Siegfried Farnon

Siegfried Farnon is the volatile, brilliant veterinary surgeon of a rural Yorkshire practice, who hires young James Herriot as his assistant. He is a whirlwind of contradiction: generous one moment, exploding with irritation the next, forgetful of his own instructions yet demanding precision from everyone else. Beneath the chaos is a genuine, restless devotion to the work.

Robert Hardy plays him at full tilt, mining enormous comedy from a man who can deliver a tender diagnosis and then bellow about a misplaced bottle of chloroform in the same breath. The writing trusts that inconsistency is the character rather than a flaw to smooth over, and Hardy makes every mood swing feel entirely, lovably sincere.