War might be winding down in All Creatures Great and Small season 6, but Tristan? He is absolutely not fine. Callum Woodhouse is back as the lovable chaos merchant, and he is quietly carrying a lot more than his smile lets on.
So where are we picking things up?
We jump forward four years to 1945, right at the tail end of the conflict. Darrowby has moved on: there are new veterinary tools and techniques, families have grown, and a few fresh faces have arrived. The show still leans into its gentle, big-hearted rhythm, but the backdrop is the end of a war, and that lands differently for some people. Especially Tristan.
Tristan vs the stuff he will not say out loud
Woodhouse says that, beneath Tristan’s banter, this season pushes some hard truths to the surface. Inside baseball alert: last series, there was a prickly beat between Tristan and Siegfried where Siegfried basically resented that Tristan’s first stint away hadn’t exposed him to the worst of it, partly because he spent too much time drinking and dodging danger. That dynamic gets turned on its head now.
Between seasons, Tristan went back to the front. He saw more than his share of tragedy and atrocities. He would very much like not to process any of that. So he does what he always does: pours a drink, cracks a joke, and pretends he is the same old Tristan. The difference is, the show lets those cracks show. You are meant to notice the wobble behind the grin.
"He spends the series trying to push a lot of things down and make everyone think he is absolutely fine."
Woodhouse was already hinting at this last year
Back in 2024, when Tristan first returned to Skeldale after going off with the war effort, Woodhouse flagged that the character had been through moments that stick. He talked about friendships formed on service that he might never see again, and scary situations that Tristan would half-acknowledge before swerving into a funny story. The subtext was clear: he had not really talked about any of it. He was masking with booze and humor, because that is Tristan’s go-to move. Season 6 sounds like the phase where avoidance stops working.
What season 6 is teeing up
- Time jump to 1945: the war is nearly over, and everyday life in Darrowby is starting to expand again.
- Tristan has been back on the front lines in the gap, and the things he has seen are catching up with him.
- Siegfried and Tristan’s earlier friction about Tristan’s war experience gets addressed in a much heavier, more honest way.
- Expect the usual warm mix of human-and-animal stories, plus the show’s take on postwar veterinary advances and growing families.
- Tonally, it is still comforting, but there is a slow, deliberate drip of 'not OK' under Tristan’s jokes.
When and where to watch
All Creatures Great and Small returns on Channel 5 on Thursday 25 September at 9pm. Seasons 1–5 are streaming on My5. And if you want to go back to the source, James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small is available to order on Amazon.