Writing a balanced opinion piece about a TV show you genuinely adore is far more complex than one might expect. I’m deeply protective of All Creatures Great and Small and its characters, and that naturally raises the question of whether I can be objective enough to offer a perspective worth publishing.
Watching this year’s Christmas Special of All Creatures, however, made me realize something: genuinely caring about the show does not weaken my response; it gives it sincerity and weight. And I realized this to a large extent while reading the thoughtful reactions from other viewers and fellow fans. While there were certainly also some less respectful and counterproductive posts, many shared reflections that were so well articulated and written with such care that they sometimes felt less like social-media comments and more like excerpts from an academic paper.
Like them, I do not write about All Creatures because it is a task that was assigned to me. I write about it simply because I want to – out of excitement, genuine affection, and respect for the cast and crew. I have no interest in teasing fans or misleading them, nor is it my intention to be the first person to drop new information. I write to support the show, to share what I love about it, and certainly also to persuade a few new viewers to give it a chance. And it is precisely for these reasons that I also want to point out moments that feel slightly out of step and do not entirely follow the logic established within the show. Because I care, and because I believe this wonderful show deserves honesty.
I ask you to keep all of this in mind when you read this opinion piece on the 2025 All Creatures Christmas Special, an episode the fan community had high expectations for, but one that ultimately left many feeling rather confused and a little let down.
Does Season 6 Still Matter?
It was a badly hidden secret that Dorothy, Mrs Hall’s supposedly best friend who briefly flirted with Siegfried in season 1, was returning for the Holiday Special. Some fans were concerned from the outset, but the strength of season 6 left many confident that Dorothy’s return would, if anything, merely serve as a brief catalyst to help Siegfried and Audrey recognise what they truly feel for one another.
However, the closer we got to the episode, and with more revealing trailers being released in other countries, the worry grew. What does Dorothy’s return mean for everything that had been so carefully built between Siegfried and Mrs Hall throughout season 6?
When the episode finally aired on Christmas Eve, it turned out the worries of the viewers, in particular those rooting for Siegfried and Audrey, weren’t unfounded.
After almost five seasons (eight years in the show’s timeline) without a single mention of Dorothy, she suddenly returns to Skeldale, ostensibly to visit her friend Audrey. But it becomes clear almost immediately that she is mainly there to reconnect with Siegfried. In itself, that premise could have worked, had it been handled in a way that logically followed season 6 and that honoured the character development which had been so masterfully built over the past few years.
Instead, however, the episode often felt as though large parts of season 6 (referred to by many as one of the show’s strongest and most emotionally mature seasons yet) had never actually happened. Storylines viewers expected to see continued, or at least acknowledged in some way, were simply left hanging. Did Siegfried and Helen ever address the tension between them after the Herriots moved out of Skeldale? Do James, Helen and the children still exclusively live at Heston? And what about Edward, whose presence at Skeldale for Christmas Audrey has longed for since season 1?
And most importantly: how did Siegfried get from “I will always need you, Mrs Hall” and “irrespective of the question, the answer is always you,” to “I missed you rather a lot” addressed to a woman he barely knows and hasn’t seen in nearly a decade? A woman who we do not even have a last name for.
All through season 6, Siegfried was terrified of losing Mrs Hall again. In the opening episode he even chased her across the train tracks, completely ignoring the end of the Second World War because his sole focus was on stopping Audrey Hall from leaving. And yet, in the Christmas Special, we are suddenly asked to believe that he has secretly been thinking about Audrey’s friend all this time?
 |
| "Comfort & Joy" - ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL, Pictured: Mamie McCoy, Anna Madeley & Samuel West / © Playground Television UK Ltd. 2025 / © 5 Broadcasting Limited. All Rights Reserved |
And while many fans were understandably disappointed to see yet another obstacle placed between Siegfried and Audrey, what truly upset people was the apparent disregard for the emotional groundwork laid in season 6. This is not merely shippers being upset that their favourite couple was pushed further apart for drama’s sake, it is frustration and concern over narrative inconsistency.
The TV Couple Myth
Some viewers have wondered whether the shaky continuity of the episode might be the result of last-minute changes, following the news that the show would not only return for a 7th season (long anticipated, though not yet officially confirmed at the time) but also for an 8th. If that were the case, the instinct to slow things down to prolong the “will-they-won’t-they” dynamic between Siegfried and Audrey is admittedly understandable. After all, television has for decades operated under the belief that once two beloved characters finally get together, the story becomes less interesting for the viewer. As a result, many shows keep their central couples apart for as long as possible in the hopes of keeping the tension alive and fresh.
It might be necessary and can work beautifully in certain formats – a show like The Nanny, for instance, was built on exactly that tension. But All Creatures is entirely different, and so is its audience. Viewers are not looking for shock twists or contrived detours; there are plenty of other series that rely on that kind of storytelling. Ultimately, whether a couple remains engaging once the romance begins is a matter of how it is written and portrayed, not whether the relationship exists at all.
And this, I think, is where the Christmas Special lost many people. It was not the idea of conflict. It was not even Dorothy herself. Fans already knew she would return, after all the fantastic Maimie McCoy had officially been listed as part of the season 6 cast months in advance. What viewers expected, however, was that Dorothy’s reappearance would build on what season 6 had so carefully set up: that her storyline would make narrative sense, and perhaps even help gently move Siegfried and Audrey toward acknowledging their affection for each other.
Instead, the Christmas Special seemed to behave as though everything season 6 had built so beautifully between Siegfried and Mrs Hall had never actually happened. Their choices and reactions were not out of character per se but at times seemed like they were lifted from an earlier version of the show, back when any potential romance between Siegfried and Audrey was still a distant possibility. The result was jarring and confusing, to the point that it became difficult to fully appreciate the parts of the episode that did work, such as the Nativity or the gentle development of Tristan and Charlotte’s relationship.
A Beautiful Moment That Left Us Confused
When Siegfried tells Audrey that he likes to think of “love” the way Plato and Aristophanes described it – that every soul was once whole but got split into two and spends a lifetime searching for its missing half – many viewers instinctively assumed he was speaking with Mrs Hall in mind. We cannot be entirely sure, of course, but it is certainly what much of the audience is encouraged to believe. Audrey’s reply is powerful, yet deeply confusing: “What if you spend your whole life looking for something that doesn’t exist and miss what’s right under your nose?” – a line that, at least on the surface, does not seem to refer to herself.
Is she deflecting? Is she protecting herself? Is she pushing Siegfried toward Dorothy because, on paper, they seem like the more appropriate match? Does she truly feel nothing more than friendship for him? And did this version of Audrey even live through season 6?
 |
| "Comfort & Joy" - ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL, Pictured: Anna Madeley & Samuel West / © Playground Television UK Ltd. 2025 / © 5 Broadcasting Limited. All Rights Reserved |
The moment is undeniably beautiful: tender, layered and exceptionally well-acted by both Samuel West and Anna Madeley. But for all its potential, it ultimately leaves us guessing because the script refuses to tell us what we are meant to understand. And while ambiguity can sometimes be powerful, in this scene a clearer emotional direction would have left the viewers more grounded and less confused about where Audrey and Siegfried stand.
The Pub Kiss – And Why the Scene Felt Off
At the end of the episode, Audrey wins the Skeldale family a turkey at the darts tournament in the Drovers. Dorothy joins them and Siegfried tells her, the woman he has not seen or spoken about in 8 years, that he “missed her rather a lot” before they share a kiss – in the middle of the pub, in front of everyone. At this point I would like to remind you that the Christmas Special is set in December 1945 in a small Yorkshire village and not in a NYC night club in the 1990s.
Yes, Audrey may have nudged him toward Dorothy, likely out of self-protection and maybe because she might see Dorothy as a more “appropriate” match for Siegfried. But is one push really all it takes for him to lean toward someone else? It is especially hard to reconcile when we think back to how completely Siegfried fell apart earlier in season 6 at the mere thought of Mrs Hall ever leaving Skeldale – leaving him – again.
And while Audrey does not witness the kiss between her friends, she does see what follows. She turns, expecting Siegfried to be beside her, sharing the moment and her victory – she even reaches out to hug him – only to find him across the room, leaning in close to Dorothy, smiling. It affects her, even though she brushes it aside almost immediately. It is yet another emotion Audrey pushes down. Again the viewer is left guessing: is this the moment she finally realised what she has set in motion? Ordinarily, it is clear to me what a scene on All Creatures is trying to convey. But the way this particular episode was written, and the way it set aside parts of what season 6 had already established as canon, makes me question whether I can still trust my interpretation skills.
And that is perhaps what makes this episode so difficult to swallow for many viewers. It is not that a favourite pairing did not move forward quickly enough. It is that the storyline feels as though it was pushed in from the outside, designed to create contrived drama, rather than growing naturally out of everything season 6 built so beautifully.
Where Was Comfort? Where Was Joy?
Another element that seemed rather odd is that the episode saw an animal getting euthanised, something that rarely happens on the show in general yet was chosen as a storyline in a Christmas Special titled “Comfort & Joy”. Hilda, the goat, has in the past been used as a symbolic mirror for Siegfried’s inner life. So, what are we meant to understand now that she died? Is it meant to suggest that Siegfried believes he has to let go of his feelings for Audrey? Once more, it is not clear what exactly the viewer is supposed to take away from it.
Something else part of the audience found out of step is that neither Mrs Stokes nor Mrs Pumphrey appeared to have been invited to Christmas dinner at Skeldale, despite both of them being alone and having received difficult news. To be fair, we never actually see the Christmas dinner, so we technically cannot say for certain that they were not there. But the fact that this was left unclear added yet another reason why the episode felt “off”.
 |
| "Comfort & Joy" - ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL, Pictured: Susan Hilton / © Playground Television UK Ltd. 2025 / © 5 Broadcasting Limited. All Rights Reserved |
The usual sense of “family” the All Creatures Christmas Specials evoke also did not quite come through this time. One viewer put it rather well: the whole Skeldale family was finally back together again this Christmas, and yet everyone still felt oddly separate. They were each kept in their own storyline rather than having their journeys intertwine in the way they so often did in season 6. Not showing the traditional Skeldale Christmas dinner was another unusual choice which likely added to that feeling. However, the show did not have it easy in this regard. It was caught between two imperfect options: If the dinner had been shown with Dorothy seated at the table as part of the family while Audrey served the food (emphasising her role as housekeeper), it could easily have come across as tone-deaf and would likely have frustrated even more viewers.
And that brings me to another element I had a particularly difficult time dealing with: the way Audrey and Dorothy’s friendship is portrayed. Audrey deserves a friend who is fully in her corner. She deserves someone who prioritises her, asks about her life, about her beloved son and granddaughter, and who knows about the things she carries but does not talk about. Dorothy, as written in this episode, is not that person. She did not return with the intention to reconnect with Audrey (which many of us had hoped); she returned primarily to pursue Siegfried.
And still, the episode offered many moments that felt deeply like the All Creatures Great and Small I love: a beautiful opening that immediately reminded us who these people are and why we love them, the chaos around the Nativity, lots of cute Jimmy moments, the appearance of the beloved Mrs Pumphrey, and the honest conversation between Tristan and Charlotte.
The performances grounded the episode and held it together. The cast consistently elevated the material. They often brought more heart and truth to it than the script allowed. I was especially impressed by how convincingly Anna Madeley and Samuel West carried even those scenes that were not always fully supported by the surrounding narrative. They are truly exceptional performers!
Why This Episode Hit So Hard
Before this opinion piece draws to a close, I think it is worth mentioning why the reactions to this episode were so intense. The answer is actually rather simple and quite flattering: the show truly matters to people. Over 6 seasons, these characters have slowly worked their way into our lives and hearts. We have gotten to know the characters rather well, come to cherish them, to love them. And here I feel it important to mention that good storytelling, like we’re used to from All Creatures, reaches the same parts of us that normally respond to real-life experiences. And when a show is this well made, when the cast and crew put so much heart's blood into it, it feels real.
We are fully aware it is “just” a story and they’re “just” fictional characters (based on real ones in this case), yet our feelings respond as if they were real. Our emotional system is unimaginably complex, it cannot distinguish cleanly between emotions triggered by fiction and those triggered by real events. That is why disappointment can hit harder than it logically “should.” So yes, reactions can be intense. But isn’t that ultimately a good thing? It is a testament to how strongly the show resonates and how beloved it is. People are upset because they truly and wholeheartedly care. Their frustration comes from affection and investment – feelings they would not have if All Creatures, and the wonderful people who make it, hadn’t captured their hearts so completely.
Too often, the word “fan” carries an unfortunate connotation. We sometimes picture people who are unhinged, obsessive, or somehow disconnected from “real life.” And yes, there are examples of fans who cross lines, but they are just a few very loud voices, by far not the majority. Most of the people I have interacted with in this fan community have full, rich lives: families, demanding jobs as professors, nurses, librarians, marketing executives and researchers, they have university degrees, an unreal number of creative talents and plenty of responsibilities. They care because the show speaks to them, not because they have nothing else going on. They make room and time for this show despite having a full life because it is one of the best, most human, most genuine shows on television. It is not just entertainment – it feels like a warm hug, like a cup of perfectly steeped tea for the soul, a truly safe space whose purpose is not to hurt or unsettle, but to comfort, to remind us of what truly matters, and to restore hope in humankind, even when the world feels rather bleak.
Finally, I want to remind us all that this Christmas Special was just one single episode, following an otherwise extraordinary season of television. How many shows can honestly claim that, out of 42 episodes, only one was not received as well by a large part of the fan community? That, in itself, is remarkable, and something the cast and crew should be deeply proud of. I certainly am. And I am entirely confident that the stories ahead will return to the emotional clarity and honesty that make All Creatures Great and Small so very special.
The conversations around this episode have shown how deeply this show matters. Feel free to share your thoughts and reflections in the comments below!
