Set in the rugged beauty of the English countryside, All Creatures Great & Small begins with the arrival of James Herriot (Christopher Timothy) the Yorkshire Dales in the late Thirties. The newly qualified outsider from Scotland finds he still has much to learn if the country folk are ever to accept him as a vet on par with Siegfried Farnon (Robert Hardy), who established the Darrowby practice. As Herriot struggles with the native dialect, skeptical clients and ingrained rural superstitions, he must also learn how to weather the flare-ups between Siegfried and his younger brother, Tristan (Peter Davison). Soon Herriot falls in love with Helen, a local farmer's daughter, only to suffer constant reminders that 'the course of true love never did run smooth.'