Dog Days

Dog Days was the second episode of the 1978 series. It introduced Peter Davison as Tristan Farnon.

### Plot

James meets Mrs. Hall in the living room in the morning. Mrs. Hall predicts that it will rain soon as the cows are sitting down, and tells James that there’s scrambled eggs for breakfast.

James asks where Siegfried is and Mrs. Hall informs him that he’s over at Lord Hulton’s place performing the post-mortem on the horse James euthanised.

Meanwhile at Lord Hulton's, Siegfried is performing the post-mortem as Soames watches on. Soames berates a stablehand nearby for not working hard enough. Thunder rumbles over Darrowby.

At Skeldale House, Mrs. Hall asks James if there’s something wrong with his eggs, as he doesn’t seem very hungry.

Siegfried heads back to Skeldale in his car, greeting a local woman as he heads inside the house. James greets him as he enters the living room, although Siegfried seems reserved.

James asks if he was over at Lord Hulton's place, and Siegfried confirms he’s finished the post-mortem, saying that it was ‘straightforward enough’. He then breaks into a smile, verifying James’ diagnosis of a serious torsion and berating Soames for letting one of Lord Hulton's favourite horses suffer for so long.

The two head to the surgery, and Siegfried gives James a case to head out to. He also asks James if he is able to pick up his brother, Tristan, from the train station, who is arriving from veterinary college. James asks about Tristan's appearance so he can recognise him and Siegfried describes him as bearing some resemblance to himself but also looking a bit like a ‘debauched choirboy’.

James queries the origins of Tristan’s name to which Siegfried replies that their father was a fan of the composer Richard Wagner. The two joke about how the brother’s names could have been worse, all things considered.

James drives out to Handshaw’s farm, who has a cow with milk fever. On his way into the farm he leaves a gate open.

Three locals, including Handshaw, are standing around the cow as James arrives. They discuss potential remedies for the cow, who won’t stand up.

Handshaw goes to meet James, asking him what he wants. James introduces himself as Siegfried’s new assistant, but Handshaw doesn’t seem very impressed.

James examines the cow, but Handshaw insists that ‘worm in the tail’ is what’s bothering her, and that he should just take her tail off. James retorts that there’s no such thing and it’s just a popular myth. The three locals continue to suggest odd homebrew remedies to James. One shouts ‘kush’ at the cow to get her up, and James gives it a try as well, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, a few of Handshaw’s cows begin to leave out the gate that James left open on his way in.

After an internal examination, James manages to diagnose the cow with a broken pelvis, and says there’s nothing they can do to help her.

Outside, Handshaw’s son tells him that someone’s left the gate open and a few cows have escaped. James makes a hasty exit.

Afterwards, James meets Tristan at the train station. He introduces himself to Tristan, and Tristan in turn gives James his luggage to put into the car.

As they drive through the dales, James asks Tristan about his exams and his journey back from Edinburgh.

Back at Skeldale House, Handshaw comes up to the pair before they can head inside, and tells James he won’t pay him for his visit as the cow has miraculously managed to stand up. James is incredulous, but Handshaw informs him that he acquired a freshly-killed sheepskin from the butchers and put it on the cow’s back to cure her. James is speechless, and Handshaw makes a dig about his lack of knowledge before walking off. Tristan smiles wryly at James as they head inside.

TBC

*to be added*

### Trivia

* The in-universe inspiration for Tristan's name is given in this episode as being a titular character from the opera *Tristan und Isolde* by the composer Richard Wagner, which in turn is based on a medieval romance story. Siegfried is also a character from Wagner's operas, as well as being the name of Wagner's own son.