All Creatures Great and Small Season 3 Returns in January
Masterpiece PBS's All Creatures Great and Small, which follows a trio of veterinarians working on the Yorkshire Dales, is one of the most comforting and soothing shows you can find on television. So it comes as a great relief to learn that there's more on the way.
Speaking to journalists ahead of the show's season 2 premiere in the UK, showrunner Ben Vanstone confirmed that "there's plenty more to come." Asked specifically about a third season, he said: "Yes, I think we are looking forward to a third series. I don’t think that’s a surprise.”
Here's what we know so far.
The first trailer has been released.
After many months of waiting, fans can finally lay their eyes on the first footage from the new season of All Creatures Great and Small. Alongside the trailer, it's been confirmed that will air on Sundays beginning in January 2023 on PBS.
According to the official synopsis, season 3 will find Heriot "struggling to balance his growing responsibilities at the veterinary practice with his responsibilities as the newly wedded husband to Helen." Meanwhile, Helen will also experience some growing pains as she adjusts to leaving her old life on her family farm behind, and finding a new place for herself in Heriot's world.
Season 3 will not be the show's last.
In January, Masterpiece PBS confirmed that the show has been renewed for two more seasons (season 3 and season 4). "Filming on Season 3 is set to resume this Spring in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales, with the beloved ensemble cast all returning," said a press release.
Per the Radio Times, Vanstone also revealed that the show could go on for much longer than he originally planned. When he first began planning a series adaptation of James Herriot's books, he thought of it as a four-season show. But now that the show has taken off and developed a life of its own on screen, he's reconsidering—in part, thanks to the deliberately slow pace that fans love.
“I think that when we started the show, we had in mind arcs for these characters that took them across a number of series," he said. "Initially, it was kind of four series. But everything in this show plays out slower than you think it would. I think in other shows, you sort of risk the need to have more stories and more action and more things happening, but with our show, it’s the antithesis of that. We kind of give everything time."
Season 3 will involve higher stakes in the lead-up to World War II
Speaking with Radio Times, actress Rachel Shenton, who plays Helen, shared that there's a "realness" to upcoming storylines, as the show's timeline propels toward World War II."It definitely feels there’s a shift. Particularly towards the end of the series there’s a definite shift and sort of the stakes are higher and things feel a big more serious than we’ve perhaps experienced before."
Callum Woodhouse, who plays Tristan also said that "the shadow of war is going to be sort of cast over the whole season" but added that "It's still all these guys who were trying to sort of keep themselves going and keep themselves happy in the way that they do, you know heading to the pub and things like that.
"We're still helping animals and saving animals, there’s still a very human part to the show."
James Herriot actor Nicholas Ralph agreed that fans needn't worry, and that season 3 is still "full of love, laughter, all the good things that people enjoy and a lot of a warmth as well. So it will be kind of bittersweet perhaps."
"We can’t ignore the war at all, you know that is a massive thing looming over all these characters," he continued. "And it will affect them all in various different ways as something like that would even kind of beneath the surface in some cases, which is really interesting. Of course lots of lovely, warm moments as well. And really funny, it's really funny this season as well."
Season 3 premieres on January 8, 2023.
The seven-episode season will air on Sundays through February 19, 2023.
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