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ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL - 1.12 PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

#very good of mr farnon to include the dog!#the dog looks so disappointed bless :')#all creatures great and small 1978 #acgas 1978 #tristan farnon #peter davison #siegfried farnon #robert hardy #james herriot #christopher timothy #carol drinkwater #helen herriot

The thing about '78 Siegfried that makes him so incredibly interesting to watch is that he is a believable eccentric. So many quirky personalities on TV suffer from being obviously a 'character' that someone is playing: they threaten that all-important suspension of disbelief, take you right out of the action. But Siegfried I believe in; maybe it's partly the fact he's based on a real person, maybe it's just Hardy's skill, but I have met people, mostly men of an older generation, that share some of his idiosyncrasies - albeit not in the same lethal combo that makes up Siegfried - and I can believe that that is a person who could exist.

The actor's own eccentricity no doubt heightened this effect - by all accounts, Robert Hardy was certainly a strong personality. He'd never do a scene the same way twice, and that seemed to make the other actors react to him more naturally as well - they're as surprised as we are when he swaps suddenly between shouting and grumbling. He's somehow able to match the intensity of book-Siegfried but still make him charming without toning his personality down as the new version does (no shade to West, he does an amazing job with his version of the character).

My other favourite thing about '78 Siegfried is the way he never seems to be coming in, doing a scene and leaving again. He shouts through the house, making his presence felt even when he isn't on camera. He calls the dogs with him every time he leaves Skeldale, his voice fading down the corridor so you get a sense of him leaving for his rounds even though the scene in the living room has moved on without him. You get the sense that these moments of transition aren't completely scripted, either. Hardy inhabits the character even when he isn't 'in' the scene.

#siegfried farnon #robert hardy #acgas #acgas 1978