All Creatures Great and Small Christmas special: Romance twist as festive cast member makes a surprise return
And with Helen ill, James has to sort ChristmasAll Creatures Great and Small Christmas special 2025 deserves its prime spot on Channel 5’s Christmas Eve schedule – it’s evocative, aesthetically charming and heartwarming.
The drama has become 5’s biggest hit and it twinkles in the festive line-up alongside The Madame Blanc Christmas Special. Don’t forget we have guides to the best BBC Christmas TV shows and the best ITV Christmas shows where you can find everything on over the festive period on those channels.
Concentrating here on the All Creatures Great and Small Christmas special 2025, the war is finally over meaning that James Herriot and co can focus on more important matters, such as arranging the Darrowby nativity play!
As well as the Darrowby nativity, there’s also a goat causing trouble, while Tristan has some Christmas tree woes. Plus, there’s a romantic shock for Siegfried. In an extra treat, Channel 5 is showing a behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of All Creatures which will go out on the same evening.
Here is everything you need to know about the All Creatures Great and Small Christmas special and the documentary…
Is there an All Creatures Great and Small Christmas special?
Yes, good news there is an extended special this year. All Creatures got its first festive episode in 2020 and the 2025 special will be the sixth Christmas outing.
The last episode of series 6, the most recent season, was set on VJ Day, when victory over Japan was declared. The end of the Second World War should have been a happy time. However, Tristan had clearly been traumatised by his war experiences. When Tristan and Siegfried went to treat a shire horse, Tristan suddenly fled the scene as it brought back terrible memories.
Siegfried and Mrs Hall tracked Tristan down to the local church. At first, Tristan refused to speak to his brother. But eventually he emotionally opened up about how he’d lost a very dear friend in combat. Being able to talk about his experience for the first time really seemed to help Tristan.
He told his girlfriend Charlotte that he feared he would never be the same man again. But Charlotte reassured him that she liked the new Tristan just as much. So, as we head into the Christmas episode, Tristan should be a happier soul.
The rest of the series 6 finale mainly involved James trying to track down a newly born calf that had escaped.
What is the plot of the festive All Creatures for 2025?
The All Creatures Great and Small Christmas special is titled Comfort and Joy. It’s set at Christmas 1945, the first peacetime Christmas after the end of the war. Poor Helen is ill, leaving James to arrange the Darrowby nativity play.
Nicholas Ralph, who plays James, explains: “He’s got to pen a nativity and put it all together. But then the kids, one by one, start getting unwell, with the same bug Helen has…”
Luckily his children, Jimmy and Rosie, are well so the show can go on, just not quite as planned. James also may have some bad news for Mrs Pumphrey about her beloved pooch Tricki.
Meanwhile, Siegfried is having goat trouble. He is back at Mrs Stokes’ farm to see Hilda the sickly goat, who is causing mayhem. But Siegfried reckons he has a special medicine that will do the trick. Siegfried also has a big decision to make when an old friend of Mrs Hall turns up. The cast list reveals it’s Dorothy who’s back, who previously enjoyed a little romance with Siegfried. Might the pair get back together?
Elsewhere, we discover that Mrs Hall is into darts. Anna Madeley, who plays Mrs Hall, teases: “She has learned to play darts with her son Edward, and there is a darts competition at the pub with a turkey as the prize. She becomes the secret weapon of the group.”
So, can Mrs Hall win the whopping prized turkey so everyone has a Christmas dinner to remember?
What about Tristan and Charlotte in the All Creatures Christmas special?
Tristan has been through a lot. He hasn’t been the same jolly chap since he returned from fighting in the war but he is now looking forward to a brighter future with Charlotte.
In the special, Tristan gets in a flap because he’s forgotten he was meant to be sorting out the Christmas tree. Callum Woodhouse, who plays Tristan, says that while they team up to get the Christmas tree they end up expressing their true feelings.
Callum explains: “Some of those emotions he’s been carrying start to bubble up, and they end up having a bit of a heart-to-heart.”
Meanwhile, Callum reveals that the festive episode was actually shot in the middle of summer, which wasn’t much fun! He explains: “It was absolutely boiling. It’s always a nightmare because you have to make it look like it’s cold when you’re in a big coat and scarf and it’s 25 degrees. Those are my least favourite days.”
Who is in the cast of the All Creatures Great and Small Christmas special?
All the key cast are back for the special. So Nicholas Ralph returns as James Herriot, with Rachel Shenton as his wife Helen. Samuel West is back as Siegfried Farnon alongside Callum Woodhouse as Tristan. Plus Anna Madeley plays the always dependable Mrs Hall.
Patricia Hodge fans will be delighted to hear she’s again appearing as Mrs Pumphrey in the All Creatures Great & Small Christmas special. But the most interesting piece of casting news is that Maimie McCoy (best know for ITV’s Van der Valk) returns as Dorothy, who shares a spark with Siegfried. The character was last seen in series 1 in 2020.
Emma Thompson’s daughter Gaia Wise, who first appeared during series 6, is also back as Tristan’s love interest Charlotte.
Meanwhile, also in the special are Mollie Winnard as Maggie, Ralph Falkingham as Bobby, and Libby Falkingham as Lucy. Finally, Susan Hilton plays farmer Mrs Stokes.
What is the documentary All Creatures Great and Small: Behind the Scenes about?
This is a perfect watch alongside the All Creatures Great and Small Christmas special.
Graeme Hall, presenter, dog-lover, and super-fan, takes us behind the scenes on the making of the period drama. He heads to the Yorkshire Dales where the series is filmed. Callum Woodhouse, who plays Tristan, takes Graeme on a tour of Grassington.
The charming market town in North Yorkshire doubles as fictional Darrowby in the show. He also meets some of the animals that make the series so enjoyable. Graeme talks to the crew about how they shoot the complex animal sequences you see on screen.
Graeme will also reveal what is actually in the medicine bottles you see on the show and who eats the cakes Mrs Hall creates. All the cast are interviewed about their experiences of creating the show.
The makers tease: “This joyful festive treat shows how the magic of one of his favourite shows is truly made.”
Graeme also gets a little part on All Creatures himself.
When is the All Creatures Great & Small Christmas special?
Channel 5 has announced that the All Creatures Great and Small Christmas special and the behind-the-scenes documentary will be shown on Christmas Eve.
The special will air on December 24 on 5 at 9pm. Meanwhile, the behind-the-scenes documentary will be shown just before at 8pm on Christmas Eve.
Both the special and the documentary will be available on 5’s streaming service after they’ve aired if you missed them.
Read more: Best Christmas shows for 2025: Your guide to the unmissable highlights across all platforms
