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Lulu: Hi, everyone. And welcome back to one of your favorite segments, TV Picks. 欢迎回到【荐剧版块】. You notice that usually I say Lulu's TV Picks, “璐璐荐剧”, but today I just said TV picks, that's because today's TV picks comes from Anlan. Hi, Anlan.

Anlan: Hello.

Lulu: Thank you for joining this other segment.

Anlan: That's absolutely brilliant to come along. I love watching TV, so hopefully I might have a few TV picks that our fans might be interested in.

Lulu: You certainly have a very different taste when it comes to TV picks.

Anlan: Well yeah. I'm not big fan of crime shows or cop shows.

Lulu: Horror.

Anlan: Horror. Basically if you are like me and you don't really fancy being depressed watching SVU and other similar types of TV show, I think this segment might be good for you.

Lulu: So enough with the suspense, what is the TV pick that you are going to share with us today？

Anlan: I'm going to share a lovely TV pick for you called All Creatures Great and Small.

Lulu: All Creatures Great and Small. 中文译名叫《万物生灵》, 还有把它直译为《万物既伟大又渺小》. We actually wrote an article about this, it has been very popular in China as well.

Anlan: Yes, it's really popular in the UK, and also very popular in America as well apparently.

Lulu: But for those who have never heard of it, could you give us the background？

Anlan: Right. So All Creatures Great and Small is a remake of an earlier TV show in the 1980s which actually I watched when I was growing up, based on the books of James Herriot.

Lulu: James Herriot.

Anlan: Yeah. James Herriot was a British vet or veterinary doctor, who became a writer.

Lulu: Vet is an animal doctor.

Anlan: Yes.

Lulu: 兽医. And that book or this TV series is basically about his experience of being a vet.

Anlan: Yeah, basically in a very unique part of the UK called Yorkshire.

Lulu: 约克郡. You hear that a lot in obviously a lot of the TV shows relating to UK. But what is Yorkshire actually like？I personally have never been to Yorkshire.

Anlan: Well, Yorkshire is a county in the North of England. It's really famous for the dales.

Lulu: Dales?

Anlan: Dales are… it’s a type of park, it's a type of countryside, and it's really beautiful.

Lulu: Dales中文就是谷地. They're like valleys.

Anlan: Yeah, they're very small valleys, you know. It's not like the Grand Canyon or anything like that. They're just very small…

Lulu: Quaint little valleys.

Anlan: Yeah, with lots of villages, lots of farms as well. Hence, why he is a vet.

Lulu: When British people think of Yorkshire, do they automatically think of beautiful countryside？

Anlan: Partly. Yes. Another word for Yorkshire, another name for Yorkshire is God's own country, and that's something that Yorkshire people do actually like to say because they…

Lulu: They're very proud of it.

Anlan: They are very proud. It's a very beautiful part of the UK. Yorkshire people, they're also quite unique as well. There's a bit of a stereotype about them that they are very direct, very honest, actually sometimes bordering on rude or being a bit stubborn.

Lulu: Probably like no nonsense type of people.

Anlan: Exactly. But in reality a lot of Yorkshire people they're very down to earth, they’re also very friendly as well. There are also some stereotypes that they're quite frugal and tight with money. But I would say probably they're a little bit more careful because Yorkshire was always traditionally a slightly poorer area of the UK.

Lulu: It's just what you have described just paints a picture very much like traditional small town, small villages that type of idea. And the TV show is basically about a vet in Yorkshire.

Anlan: That's it. In the program, it's about him coming to Yorkshire and living and working with another vet there whose name is Siegfried Farnon.

Lulu: Farnon.

Anlan: Farnon hired Herriot as a vet. And Farnon is actually quite eccentric.

Lulu: He's a bit of a freak, it's… not a freak, but strange.

Anlan: He is a bit strange, very, very kindhearted, but a little bit strange. In the TV show he's shown as being rather stubborn, likes everything in his own way, just wants to do everything himself.

Lulu: And this Siegfried, he is an experienced vet. He owns his own practice, but he also has a younger brother, who is also a vet.

Anlan: Yeah, well, training to be a vet. His name is Tristan.

Lulu: Tristan.

Anlan: And Tristan has gone to veterinary college, veterinary school. But he spends most of the time just going out with his friends, party, and he keeps failing his exams. And he's kind hearted, he's a nice person, but he does like the ladies. He's more interesting about having fun. So it's about them all living together and working together with the housekeeper Mrs. Hall. And that is pretty much the story. So you'll see…

Lulu: There’re no real conflicts and…

Anlan: No, there's no villain. There's no one bad in the TV program. It's all about how an outsider in the TV show James Harriet is shown as Scottish at which he partly was. Yeah, James Harriet, the actual person, the actual writer came from England but lived in Scotland for many years. It shows this Scottish young vet, an outsider, becoming more accepted in this village of Yorkshire farmers and eventually even falling in love.

Lulu: 就是这种温情成长类的剧.

Anlan: Yeah.

Lulu: Nothing really happens.

Anlan: No.

Lulu: Like I said it's quite popular in China. You said it's popular in the UK as well.

Anlan: Yeah. One of the reasons why it's so popular is the time it came out. So it was released during the lockdowns in the UK in 2020.

Lulu: Perhaps people needed a pick-me-up.

Anlan: Yeah. That's the whole thing. It's a pick-me-up It's soothing, it's relaxing and it became really popular because, one, it shows beautiful English countryside, which obviously during lock down you couldn't really go to.

Lulu: True.

Anlan: It's relaxing because nothing happens in it. It's just nice people and a very simple plot and very simple stories with lots of animals.

Lulu: Yes, lots of furry friends. Why not, beautiful countryside, cute animals and heartwarming story line.

Anlan: Yeah. There's nostalgia.

Lulu: And why would you recommend it？

Anlan: I would say is perfect escapism. It's something you can watch. You don't have to think too much about it; and it'll just make you feel nice and warm inside. It's lots of very beautiful picturesque scenery with lots of animals and as we discussed, nothing happens.

Lulu: Slow TV.

Anlan: It's very slow TV. So, you have an entire episode about whether or not they should treat a cow.

Lulu: Yeah, I think slow TV. Because I think recently the world has not been having a great time.

Anlan: No.

Lulu: So many changes, so many things are out of our hands. These type of slow TV have gone really popular. One of the slow TVs that I watch is called孤独美食家, Solitary Gourmet, the Japanese one.

Anlan: Oh Yes, I watched that.

Lulu: It literally is about a man, a traveling salesman going around eating. And that's it. There was barely any plot. And in this All Creatures Great and Small, it's kind of the same, isn't it? The whole idea is, nothing really happens, just like every day happenings.

Anlan: Yeah, and that's what I like about it as well. It's something that you can just watch in the background; and it just makes you feel happy about the world.

Lulu: It's like what you said very soothing. By the way, All Creatures Great and Small, that's from a hymn是一个赞美诗来的是吗？

Anlan: Yeah. It comes from a song or a hymn, All things bright and beautiful, which all creatures great and small. It's a hymn that I used to sing when I was at school, that we were taught to sing.

Lulu: I see. But as usual, we talk about why we recommend the show, but we also remind our listeners what to stay cautious about.

Anlan: Well, stay cautious about. It's not like some of your TV picks where maybe swearing, talks about sex, or it’s all violence.

Lulu: Yeah, but I guess it doesn't have any of those.

Anlan: No, not at all. But there are a few things to be mindful of. First of all, for English learners. There's lots of animal and veterinary terminology, so if you watch it, don't be surprised if you don't understand quite a few the terms or the words.

Lulu: Because they are terminology.

Anlan: Yeah, exactly. But you don't really need to know them. You can still watch the TV show and know what's going on.

Lulu: You don't need to know how to help a cow give birth.

Anlan: Exactly. Unless that's how you want to learn. And I'm sure YouTube can help with that. But another thing I would say is the accents.

Lulu: Yorkshire accent.

Anlan: It has quite strong Yorkshire accents.

Lulu: Is it difficult to understand Yorkshire accent？

Anlan: For English learners, it can be. As a native speaker, it's not that difficult, but there are a few unique words that they use.

Lulu: such as?

Anlan: 'Eh up' means 'hello'.

Lulu: 'Eh up'

Anlan: Or 'Ow do'.

Lulu: OK.

Anlan: 'Ta' as in 'thank you', but we also say that in the South as well. 'Chuffed'…

Lulu: 'Chuffed' is pleased, happy. “Chuffed to bits”

Anlan: Chuffed to bits. But it originally comes from Yorkshire. 'Nowt' means nothing. I don't mean nowt, I can't do the accent so that… please don't think that is Yorkshire accent. It really is not.

Lulu: But overall, it's not too difficult to understand.

Anlan: No.

Lulu: Because I did recommend Derry Girls, that Northern Irish accent, perhaps a much thicker accent.

Anlan: Much thicker, I would say. But also, another thing to stay cautious about is if you like action-packed TV, if you like some of Lulu’s movie and TV picks, you might not like this one, it might be a little bit too boring for you.

Lulu: It is slow. I also do love slow TV. I'm sure a lot of you have watched that already. If not, we highly recommend it especially during these turbulent times, if you want some inner peace, if you just want something soothing, heart warming, that will be our recommendation.

Anlan: It's a brilliant thing to binge.

Lulu: And also to put on a background as well. Thank you, Anlan, for coming to TV Picks and thank you for your very different recommendation.

Anlan: Thank you and hope you enjoy the TV show, and don't blame me if you find it boring.

Lulu: And share with us. If you have watched it already, what do you think about it？We'll see you next time.

Lulu: Bye.