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

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.

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."

As the tractor threatens to do away with a way of life in the Dales, James battles to save a dying shire horse.

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.

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.

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.

The atmosphere is tense as James prepares to perform groundbreaking surgery. Meanwhile, Siegfried wrestles with a disinterested prize bull, and Tristan's hormones run riot over Darrowby's merry widow.

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

Tristan may have finally found the right girl in Alice McTavish. Meanwhile, James struggles to save a dog whose death could trigger the end of the owners' marriage.

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.

Siegried turns on the charm to teach Tristan a lesson, while James, busy with calving, finds one farmer's traditional Yorkshire hospitality a bit hard to swallow.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

With Helen still bedridden, there is a dramatic increase in domestic chaos. While James struggles manfully with both chores and children, Siegfried and Tristan praise his noble efforts -- and do precisely nothing. Tristan nfuriates Mr. Bushy, a redoubtable farmer, by treating a dog instead of Busby's cow, by sleeping in, and finally by treating a bull instead of Busby's dog!