Production
In July 1975 the film was announced as part of a slate of eleven films from EMI with a budget of £6 million. [4] Simon Ward was offered the lead role again but turned it down as his fee was the same as for the first film. [5]
The film was shot in January 1976. It was known during production as All Things Bright and Beautiful. [6]
Herriot's son Jim later recalled:
While John Alderton provided a more forceful James Herriot, with a flash of humour always evident, Colin Blakely’s role as Siegfried was more subdued than the portrayal by Anthony Hopkins. Although he brought some wonderful comedy to the part, there was hardly a trace of the spontaneous eccentricity that was the hallmark of the real man. This was partly because Alf insisted on some changes since he was not prepared to upset Donald again. After reading the scripts in advance of shooting, he was adamant that the peaks and troughs of Siegfried’s character be smoothed out. [7]
John Alderton was offered the part of Herriott in the television version of All Creatures Great and Small but turned it down. [8]
Reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The many enthusiasts of James Herriot's amusing, unaffected tales of life as a Yorkshire vet are unlikely to be disappointed by this competent sequel to All Creatures Great and Small (1974). Although the basis of the plot – James' indecision over whether to abandon Siegfried and his gumboot medicine in favour of Granville's sophisticated urban practice – is largely neglected in the course of the film's loosely connected episodes, several of these are well enough acted (notably by Colin Blakely and John Barrett) and sufficiently gritty ... to sustain the interest of viewers not automatically disposed to such material. ... An exceptionally strong cast of secondary characters has been assembled; and the sensibly unobtrusive approach to the period (which is not allowed to overshadow the animals) is nicely complemented by Arthur Ibbetson's location photography. John Alderton, taking over from Simon Ward as James, plays Herriot as the creditably self-effacing man he appears to be from his books and television appearances, and catches a thoroughly likeable, unsophisticated charm which, for all the movie's commercial facility, is consistently enjoyable." [9]
In The Radio Times Guide to Films David Parkinson gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "This Yorkshire comedy is ... pleasingly unpretentious entertainment that can enjoyed by the whole family. The formula of pre-war country cosiness, bawdy humour, folksy characterisation and animal emergency is meticulously repeated as John Alderton capably steps into the wellies vacated by Simon Ward." [10]
According to Herriott's biographer, "John Alderton was far and away the best of the three actors who portrayed Alf on screen, with a boyish but twinkly British charm that managed to make him appear shy and gauche without ever being wet or pathetic. Twenty years on Blakely's portrayal of Siegfried does not seem at all 'implacably fierce' but rather serious, honest, warm and highly professional." [11]
According to Filmink the movie "had a better actor to play James Herriott (John Alderton, the great lost British film star of the 1970s) than All Creatures Great and Small, but didn’t have as compelling a story – it started with Herriott already established in Yorkshire and in love, and didn’t add anything much new." [12]
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