Today James Herriot's surgery would be part of a mega chain – and run by a woman

The return of the TV series fuels nostalgia for a bucolic professional idyll before private equity took hold

- Martha Gill

This week the reboot of the beloved All Creatures Great and Small returns for a triumphant sixth season. Brits love nostalgia: James Herriot tending to sick piglets and wrangling with recalcitrant farmers has given Channel 5 some of the highest ratings it has ever had. But of course the veterinary profession has changed dramatically since Herriot's day, in ways that help us understand our nation and its priorities.

For one thing, it shows us which creatures we spend our cash on: mainly on dogs and cats. Over the decades, vets have flooded into cities, where all the jobs are. In 2024, only 22% of vets were purely rural.

As for farm animals: "We are not willing to pay for better care of them at the level of the supermarket," says Professor Jonathan Rushton, a specialist in the economics of animal health at the University of Liverpool. Meat prices have stayed low while farming has declined and consolidated to cut costs - costs that include vets' bills. Farmers with giant dairy herds no longer call vets out at night at calving time. Instead they train up employees to handle all but the most difficult births.

"I have been in meetings where it's been said we only need about 130 vets for all the cows in the UK," says Rushton.