‘All Creatures Great and Small’: Tristan Finally Reveals His Wartime Traumas

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for All Creatures Great and Small Season 6 Episode 5.]

A grieving parrot gave Tristan (Callum Woodhouse) the space to reveal his traumatic experiences in the war in the newest episode of PBS’s All Creatures Great and Small. It was also an action-packed episode (relatively speaking, for this charming, low-stakes show) that featured James (Nicholas Ralph) and Siegfried (Samuel West) stealing a sick dog from a shady dog race, with Mrs. Hall (Anna Madeley) driving the getaway car. Siegfried also had a wake-up call about how he’s treated his Skeldale family, thanks to young Jimmy, James and Helen’s (Rachel Shenton) son.

Tristan was trying to diagnose an apparently sick parrot in the episode. The parrot had lost its flock, and then its beloved owner died. He was left in the care of a family with a bundle of young kids who loved him, but he was acting out and only repeating one word from his former owner, regardless. Tristan and Siegfried thought he had a contagious illness at first, leading to their quarantining him in Skeldale. But Tristan eventually realized that the bird was grieving the loss of his beloved friends. It was something the World War II veteran could relate to.

Tristan has remained silent about what he experienced in the army during the war. He received a medal for his work that he also kept secret until Mrs. Hall accidentally came across it when doing laundry. Tristan opened up to the parrot to help it process its own grief (parrots are highly social animals, so losing their flocks is painful). In the process, he revealed that a lot of his friends were killed in the war, some of them right in front of him. Tristan didn’t share specific details about how these friends died, but it was enough information to understand the deep emotional impact on him.

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James spent the entire episode fighting to care for a sick greyhound that was being forced to race. James feared the dog would die if it raced again, its illness was so severe. The men running the race continuously threatened James about messing with their bets by removing the animal (Chris Gascoyne guest-starred as one of the men running the race). He was being threatened by a mob when a drunk Siegfried, driven to the race track by sober Mrs. Hall, showed up to help him get away with the dog.

Siegfried didn’t support James’s idea to provide veterinary services at the race earlier in the episode. It was James’s idea to help the financially strapped Skeldale make some much-needed money (they didn’t have the funds to pay Mrs. Hall that week). Siegfried’s lack of support was highlighted by Jimmy, who revealed to Siegfried earlier in the episode that his mom, Helen, doesn’t want to live at Skeldale anymore because Siegfried was too selfish. The young boy said that his mom called Siegfried a “shellfish,” and Siegfried understood the real meaning. He course-corrected by jumping into action to help James.

They ran away with the dog and were chased all the way to their car. Mrs. Hall became the getaway car driver, and they were able to provide the dog emergency treatment in the car on the road back to Skeldale. The dog ended up fine in the end. The parrot started saying other words, signifying that Tristan’s emotional support was just what the doctor ordered.

Feeling lighter after opening up, Tristan invited Charlotte (Gaia Wise) to meet his family at the end of the episode. Mrs. Hall learned some tragic news in town at the end, but she decided to wait to share it after seeing the happy sight of Charlotte meeting the Skeldale family.

All Creatures Great and Small, Sundays, 9/8c, PBS