Sharon Arkoff

Yeah, it's pretty terrible. It's a watered-down, prettied-up version of the book. Jim is a goody-two-shoes and I keep getting him confused with one of the leads in the old series, Chariots of Fire. Why is he running in the opening scenes? Is he, actually, the Chariots of Fire guy? Siegfried is nothing like in the book. Mrs. Hall is nothing like in the book. The patients' owners are either smoothly good-looking or, if they are "characters," are portrayed with gentle paternalism, as if they are children. In the series remarks, one of the actors (I can't remember which one, so that tells you something right there) remarks that the animals are better actors than the people. I think the actors do what they can with this milk-toast script, but the animals are certainly more interesting, except when trained to do stoopid tricks. I'm thinking of scene in which the horse with the abscess kept kicking Jim into the mud. Not true to the book, and a stupid gimmick. But, the scenery is gorgeous, and it won't actually do any harm to watch this little stroll into someone's idea of nostalgia. Still, the TV shows lacks the humor, joy, and rich story-telling of the book(s).