PBS
Before last spring, I'd never really heard of All Creatures Great and Small – I never read the books as a kid, and somehow missed the 1970s BBC series that reran on PBS for years and years. But for some reason I stumbled into that series on Britbox a few moths ago, and of course I loved it: its got that cheap, $10 budget look from the 70s a lá Fawlty Towers/Rising Damp et al, the pastoral scenery is outrageously incredible, the characters are all likeable and the action, such that it may be, is insanely slow. It's a warm, reasonably entertaining show to tuck yourself into on a Sunday night.
Then suddenly a NEW version of it started appearing in online ads everywhere, and I kind of dreaded it: they're gonna make it super modern, there's gonna be explosions and CGI etc. Of course I'm exaggerating because at the end of the day it's still Masterpiece, but I was quite wary before its debut last night.
Turns out, there was no need to worry. It's fairly superb. So far its stuck close to the original, the actors are great, there's no overly exciting hyperbole, and the scenery is still outrageously incredible. I highly recommend it for your next Sunday night.
The ONLY ding so far: I worry they're making the housekeeper some sort of all-knowing puppet-master who wisely manipulates Harriot and Farnon without them knowing it; some sort of human talisman who also does the dishes. Hopefully, this is a concern that will be wiped away by next episode.
TWO Xmas trees up!
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