All Creatures Great and Small (1975)

BBC TWO, 12.45PM ★★★

 Simon Ward and a pre-silence of the Lambs Anthony Hopkins star as Yorkshire vets James Herriot and Siegfried Farnon in this gentle drama set in the Thirties and based on the first two books of British vet Alf Wight (who wrote under the pseudonym of Herriot). The TV series that followed remains most memorable, but there are warm-hearted performances here too, as we see the budding vet arrive in Darrowby.