All Creatures Great and Small viewers 'in disbelief' over 'heavy flirting' between Siegfried and Mrs Hall

All Creatures Great and Small viewers were "in disbelief" over the flirtatious banter between Siegfried Farnon and Mrs Hall during Thursday night's episode.

The popular Channel 5 period drama follows the life of veterinary surgeon James Herriot in 1940s Yorkshire and returned with its highly-anticipated fifth season earlier this month.

In the latest episode, Mrs Hall (Anna Madeley) found herself caught between her new employer Mr Bosworth (Jeremy Swift), who she's been helping as a blackout warden, and her Skeldale House employer and friend, Siegfried (Samuel West). Later on, the pair teamed up after finding a poisoned dog – and fans were delighted to see "playful flirting" between the vet and the Skeldale matriarch.

Taking to X, one person penned: "Did the people responsible for this episode get together for a meeting and say how can we fit as many meaningful, sweet, and flirty Siegfried and Audrey scenes into one episode so they (us) feel seen and heard? Because it feels that way," while another shared a screenshot of the duo working together to help the sick dog and captioned the snap: "These two are so made for each other. I'm still laughing at this scene! And all that playful flirting she was doing too!"

A third fan added: "AUDREY AND SIEGFRIED ARE HEAVILY FLIRTING … AUDREY IS FLIRTING WITH HER EMPLOYER," while another penned: "When I tell you I am in disbelief."

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Ahead of the new series, Samuel revealed that Siegfried "oversteps the mark" with Mrs Hall when it comes to her overly assertive boss, Mr Bosworth.

"There's a moment with Bosworth where Siegfried learned something that he ought to have known before," the actor told HELLO! and other press. "The fact that Bosworth rhymes with jobsworth is not a coincidence. He's incredibly annoying and he's taken Siegfried's staff member and friend and left him lonely with a cold supper more often than necessary.

"When he starts mistreating her in a sort of excess of misplaced gallantry, Siegfried steps in to defend Mrs Hall. He oversteps the mark, and she says, 'I can fight my own battles', and that's a very important lesson for him," continued Samuel.

"And he apologises later, again, quite grumpily, but it's an important bit in their relationship where he thinks he's doing the right thing for reasons which he doesn't fully understand about being a bit jealous of the fact that Mrs Hall is away so often. And then she says that was wrong."

Fans have long been hoping that Siegfried and Mrs Hall would pursue a romantic relationship after noticing the chemistry between the two friends.

Many even predicted a kiss between the pair in the new season. One person wrote: "I'M STILL TEAM 1941 CHRISTMAS KISS #acgas," while another added: "It's so funny because we've been like 'they're gonna kiss!!!' for years and now that is actually going to happen like SOON I am not ready."

All Creatures Great and Small Series 5 continues Thursday 3 October at 9pm on Channel 5 and My5.