Is Mrs Hall leaving All Creatures Great and Small, is she divorced and was she a real person?

Mrs Hall leaving All Creatures Great and Small might seem impossible but in recent episode fans learnt it wasn't out of the question.

Whether you’ve just discovered how to watch All Creatures Great and Small or have been invested in the story from the beginning, the Channel 5 reboot of the original 1970s show is an emotional rollercoaster. From highs like the marriage of James and Helen in All Creatures Great and Small to the terrifying reality of wartime, the Yorkshire-set drama pulls on your heart-strings. The characters have become like part of the family and the vets would be nowhere without Mrs Hall. 

Played by Anna Madeley, she efficiently runs the household and the prospect of Mrs Hall leaving All Creatures Great and Small is a devastating one. So it's no surprise that fans watching season 4 might fear for the future of everyone’s favourite housekeeper.

*Warning: Spoilers ahead*

Is Mrs Hall leaving All Creatures Great and Small? 

You might well have found yourself asking the dreaded question - “Is Mrs Hall leaving All Creatures Great and Small?” - as you made your way through season 4, but thankfully she’s still part of the show. Fans might be forgiven for worrying, though, as it did look for a moment as if Mrs Hall was going to part ways with vets James Herriot and Siegfried Farnon and leave the show. The loyal housekeeper handed in her notice to Siegfried in the finale of All Creatures Great and Small season 4.

“I need to talk to you about my position, Mr Farnon,” Mrs Hall said to the vet, before taking her resignation letter out of her apron pocket and saying, “The thing is…”

Before she could utter the words, the heart-broken Siegfried worked out which way the wind was blowing and finished her sentence for her - “You’re leaving me.”

Mrs Hall offered to work three months’ notice period and explained that the very last thing she wanted to do was “inconvenience” Siegfried. She had been nervously readying herself to hand in her notice after her sweetheart Gerald asked her to move to the Lake District with him.

All Creatures Great and Small: The Classic Memoirs of a Yorkshire Country by James Herriot | Was £10.99, Now £8.99 at Amazon

Written under his penname, James Herriot, Alf Wright's books inspired both the original 1970s show and the 2020 reboot. This contains the first two volumes, If Only They Could Talk and It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet. After finishing veterinary college, James faces the unexpected as he settles in 1930s Yorkshire and meets farmer's daughter Helen.

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Gerald was needed there to help look after his sister and although he affirmed the move from Darrowby wasn’t quite what he and Mrs Hall would have chosen he added, “At least we’ll be together.”

She promised him she’d resign the next day and handed her letter to Siegfried but as the finale went on, Mrs Hall began to wonder whether a move to the Lake District with Gerald was really right for her. The two had been seeing each other for quite some time and it was her relationship with Gerald that prompted a huge moment for Mrs Hall - finally divorcing her estranged husband. When Gerald asked her to move with him, she’d agreed but in the end Mrs Hall’s heart remained in Darrowby. 

She chose to remain at Skeldale House partly due to her bond with Siegfried who she was intensely loyal to, but also because Helen was pregnant and she knew how much she would need her support as James was doing his RAF training. Mrs Hall gently broke the news to Gerald and said she didn't think she was "ready" to go, but said that "maybe" she'd join him at some point in the future.

Instead of watching Mrs Hall leaving All Creatures Great and Small and heading off happily into the sunset with Gerald, fans were treated to a very special ending scene of her, Siegfried and Helen sitting and playing a board game together.

Is Mrs Hall divorced and what happened to her husband?

Given that Mrs Hall is pretty much exclusively known by her married title and surname rather than her first name (Audrey, in case you were wondering) some fans might be confused about what happened to Mr Hall and whether they’re divorced. He’s not been seen in All Creatures Great and Small and he and Mrs Hall have been separated for years, with indications that theirs wasn’t a happy marriage at all.

Despite this, and their separation, Mrs Hall only put the wheels in motion to secure an official divorce from Mr Hall in season 4 after her friendship with Gerald evolved in a romantic direction.

She later received a letter telling her that her petition for divorce went uncontested, meaning that she wouldn’t need to go through any kind of court hearing. As her and Gerald’s courtship continued, he asked her to move to the Lake District with him, in effect proposing to her as the idea was that they would embark on this new adventure as an official, respectful couple. When asked by Helen if they were engaged, she responded, “In a manner of speaking”.

Ultimately, since we didn’t see Mrs Hall leaving All Creatures Great and Small but Gerald did go, their romance sadly came to an end in season 4 and so another marriage isn’t on the cards for her - at least not with him. Who knows whether if All Creatures Great and Small is renewed, another love story could happen for her?

Was Mrs Hall from All Creatures Great and Small a real person?

Whilst some characters like James and Helen Herriot and Siegfried Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small were inspired by real people, Mrs Hall is entirely fictional. In the All Creatures Great and Small books written by James Herriot (the pen-name of Alf Wright), there is a minor character called Mrs Hall and she has a far greater role in the Channel 5 reboot show. 

The vet who Siegfried Farnon was based on, Donald Sinclair, apparently employed several different women to help with washing and cleaning and two of them, Mrs Weatherall and Mrs Smith, have been mentioned. It's possible that they could have partly inspired the character, but Mrs Hall herself wasn't a real person.