All Creatures Great and Small season 7 trailer teases post‑war changes, a rival vet and family shifts

# What the trailer shows

Channel 5's first trailer for All Creatures Great and Small series seven places the story in 1946, when the characters are navigating the immediate post‑war period. The footage focuses less on spectacle and more on the practical changes that affect everyday life in the Yorkshire Dales: the veterinary practice, the farm, schooling for children and a few new faces who shift established routines.

# Who returns and who's new

Nicholas Ralph is back as James Herriot and Rachel Shenton returns as his wife, Helen. Samuel West reprises Siegfried Farnon, Callum Woodhouse is once again Tristan, and Anna Madeley returns as Mrs Hall. Patricia Hodge appears as Mrs Pumphrey with her dog Tricki, and a number of supporting players are listed as returning: Tony Pitts, Imogen Clawson, Maimie McCoy, Gaia Wise and Mollie Winnard.

The trailer introduces one notable addition: Caolan McCarthy as Granville Bennett, a rival veterinarian. His arrival is presented as a source of professional friction, especially because he is shown taking an interest in newer approaches to veterinary medicine.

# Plot threads the trailer teases

• Post‑war adjustment: The series is explicitly set after the end of the Second World War, and characters are shown reconciling wartime experience with peacetime demands. Life's practical needs — animal care, running farms, schooling — remain front and centre.

• New veterinary thinking: Granville Bennett's presence signals debate over evolving veterinary methods. The trailer frames him as a professional provocateur who could upend James's local standing.

• Farming and family decisions: Helen has a frank conversation with her father Richard about the farm's future and advocates for a new way of running things. That discussion suggests financial and operational choices will be a storyline.

• Personal milestones and tensions: James and Helen's eldest, Jimmy, starts school. Mrs Hall must adapt to Siegfried's developing relationship with Dorothy. Tristan appears anxious about the future of his relationship with Charlotte after recent declarations of love.

# Tone and focus of the season

The trailer keeps animals and hands‑on veterinary work at the centre of the show's drama. Rather than dramatic external events, the emphasis is on community, evolving practices, and how people rebuild routines and relationships after wartime disruption.

# When to watch

All Creatures Great and Small series seven airs on Channel 5 at 9pm on Thursday 17 September. A behind‑the‑scenes companion, All Creatures Great and Small: Behind the Magic, is scheduled for 9pm on Friday 18 September.

Expect episodes that mix case‑of‑the‑week animal work with incremental domestic and professional shifts: debates over veterinary techniques, farm management choices, schooling and small‑town relationship dynamics. The new rival vet offers a recurring source of professional conflict rather than a single‑episode cameo.