Overview: Fresh out of Glasgow Veterinary College, James Herriot (Nicholas Ralph) follows his dream to become a vet in the magnificent Yorkshire Dales.

He soon discovers that treating the animals is as much about treating their owners, and the Dales farmers are a tough crowd to please.

DVD Verdict: At Skeldale House James gets to know his newly formed dysfunctional family; his chaotic and erratic boss Siegfried Farnon (Samuel West), his wayward brother Tristan (Callum Woodhouse) and the shrewd housekeeper Mrs. Hall (Anna Madeley) who is endlessly steering the ship.

But when local farmers daughter Helen Alderson (Rachel Shenton) attracts James attention, he finds another, more enduring reason to stay in the Dales.

People like me of a certain age grew up with the wildly popular books and TV series in the 70’s so there are some who will never accept a re-filming of this tale of a vet in post WW1 North Yorkshire.

I happened to live near there and still know people who actually knew Alf Wight who wrote the books in which he renamed himself James Herriot. In the UK, this TV series was made by Channel 5 and who also produce The Yorkshire Vet reality show, which features the same vets practice still working today along with The Yorkshire Steam Railway: All Aboard which features the local preserved steam railway - The North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

But, and getting back on track (see what I did there! No? Oh well, please yourselves!), as such, Channel 5 (or PBS, as it is more widely known to be created for over here in the US) already have a track record (see what I did there ... again?!) of filming up there and thus this series has been on the cards for quite a while.

The only question was would this be up to the standard of the original and one episode in and I can shout out a rather resounding Yes! I mean, please don’t expect complex plots or action chases in this, unless you include angry one ton+ bulls or roller-coaster local roads traversed in 1930’s cars with dodgy brakes!

Just instead enjoy the Yorkshire scenery pretty much unchanged since the time it is set populated with little feel-good stories of veterinary life among the very wily Yorkshire folk. It really still is pretty much like this today and the people haven’t changed much either.

Oh, and lastly, it seems that the only change to the original series was that the writers here have opted to portray James Herriot with a Scottish accent, which the aforementioned author, James Alfred Wight, would have had, since despite being born in Sunderland, England, he was brought up in Glasgow. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs.

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