All Creatures Great and Small returns with a long-awaited Siegfried–Mrs H moment

A revival of All Creatures Great and Small delivered a moment longtime fans have waited for, with Mrs Hall back in Siegfried’s orbit and familiar tensions re-emerging in the Yorkshire Dales. Roland White’s review for the Daily Mail frames the Channel 5 revival as a return to form, balancing warmth with the series’ trademark humor and small-village stakes.

White writes that All Creatures is pitch perfect and that the comedy doesn't feel forced, nor is the drama. He notes the revival returns viewers to the show’s familiar rhythms and the sense that events take place in a recognizably lived-in village.

After the credits, the piece foregrounds the domestic and professional pressures in Skeldale House as Siegfried struggles to keep the practice afloat while Mrs Hall is away with her family in Sunderland. The review paints a picture of a house in disarray—rats in the cellar, a Shetland pony in the bathtub—and a farm practice described as being in a state, with stock and profits down. The setting underscores how the series blends workaday concerns with the warmth and humor that fans associate with the show.

Tristan returns from the war in Italy, looking smart in his captain’s uniform, only to be greeted by a Siegfried who has forgotten to collect him from the station. The clash between distant expectations and familiar routines fans recognize drives the second act, and the plan is made to lure Mrs Hall back from Sunderland. The narrative threads converge around a practical question: how quickly can the household reassemble in the wake of the conflict?

On the station platform, the tension gives way to a long-awaited reunion. The moment is framed as a Brief Encounter-style payoff, with Mrs Hall’s return prompting a chorus of embraces as the war ends. The new dynamic—Siegfried striving to keep up with the laundry and the workload while reinspecting his relationship with Mrs Hall—provides the emotional hinge of the episode. The exchange also highlights the show’s tonal balance, mixing flirtation and banter with a sense of duty to the animals, the clinic, and a village still adjusting to postwar rhythms: "It's good to have you back," he says, followed by the practical reminder, "Just wait to see how far behind we are with the laundry." The moment lands as a satisfyingly old-fashioned but timely beat for viewers.

The piece also situates the revival within a broader cultural moment, noting a Nostalgic Moment of the Week that ties the period piece to contemporary television culture. The Railway Children (BBC Four) is highlighted as a nod to the 200-year anniversary of the railways, a device that mirrors the program’s own retro-pop resonance while acknowledging how audiences engage with heritage on screen.

In summarizing the episode, the Daily Mail critic characterizes the revival as a welcome return that honors the series’ roots while letting its characters evolve. The review suggests fans will appreciate the long-awaited Mrs Hall–Siegfried exchange and the way the ensemble threads loyalty, humor and daily-life pressures into a manageable, comforting narrative slate. The balance of nostalgia with contemporary pacing appears to support the show’s ongoing appeal for Culture & Entertainment readers who value a British countryside drama that can still surprise without abandoning its familiar chords.