenged to a race, while Jock, a once champion sheepdog, and delights in chasing cars from the farm.

    Director:Tony Virgo
    Writer:Anthony Steven

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  25. All Creatures Great and Small Season 6 Episode 1 - Here and There
    7.7/10(79 votes)

    #25 - Here and There

    S6:E1

    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 nose 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.

    Director:Bob Blagden
    Writer:Brian Finch

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Food for Thought" is the worst rated episode of "All Creatures Great and Small". It scored 7.2/10 based on 82 votes. Directed by Richard Martin and written by Roger Davenport, it aired on 10/13/1990. This episode scored 0.1 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Cheques and Balances".