The Yorkshire Vet: Julian turns to cinema critic as new film covers a vet's worst moments

The Ritz has been run by enthusiastic volunteers since 1995 and is one of the oldest continuously run cinemas in the UK. It opened in 1912 and its heyday was in the 1930s and 40s, partly due to its proximity to several nearby airbases and lots of attendant aircrew. In fact, back then, there were two cinemas in Thirsk! But it’s still popular now, with very reasonable prices (thank you, volunteers), great sound and (now) comfy chairs.

The last time we went there together was to see Barbie, a film like no other. We loved it, and chatted constantly on the short walk home, quoting lines and discussing the salient points. It’s the only film I’ve ever seen in which the final word is “gynaecologist”- surely an achievement in itself. My favourite moment, which caused me to laugh out loud, uncontrolled and embarrassingly, was when Ken returned from the “real world” having eventually become disillusioned by its ways. The line, “Honestly, I lost interest in the patriarchy when I found out it wasn’t all about the horses!” will stay with me forever. If you haven’t already, you should go and see it. It’s a masterpiece and, from me, gets a five-star review.

But anyway, this isn’t Rotten Tomatoes and I’m not Barry Norman, so I’ll move on.

The next film on my agenda is called And Then Come the Nightjars. It’s about the friendship that develops, against all odds, between a vet working to help control Foot and Mouth Disease during the 2001 crisis and a quirky Devonian farmer. I can’t provide an accurate review just yet, but the preview suggests it may bring back some difficult memories. At one point in the preview, a voice on the car radio announces: “The government has decided that all animals within a three-kilometre radius of an infected farm are to be slaughtered and then burnt on site.” I have very strong and accurate recollections of that awful time, when life as we knew it in Thirsk, along with most other rural areas of the UK, was plunged into a nightmare. Cattle, sheep, pigs and (I think) farmed deer needed to be killed within a three-kilometre radius of an infected premises, affectionately abbreviated by MAFF to “IP”. It wasn’t all animals though. Horses, dogs and cats survived the massacres, although sometimes not without a fight. Even the government and MAFF were not that stupid.

But there was plenty of stupidity at that time. The government failed to learn from history or heed advice, instead following the draconian path of old. It led to the epidemic going on for longer and spreading more widely than it ever should have- a familiar story. But there was also plenty of pathos, which I’m guessing is what this film focuses on. Although there is sure to be some finger pointing at the crazy rules too. The brief trailer shows a clip of a farmer at the end of his tether, pointing his shotgun rather than his finger at a pedant from the MAFF. If you can bear it though, and if it doesn’t bring back too many bad memories, I’m sure it will be an interesting evening. They are putting it on at The Ritz for a week from Friday 22nd September.