If you are anything like me, you’ve spent the past few weeks pacing nervously, eager to return to Darrowby to reunite with your family after what feels like an endless time apart.

But then, when you finally arrive in the Yorkshire Dales, it isn’t Mrs. Hall’s bright smile and a welcoming cup of tea that greet you, but clutter, empty bottles, half-eaten apples, and animals one would expect to find in a stable rather than Skeldale’s sitting room.

Since the season 5 Christmas special, three years have passed, and in that time Skeldale has changed almost beyond recognition. Where back in December 1941 the whole family had gathered to celebrate Christmas, Edward’s survival, and Jimmy Herriot’s first birthday, there is now only a mucky, neglected house, empty of people and stripped of warmth.

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