All Creatures Great and Small Season 5, Episode 1, “To All Our Boys” Spoilers Ahead
The All Creatures Great and Small Season 5 premiere, “To All Our Boys,” feels both soothingly familiar and curiously daring. As it pulls through threads and themes from the first four seasons, the episode pushes the series further into struggles for various freedoms. With the escalation of World War II as a backdrop, our beloved characters face more personal battles. And while All Creatures Great and Small has always featured strong female characters, the everyday fight for women’s equality emerges more fully in the Season 5 premiere.
“To All Our Boys” is a satisfying and intriguing start to what promises to be another wonderful season of All Creatures Great and Small.
Stepping Up and Standing Down
No return to the world of All Creatures Great and Small would feel complete without a sweeping view of the Yorkshire Dales. The exhilarating opening scene gratifies this need, showing Siegfried Farnon and his Rover racing through the landscape. A cut to Audrey Hall hurrying to meet Helen Herriot and her pram outside Skeldale House gives a further impression of normalcy. Then, a pan-out reveals ongoing war preparations in town, and the cut to James Herriot’s training airfield reminds us of the dire reality in England in the spring of 1941. In only a few minutes, the Season 5 premiere revives a central tension of Season 4: how to carry on at home as others risk their lives in combat.
On the home front, Darrowby residents step up their service to the community and support for the troops in All Creatures Great and Small Season 5, Episode 1, “To All Our Boys.” As the practice is down to one vet and a half (or three-quarters, according to Richard Carmody), Siegfried grudgingly allows the young assistant to oversee the clinic on his own. Carmody, eager to take on the responsibility, devises an intake form to facilitate communication and efficiency. The forms have the opposite effect when a perfectly healthy Tibbles is almost packed off to the slaughterhouse in another classic All Creatures Great and Small cat mix-up. Even with feline mysteries to solve, the vets find time to nurture those left behind by soldiers. Siegfried is adorably doting on baby Jimmy, while Carmody devotes himself to training foster dog Hamish.
While the vets tend to the community, the women of Darrowby step up in the war effort. Mrs. Pumphrey leads the Women’s Institute war support activities and will soon sacrifice the comfort of her and Tricki Woo’s home to allow for a convalescent hospital. Helen rejects the idea that “the world [should] stop just ’cause I’ve had a baby.” She rushes to check in on Dot, who helped raise her and Jenny. As Dot recovers from a hysterectomy, in a return to the roots, Helen takes over responsibility for the victory gardens. It is, though, Mrs. Hall who steps up in the most dramatic way in “To All Our Boys.” Not content with only “knitting non-stop,” Audrey uses her credentials as a WWI Wren to convince Mr. Bosworth that she’s just the woman to serve as volunteer blackout warden.
Meanwhile, at the airbase, James faces a difficult decision after being diagnosed with brucellosis (a reminder of the agonizing events of “By The Book“). The aspiring pilot is grounded while his crew flies into mortal danger. James’ fall from grace continues after he challenges the Wing Commander’s decision and earns ditch duty on a local farm. He feels his loss of stature acutely when the ungrateful farmer mocks him. Deep emotional injury adds to the insult when James learns “his” men took enemy fire, with only one tenuous survivor. James is able to stand down from his sense of duty and his pilot position only when he realizes how valuable his veterinary expertise remains as both a service and a source of respect.
The Show‘s Magic Shines in “To All Our Boys“
The Season 5 premiere proves again that PBS’ All Creatures Great and Small is the rare series able to capture magic in every episode.
In “To All Our Boys,” writer Debbie O’Malley delivers the intelligent story craft series viewers expect, along with healthy doses of wit and feeling. The familiar All Creatures Great and Small animal-human parallels are brilliant, with both lifeless Frisk and fainting James needing rest and observation and a change in their environments to avoid harm. O’Malley updates a device we saw in “Broodiness“; as with Wesley Binks last season, the Wing Commander’s love of his dog seals James’ change in esteem for the previously misunderstood man. And Carmody’s indulgent training of Hamish provides James with a friendly greeting for his return to Skeldale House.
The human-human interactions are also magnificently crafted. As with animals and people, we also see parallels in the “blessings in disguise” that infirmity offers to James and Dot. Themes of inter-generational mentoring run through “To All Our Boys” with Seigfried and Carmody, Dot and Helen, and James and the young, perfectionist navigator Banerjee. The dialogue is at times poignant, at times flippant, and always clever. Samuel West’s straight delivery of “You’ve managed to lose a dead cat” is laugh-out-loud funny.
Episodes are chapters in an unfolding story. The bout of brucellosis takes us back to the Crabtree farm and Helen’s miscarriage scare. The wooden plane is a callback to the heart achingly powerful end of “Papers.” James’ reflection on his first solo outing as a vet takes us back to the beginning of the series. And as James wrestles with whether to “abandon” his service, close watchers might wonder whether the regret-filled words of Mr. Collins from the Season 4 finale, “On a Wing and a Prayer,” weigh on James’ decision.
The casting selections of Beverley Keogh and Sheraz Ahmed demand praise. Each supporting actor in “To All Our Boys” seamlessly integrates the All Creatures Great and Small universe and impeccably embodies their character. As the imperious Wing Commander, Simon Paisley Day is detached and wise, allowing humanity to peek through briefly. In contrast, Callum Coates wears his warm heart on his sleeve as Medical Officer Reed. Banerjee’s anguish is palpable in Samir Mahat’s portrayal of the young navigator. Caroline O’Neill as Dot Fawcett is endearingly befuddled. And any worries that the imminently recognizable Jeremy Swift might stick out are unfounded. We see only Bosworth’s bossiness and bumbling as Swift slips on the uniform.
Without fail, the opening credits cast is exceptional. James Anthony-Rose, as Carmody shows a comic physicality in his exciting traipsing to prepare the intake forms and his crestfallen facial expressions. When Patricia Hodge, as Mrs. Pumphrey, rolls her eyes or sighs while listening to Bosworth’s bluster, she is all of us. And Rachel Shenton’s mastery of micro expressions to wordlessly communicate complex emotion, whether deep apprehension (phone call) or relieved reverie (final scene), is a rare skill.
Brian Percival’s direction adds visual depth to the story. We get the beautiful Schrodinger’s cat moment where a frisky illustration on the box gives way to a very much alive Frisk. Additionally, the warm interior lighting and natural light in Darrowby provide a visual contrast to the night scenes and cold, dark lighting at the airbase.
The All Creatures Great and Small Season 5 premiere ends with joy on screen — cooing, smiles, stunned looks of disbelief — and tears of happiness for viewers like me. “To All Our Boys” seems to promise that, despite the progress of the war, viewers will have many reasons to cheer this season.
Now streaming on PBS: What are your thoughts on All Creatures Great and Small Season 5, Episode 1, “To All Our Boys?” Let us know in the comments below.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Helen Williams; Playground Entertainment and MASTERPIECE.