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Season 3 Finale, Merry Bloody Christmas
posted by merryaprilSTAFFMOD on February 22, 2023 at 11:42 PM
James and Tristan enlisted in the previous episode but in the finale only Tristan was called up to serve in the RAVC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps. It seems those in the WWII RAVC served in Palestine, Syria, East Africa, Greece, Italy and Burma, so Tristan will likely be sent very far from home. But in real life Alf Wight, the author of the series of books upon which the show is based, and who's portrayed in them as James Herriot, only made it through RAF training in 1942 but was discharged for medical reasons. SO, I presume our hero James will make it through okay. I don't know Tristan's fate since I haven't read the books and can't recall the few episodes of the original series I saw WAY way way back when. He provides so much comic relief that I hope he's not killed off. If he's not, will he and Maggie somehow end up after all?!?!?
BTW I just discovered there was a 1975 film of the story starring Anthony Hopkins as Siegfried and Simon Ward as James.
But the main reason I'm commenting on the episode is this: Mrs. Hall's distraught because her friend Gerald, perhaps discouraged that she's kept him at arm's length, accepted a job and is moving to the city of Hull. I hope her unexpected and passionate smacker will make him change his mind about moving because 95% of Hull was destroyed in the blitz. Poor Mrs. Hall will have THREE MEN she cares deeply about in harm's way. Will they all survive?
Reply by genplant29
on February 23, 2023 at 12:53 AM
I still need to watch the Christmas special (also the episode prior to it). Will respond when I one day soon have.
Btw, I love the Mrs. Hall character, and wonderful Anna Madeley's lovely, charming, warm portrayal of her. Mrs. Hall's easily been my fave character in the overall series ever since it began the other year.
PS: I'm surprised to just now have discovered that actress Anna Madeley is currently only 46 years old; Mrs. Hall's always struck me as being well into her 50s. Apparently is all courtesy of hair, makeup, and wardrobe, as beautiful Miss Madeley looks no older, in fact probably a little younger, than her own actual age in real life.
Reply by merryapril
on February 23, 2023 at 12:06 PM
Yeah, the beloved Mrs. Hall is definitely the heart of the household, due in part to Anna Madeley's fine portrayal. IIRC, in the original series I think the character was indeed older. The current Audrey Hall seems to be mid-to-late 40s to me, but maybe the difference is just my female perspective as opposed to your male perspective genplant 🤨
Sorry for the spoilers. Anyway, one reason why I enjoy period drama is when seemingly factual aspects of plots cause me to dig around. And since the ACGAS books were supposed to be fairly autobiographical, and even though the town of Darrowby is fictional, it follows that Alf Wight incorporated actual events into his tales. Since things like "HMS Repulse", "RAVC" and "Hull" were so specific, I couldn't resist looking into them. But now, knowing what I know, I dread the fates of the 3 characters!
Until I checked it out, I presumed with the advent of jeeps and other motorized vehicles, there wouldn't be a great need for army veterinarians in WWII - no more horse soldiers like in Siegfried's WWI experience - and Tristan would return home much sooner rather than later. But this made me realize my presumption was wrong:
Nevertheless, animals would still be required by the army, especially where there was rough terrain or other conditions with which motor vehicles struggled to cope. During World War II the strength of the Corps increased from 85 officers and 105 other ranks, to a total of 519 officers and 3,939 other ranks. By 1942 the Army had 6,500 horses, 10,000 mules and 1,700 camels in service. That year the work of the Army Remount Service was taken over by the RAVC; in Italy, there was a high incidence of battle casualties among mules (used in large numbers for transport due to the difficult terrain) and the Corps was engaged in their procurement as well as their treatment