All Creatures Great & Small (S4E7 / Xmas Special)
Monday, 19 February 2024 02:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
queer_scribblingS4E7: On a Wing and a Prayer
Aired and seen on 18 Feb 2024. Telly Visions recap.
It's the Xmas special for 1940.
James has completed training and will fly bombers, which don't exactly have a high rate of returning with survivors (as demonstrated by a bomber with trainees/friends he recognised not returning the night before this episode starts). Helen was supposed to drive down to the nearby town to have dinner with him, but there's been a snowstorm in the dales. With her being due any moment now, both Siegfried and Mrs Hall don't want her to drive in this weather.
James is worried enough that he asks Officer Woodham if he can visit her. This superior officer in charge of training them is initially cold and rather blunt that he can't let 'everyone who's knocked up some girl go on leave'. He wants James to focus on the company mascot who is injured because this is bringing out superstition among the others. I'm not sure what type of bird it is; the Telly Visions recap says a kestrel, but I thought it was possibly injured by a kestrel. I don't remember a name, but it was kinda pretty and definitely some sort of bird of prey.
James thinks he can make a quick visit, and he just climbs into the back of a truck that's leaving. He then hitch hikes and gets picked up by someone heading in the direction of Yorkshire, who is some guy looking for his daughter's lost cat. (James will eventually call him and ask about Oscar; the daughter will accept Oscar as her new cat even though he's not the one that got lost. It felt like more of an attempt at a tidy cleanup to that story line and a convenient way to get rid of a cat now that Helen will be taking care of a baby. It seemed unfortunate since I've run into people, these days, who still believe that a cat will kill a newborn and instantly want to get rid a cat once someone's pregnant in the family. Granted, it might just be easier in terms of not needing a cat on set.)
The man is mostly there to talk a bit about how he's injured and can't serve, thus guilting James into admitting that he's currently AWOL. He's not leaving forever, though, so he's definitely not a coward or a deserter. Anyways, James gets out and walks the last bit, and Officer Woodham appears in a military car at a 'one mile to Darrowby' marker to haul him back. He's unquestionably not happy about this, but he's coping with not being able to see his own young children by being hard on James and stressing the importance of military brotherhood. (James uses a toothpick as a temporary shaft for the mascot's feather, so it can fly until it molts and gets a new flight feather. Officer Woodham praises his veterinary skills and eventually gives him leave to officially go see Helen on Boxing Day.)
Back at Skeldale House, Siegfried gets Richard to dress up as Father Christmas, and a fair bit of the town has a party at The Drover's. Siegfried and Richard encounter a not very friendly dog while getting the goose for Mrs Hall for said party, and Richard has a dog bite on one of his butt cheeks that causes him to walk around gingerly for the rest of the special. Helen carves one of those faces of winter in a piece of wood and burns it [originally seen in an earlier season where James did it while explaining the Scottish custom]. Mr Alderson brings a cradle to The Drover's for Helen to use, and he has to bite his tongue when Mrs Pumphrey sets Tricki Woo in it. She does invite Uncle Carmody to sit with them, which is one of several encouragements to drink that Richard gets. He's not a drinker, and he does absolutely get drunk by the end of the night. (It was supposed to be funny, but personally, I didn't find multiple people ignoring him that he doesn't drink to be as funny as intended.)
Helen, obviously, goes into labor. There was this whole back and forth with Siegfried and Richard about how, if push came to shove, they could probably step in if the midwife didn't get there because they had plenty of animal experience with birth. It was clearly supposed to be a funny bit about how they were oblivious to it upsetting Helen by comparing her to animals they worked with. It might have been part of trying to show the time period expected idea that men were useless when it came to delivery, and that was a midwife's domain in a manner of speaking. Either way, Helen gave birth to a baby boy, and when James stopped by in the morning, he got to meet his son James.
Also: Siegfried allows Richard to take Tristan's old room, though he claims it's only a matter of convenience as this will allow him to send Richard out on all the night calls. Mrs Hall takes off the ring that I think Gerald gave her, though the Telly Visions recap makes it sound like the ring was the one from her marriage. Richard is a bit overwhelmed by the alcohol, celebrating Xmas for the first time, and sort of feeling like a part of the Skeldale household, and he brings up how Siegfried was right in his "Merry bloody Christmas" speech that Mrs Hall is wonderful; it's presented in a way that Siegfried and Mrs Hall are both awkward, so I have a horrible feeling the writers are aiming for getting them together.
Aired and seen on 18 Feb 2024. Telly Visions recap.
It's the Xmas special for 1940.
James has completed training and will fly bombers, which don't exactly have a high rate of returning with survivors (as demonstrated by a bomber with trainees/friends he recognised not returning the night before this episode starts). Helen was supposed to drive down to the nearby town to have dinner with him, but there's been a snowstorm in the dales. With her being due any moment now, both Siegfried and Mrs Hall don't want her to drive in this weather.
James is worried enough that he asks Officer Woodham if he can visit her. This superior officer in charge of training them is initially cold and rather blunt that he can't let 'everyone who's knocked up some girl go on leave'. He wants James to focus on the company mascot who is injured because this is bringing out superstition among the others. I'm not sure what type of bird it is; the Telly Visions recap says a kestrel, but I thought it was possibly injured by a kestrel. I don't remember a name, but it was kinda pretty and definitely some sort of bird of prey.
James thinks he can make a quick visit, and he just climbs into the back of a truck that's leaving. He then hitch hikes and gets picked up by someone heading in the direction of Yorkshire, who is some guy looking for his daughter's lost cat. (James will eventually call him and ask about Oscar; the daughter will accept Oscar as her new cat even though he's not the one that got lost. It felt like more of an attempt at a tidy cleanup to that story line and a convenient way to get rid of a cat now that Helen will be taking care of a baby. It seemed unfortunate since I've run into people, these days, who still believe that a cat will kill a newborn and instantly want to get rid a cat once someone's pregnant in the family. Granted, it might just be easier in terms of not needing a cat on set.)
The man is mostly there to talk a bit about how he's injured and can't serve, thus guilting James into admitting that he's currently AWOL. He's not leaving forever, though, so he's definitely not a coward or a deserter. Anyways, James gets out and walks the last bit, and Officer Woodham appears in a military car at a 'one mile to Darrowby' marker to haul him back. He's unquestionably not happy about this, but he's coping with not being able to see his own young children by being hard on James and stressing the importance of military brotherhood. (James uses a toothpick as a temporary shaft for the mascot's feather, so it can fly until it molts and gets a new flight feather. Officer Woodham praises his veterinary skills and eventually gives him leave to officially go see Helen on Boxing Day.)
Back at Skeldale House, Siegfried gets Richard to dress up as Father Christmas, and a fair bit of the town has a party at The Drover's. Siegfried and Richard encounter a not very friendly dog while getting the goose for Mrs Hall for said party, and Richard has a dog bite on one of his butt cheeks that causes him to walk around gingerly for the rest of the special. Helen carves one of those faces of winter in a piece of wood and burns it [originally seen in an earlier season where James did it while explaining the Scottish custom]. Mr Alderson brings a cradle to The Drover's for Helen to use, and he has to bite his tongue when Mrs Pumphrey sets Tricki Woo in it. She does invite Uncle Carmody to sit with them, which is one of several encouragements to drink that Richard gets. He's not a drinker, and he does absolutely get drunk by the end of the night. (It was supposed to be funny, but personally, I didn't find multiple people ignoring him that he doesn't drink to be as funny as intended.)
Helen, obviously, goes into labor. There was this whole back and forth with Siegfried and Richard about how, if push came to shove, they could probably step in if the midwife didn't get there because they had plenty of animal experience with birth. It was clearly supposed to be a funny bit about how they were oblivious to it upsetting Helen by comparing her to animals they worked with. It might have been part of trying to show the time period expected idea that men were useless when it came to delivery, and that was a midwife's domain in a manner of speaking. Either way, Helen gave birth to a baby boy, and when James stopped by in the morning, he got to meet his son James.
Also: Siegfried allows Richard to take Tristan's old room, though he claims it's only a matter of convenience as this will allow him to send Richard out on all the night calls. Mrs Hall takes off the ring that I think Gerald gave her, though the Telly Visions recap makes it sound like the ring was the one from her marriage. Richard is a bit overwhelmed by the alcohol, celebrating Xmas for the first time, and sort of feeling like a part of the Skeldale household, and he brings up how Siegfried was right in his "Merry bloody Christmas" speech that Mrs Hall is wonderful; it's presented in a way that Siegfried and Mrs Hall are both awkward, so I have a horrible feeling the writers are aiming for getting them together.
