Quick Take
- Narration: Christopher Timothy, who played Herriot in the BBC television adaptation, brings an unmistakable authority to the Yorkshire dales. His reading feels less like performance and more like memory.
- Themes: Wartime separation, rural veterinary life, humor as survival, the bond between humans and animals
- Mood: Warm, gently melancholic, and laugh-out-loud funny in equal measure
- Verdict: A deeply pleasurable listen for anyone who has ever loved Herriot, and a surprisingly moving experience for those coming to the Yorkshire dales for the first time.
I came to James Herriot late, embarrassingly late, given that I spent years writing about books for a living. It was a long drive through rural France that introduced me properly to his work, the kind of journey where you stop noticing the landscape because you are too absorbed in someone else’s. All Things Wise and Wonderful was playing, and I remember pulling over in a lay-by because I was laughing too hard to drive safely. That is not the usual relationship I have with an audiobook from 2001.
This is the third installment in Herriot’s memoir sequence, following All Creatures Great and Small and All Things Bright and Beautiful, and it covers a particular and poignant period: Herriot’s RAF training during World War II, interrupted by visits home to Yorkshire and his very pregnant wife Helen. The structure is a dual-track narrative, threading wartime uncertainty through the pastoral comedies of a country vet’s daily practice.
Our Take on All Things Wise and Wonderful
What makes Herriot work, and what the audiobook format serves beautifully, is his rhythm. He writes with a storyteller’s ear rather than a prose stylist’s eye, the sentences have pace and timing, the comic setups are constructed with care, and the emotional turns arrive without warning. Christopher Timothy, who played Herriot in the long-running BBC television series, is not simply reading this book. He is inhabiting it. His Yorkshire cadences and his feel for the comic timing of Herriot’s anecdotes make this a performance in the best sense of the word.
The dual structure, RAF training chapters alternating with flashback stories from the dales, was, as one reviewer noted, what distinguished this volume from the earlier books. The wartime chapters give the pastoral ones a different weight. When Herriot describes his first solo flight, the reader who has been laughing along at farm calls for the previous hour suddenly understands that this man’s life was genuinely at risk.
Why Listen to All Things Wise and Wonderful
The case for the audio version specifically is strong. Herriot’s voice, mediated through Timothy, creates an intimacy that feels earned. At fifteen hours and fourteen minutes, this is not a quick listen, but it rewards the extended company. Listeners who have come to it through the PBS Masterpiece drama or through fond memories of the books will find the audio deeply satisfying. Those who are new to Herriot should know that this is the third book in a sequence, and the emotional investment deepens considerably if you have already spent time with James, Helen, and the practice in Darrowby.
Reviewers consistently describe a quality that is rare: the capacity to make you laugh and cry in close succession without it feeling manipulative. That quality is not just Herriot’s writing, it is amplified by Timothy’s reading, which never oversells the emotion.
What to Watch For in All Things Wise and Wonderful
The episodic structure means that narrative momentum operates differently from a novel with a driving plot. Listeners accustomed to tightly constructed story arcs may find the format loose. This is memoir as a collection of beautifully rendered incidents rather than a story building toward a climax, which is entirely in keeping with the tradition, but worth knowing in advance.
This audiobook carries a modest eight ratings on the platform despite the author’s enormous following, which likely reflects the age of this particular recording (released 2001) rather than any lack of quality. The recording itself is clean and Timothy’s narration is as right for this material now as it was when the BBC adaptations were still running.
Who Should Listen to All Things Wise and Wonderful
Anyone who has read Herriot and loved him will want this. Anyone who enjoys literary memoir with genuine warmth and comic timing should start with the first book and work toward this one. Listeners who find rural or animal-centered narratives dull, or who need a strong central plot, will find the episodic structure frustrating. For the right reader, fifteen hours in the Yorkshire dales with Christopher Timothy narrating is as comfortable and restorative as an armchair by a fire.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to have listened to the earlier Herriot books before this one?
Not strictly, but this is the third memoir in a sequence, and the characters, James, Helen, Siegfried, Tristan, carry emotional weight that builds across the earlier volumes. Starting here is possible, but starting with All Creatures Great and Small will make the experience significantly richer.
Why is Christopher Timothy specifically significant as the narrator for this book?
Timothy played James Herriot in the long-running BBC television adaptation of the books. His narration carries the character in a way that connects to that beloved performance, and his Yorkshire cadences and comic timing are deeply attuned to Herriot’s prose style.
Is the wartime RAF content prominent in this volume, or is it mostly the Yorkshire veterinary stories?
Both strands run throughout the book. The RAF training provides the present-tense frame, while the Yorkshire stories are told as memories Herriot revisits during his service. Reviewers note that this dual structure gives the book a different emotional texture than the earlier volumes.
Is this suitable for younger listeners or primarily an adult memoir?
The content is entirely appropriate for mature younger readers, there is nothing objectionable. Animal-loving teenagers who enjoy character-driven storytelling often respond warmly to Herriot. The pacing, however, is leisurely and the references to wartime Britain require some historical context.
