User Reviews

We'll deal with the horse later. The "second case" in this episode, and there most often is one, is a disagreeable cat taken in to be spade. The story here closely mirrors the same story in the original series, and has it's amusing moments. It rings true because one of four semi-feral cats who live in my garage also tries to damage me each month when I have to squeeze flea treatment between their shoulder blades. I've finally arrived at the solution of a heavy garden glove with my car washing mitt over it. His claws get stuck in the fleece. :-)

In the other story, Seigfried relives the horror of his veterinary service in WWI and the order to destroy hundreds of horses. It's brought back as a wealthy local has bought a racehorse no one can ride ... and the wealthy man is also the officer who ordered Siegfried to destroy the horses at the end of WWI.

Much of the episode is spent with Seigfreid seeking to gain the animal's trust and allay it's fears. It's truly touching.

When a series is as successful as the rebooted All Creatures Great and Small, there must be a risk that the creative team will become more afraid to take risks, preferring to play safe. Not so here. In a magnificent episode, Ben Vanstone's beautifully crafted script puts Siegfried at the centre of the action. Receiving the news that a traumatised colleague from The Great War has committed suicide, Siegfried submerges himself in the treatment of a psychologically traumatised racehorse called River. It's a magnificent central performance by Samuel West, in a hour of the very finest of British TV.

We had one job when mankind was created. To take care of the beautiful animals that live on this earth. What has been done to these precious creatures through history is appalling. The respect Siegfried showed to that beautiful horse brought tears to my eyes! While the characters are all great in their own right, Siegfried is simply my favorite! He's a very complex character and at times no doubt difficult to deal with and work with but this episode shows what a truly caring person he is under that gruff exterior. I enjoyed the side stories as usual but Siegfried and the horse River were the stars of this episode. Well done!!

Sometimes flashbacks become filler and a means to give information that could have been done through plot development. This is not the case because we have two things going on. First of all is the trauma that a friend of Siegfried and fellow soldier has taken his own life. Siegfried is fallen into depression and anger. We know why because of the opening scenes where Siegfried is a member of the Veterinary patrols that looked after the horses in World War I. The war ends and the generals basically say, destroy the horses. They are a lag on the process of getting back to normal. But these men love the animals. Siegfried is ordered to kill a horse he has rescued and brought back to health. He carries this with him. The continuing story, then, has the return of the owner of the racing stable (the man who delivered the order to destroy the horse) calling Siegfried to figure out what is wrong with an expensive stallion. He is ready, without regret, to have the horse put down. He is of no value financially because he will never race. Siegfried begins a process of helping the horse become comfortable with people again. He was traumatized at some point. All the pieces fit in this story. There is a fun subplot about a cheapskate old woman and her feral cat, which needs to be spayed.