SERIES 1 SYNOPSIS
A new adaptation of best-selling author James Herriot’s cherished collection of stories
Fresh out of Glasgow Veterinary College, James Herriot follows his dream to become a vet in the magnificent Yorkshire Dales. He soon discovers that treating the animals is as much about treating their owners, and the Dales’ famers are a tough crowd to please. At Skeldale House, James gets to know his newly formed dysfunctional family; his chaotic and erratic boss Siegfried Farnon, Siegfried’s wayward brother Tristan and the shrewd Mrs Hall who is endlessly steering the ship. When local beauty Helen Alderson attracts James’s attention he finds another, more enduring reason to stay in the Dales.
EPISODE ONE – YOU’VE GOT TO DREAM
It’s 1937 and Glasgow is in the grip of depression. James Herriot, fresh out of veterinary college, is struggling to find work. Under pressure from his mother to take a job on the docks, James wants to follow his dream and seizes an opportunity to interview for a job as a veterinary assistant in Yorkshire.
James arrives in Darrowby village nestled among the magnificent rolling hills of the Dales. He meets Siegfried Farnon, his potential new boss who is idiosyncratic and chaotic, and his shrewd housekeeper Mrs Hall. James is immediately thrown into the deep end when Siegfried takes him out to the local farms to put his skills to the test. James has to conquer his nerves and trust in his abilities as he treats his first client; a horse with an infected foot. It’s gruelling work. James ends up battered and bruised and Siegfried remains inscrutable at his efforts.
James meets Helen Alderson, a local farmer with whom he is immediately smitten. She advises James to stand up to Siegfried, but when James is held to account for a mix-up on surgery day, his jobs hangs precariously in the balance.
James sees an opportunity at redemption when, in the middle of the night, local farmer Dick Rudd asks for help with a difficult calving. Unbeknown to Siegfried, James takes on the case, but the cow is struggling and James will have to fight tooth and nail if he is to save the calf, and his future.