OLD FAVOURITES

‘There’s nothing except repeats on TV now”, complained my friend the other day. That is true, but streaming services are now overtaking live TV, big time.

We’ve been loving some of the older British TV shows we used to watch. “All Creatures Great and Small” is a big favourite at our place.

It’s pretty basic in terms of film quality, but the stories about a vet practice set in the Yorkshire Dales in the 1930s are brilliant.

Perhaps that’s because they are based on the true to life experiences of the author, James Herriot.

The many episodes are full of all sorts of characters, ranging from the fiercely eccentric Mrs Bond who “works for cats” to the dour salt of the earth farmers who are pleasant on the whole but “hate to part with their brass”, as quoted by Siegfried Farnon, the owner of the Skeldale House veterinary practice.

There are one or two characters I’ve really loved. There’s the old chap who walks miles every day to say hello to two aged heavy horses, who are “retired, like.”

Most of these animals would have been sent to the knackers as soon as the tractors arrived. Not so these two.

“They were slaves when I were a slave”, he says, having been a farm labourer all his working life. Turns out he never married, saved every penny, and eventually became a big land owner in the district.

I’ve shed more than a few tears over old Badger, another very heavy horse who succumbed to tetanus, there being no effective treatment at the time.

Cliffie, the horse handler, had to have this last big horse on the farm put down. Cliffie is a diminutive bearded chap not unlike a garden gnome in appearance, with the kindest and softest way of talking to the magnificent animal as he says goodbye.

It’s all magic, and just so enjoyable to be able to watch it again. I’ll have to tell my friend to get the internet connected to her TV.

Kat Adams, Toowoomba