I have to give it only 8 out of 10 because it looks like we're going to be left hanging. If it weren't for that, I'd probably give it a 9 or even 10.
One thing Herriot himself did occasionally in his books was to include events of the time and people's attitudes and how they affected his life and others. Particularly reflective of this is his book that covered the time period when he was called up and his first child was born. Although frequently the events in that book were used as a springboard to another anecdote in his life as a vet, not all of them were, such as the time he sneaked off to Darrowby without permission. Another situation that springs to mind is the gloomy attitude of one farmer towards James' health and how after each visit that farm, James would examine himself in a mirror, muttering to himself that he felt fine.
In this series, events and attitudes of various people in his life are included and how those events and people influence and shape him, not just as a vet but also as a person.
It would be very interesting to know just how close the portrayals of the characters were to each real person. I can easily see they could be quite close or a blend of a few characters (to limit the number of characters and avoid making it confusing) and it's interesting to consider those characters. I would have to disagree with any view that the characters were fairly two-dimensional. My first reaction to one character was to dislike him and consider him a shallow, fairly selfish person but as the series progressed, he did unexpected things on behalf of others, showing him to be a more complex character than he initially appeared.
Let's hope they do eventually give us more of the story.
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