Newly qualified vet, James Herriot, arrives for a job interview with Siegfried Farnon at his practice in Darrowby. James is offered the job and soon gets to meet some of the locals, including his first patient, a tortoise owned by a little girl.
Who'd be a vet?! James Herriot's hit novels are vividly captured for TV
More infoNewly qualified vet, James Herriot, arrives for a job interview with Siegfried Farnon at his practice in Darrowby. James is offered the job and soon gets to meet some of the locals, including his first patient, a tortoise owned by a little girl.
Siegfried's brother Tristan returns from college having failed all his exams.
Mrs Harbottle gets the job as practice secretary which turns everything upside down. After giving her the job in the first place, Siegfried goes out of his way to avoid her. Meanwhile, James meets Helen Alderson and takes a shine to her.
Tristan is in trouble with Siegfried, who gives him piglets to look after. James is having trouble treating Mr Dent's pig, but Tristan has a solution. When it emerges that James and Helen share a love of music, James decides to ask her out.
The practice goes from strength to strength, but not James' love life. Tristan arranges a double blind date. Meanwhile, Siegfried shows his prowess with horses when he is called to attend to a pony which belongs to a gypsy and his children.
James gets himself a date, without Tristan's help this time. Back at the practice, Tristan manages to lose a customer. Siegfried later sends James to investigate the curious case of a cow that has apparently been struck by lightning.
James' luck gets better in his romance with Helen. But for the Dalby family, there seems to be no turning of the tide. The local pub is having a lock-in after hours where James bonds with a few of the regulars, until there's a knock at the door.
The Dalby family fortunes dwindle until James stumbles across the reason for the herd's illness. Siegfried becomes concerned about James' love for Helen when he sees her get into Richard Edmundson's Rolls Royce. He decides to give James some advice.
James discovers that some farmers like to do their own vetting, and sometimes the vet can cure the farmer. In the pub, Tristan is shocked to hear of James' low key honeymoon plans and urges him to splash out on a cruise around the Mediterranean.
James and Helen have their honeymoon interrupted by a landlady. Meanwhile, Siegfried makes Tristan work for his final exams which he will be sitting in Edinburgh. A wealthy young student arrives from London to help out while Tristan is away.
Tristan returns from Edinburgh after his final exams, but he's not giving much away as to how they went. James faces a difficult case when the livestock in which a local farmer has sunk all his savings is struck by a disease. What can a vet do?
Tristan gets him exam results, they do not bring good news. James helps him to come up with a plan to prepare the ground before he talks to Siegfried about it. Meanwhile, Siegfried embarks upon a fitness programme and encourages everyone to join in.
Siegfried discovers that a gift given in good faith can deal out death, while James learns that dealing out death can accidentally be the gift of life. Tristan devises a plan to torture his brother with romantic offers from three different ladies.