PBS recently announced that season two of Masterpiece Theater’s “All Creatures Great and Small” will be available in the U.S. on January 9, 2022. I’m a big James Herriot fan, and I enjoyed season one of this new television adaption of James Herriot’s classic stories of working as a young veterinarian in rural England in the 1930s. The announcement has me anxiously awaiting season two. If you’re also getting antsy for the next installment, here are some ideas to tide you over until January, 2022.
It’s always a good idea to re-watch the previous season, which is available on DVD at the library. But that won’t take very long to watch if you’re serious about Herriot, which I am. What will take awhile to get through is 90 episodes of the BBC series by the same name which ran sporadically from 1978 to 1990.
The “Durrells in Corfu” is another quirky BBC production from the same time period. The series is a television adaptation of the Corfu Trilogy books by Gerald Durrell, which are a fictionalized account of the time his family spent on the Greek island of Corfu when he was a child. Over the years on Corfu, Gerald collects and cares for a variety of animals from scorpions to pelicans, and he and his family fall into countless adventures which range from hilarious to poignant. Durrell went on to become a naturalist and led the field of species preservation and compassionate care of captive animals. Don’t forget to check out any of his books. They are quick, enchanting reads, filled with British wit and wry observations.
“The Biggest Little Farm” is a documentary about a family’s journey to resurrect a barren farm in California. The cinematography is beautiful and the story is inspiring. 
There are also several reality TV shows about modern rural veterinarians, including two produced by National Geographic. “Critter Fixers, Country Vets,” follows two compassionate, folksy modern veterinaries in rural Georgia. Ben and Erin Schroeder and their Nebraska veterinary practice are featured in “Heartland Docs.” Neither of these is Herriot in 1930’s Yorkshire, but if you like the inside view of a veterinary practice one of these might help fill the void for you.
You can always sink into one of Herriot’s books. His stories are ones that can be revisited many times. If you’ve read and re-read Herriot already, there are some other authors you might consider. I already mentioned Gerald Durrell, whom I can’t recommend strongly enough. Patrick Taylor’s fictional series “An Irish Country Doctor,” follows the lives of two doctors in rural Ireland and the unexpected personalities and conundrums that come with such a life. If you like the first book, there 16 more to keep you busy until January. “A Handful of Happiness,” is veterinarian Massimo Vacchetta’s memoir of how caring for an orphaned hedgehog turned his life around and precipitated the creation of his hedgehog hospital.
In “The Ride of Her Life,” Elizabeth Letts shares the story of Annie Wilkins. In 1954, Annie was told she had only two years left to live. The last in her family, with a failing family farm in Maine, 63-year-old Annie scrapes together all the money she can, buys a horse and starts a ride across the country to California with her dog, Depeche Toi. Along the way, she meets kind strangers and builds unbreakable bonds with her animal companions.
The Pack Horse Librarians were part of a Depression era work project. “The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek,” is a novel about the fictional Cussy Mary Carter, who triumphs over poverty and discrimination and becomes a pack horse librarian in Appalachian Kentucky. With her loyal and surly mule she delivers books, friendship and support to the most isolated members of her community.
I hope these suggestions help you make it to January with out too much pain, and bring some new stories into your life.
