All Creatures Great and Small Season 2: Episode 1 Recap

You have to be made of stone if watching James Herriot (Nicholas Ralph) gently tend to an injured pet on the surprise Masterpiece hit All Creatures Great and Small doesn’t make you sigh. But as Season 2 opens, surprise - we’re not in Darrowby anymore. Instead, James is helping out at a rather snazzy practice in his native Glasgow, owned by his mentor Bill Weipers (Euan MacNaughton), a forward-thinking veterinarian who believes that small animal care, rather than farm work, is the future of the profession. He’s so impressed with James that he offers him a job and it’s tempting. The practice is fully up to date, with a new-fangled X-ray machine. His parents, who are delighted that he’s visiting, are aging, his dad frequently turned down for work at the docks while his mother takes in sewing to make ends meet. Wouldn't it make sense to stay?

Bill mentions that Siegfried (Samuel West) must be missing him, and James responds with a very neutral comment that yes, he must be, deep down, in his own special way. He’ll think about the offer.

Although this is Glasgow in early spring, not the Yorkshire Dales, the streets are beautiful, crates of vegetables glowing against warm gray stone, and full of life and character. We realize we’re seeing James in his element, at home, among his family and friends. He even looks different, more handsome and mature. And when he does return to Darrowby, Tristan (Callum Woodhouse) remarks that his refreshed Glaswegian accent is now virtually unintelligible.