carolyn-inch

The combination of superb writing, acting and film-making that produced the "All Creatures" series would have been sufficient to attract me. However, retreat to an episode with James and co. became my emotional and intellectual sanctuary due to the veterinary content. As a veterinarian, I am drawn to the veterinary dilemmas - the penniless child with a treasured creature, integrity in the face of silly pet owners, the 'attitude' of horse owners, and, most tellingly, the diagnostic puzzle that humbles us all. I left veterinary practice for the veterinary policy (and, often, politics) a number of years ago but the lessons from that period of my life remain vivid. Apart from the veterinary side, I enjoy the historical detail and gentle moral in each episode. Recently I invited some of my public sector veterinary colleagues to join me in watching the episode on Foot and Mouth disease, a concern that haunts private and public sector veterinians to this day. The story was skillfully rendered with accurate veterinary facts woven into the back drop of the expired ultimatum of September 3, 1949 that committed England and France to a war against Germany. I had been exposed to the history lesson of the invasion of Poland by Hitler and the consequences by earlier episodes in the series so that final pre-WWII episode was particularly poignant. Story telling at its finest!