There’s always plenty of drama on All Creatures Great And Small

Toto the ten-week-old tabby is about to become a star. ‘Stand by to bring in the kitten,’ says a commanding voice on the set of All Creatures Great And Small as Lucy the animal handler rises from the sofa. 

She’s been waiting in the parlour of what looks like a 1930s Yorkshire home with Toto cradled in her arms. ‘Quiet, please,’ says the assistant director, and young Scottish actor Nicholas Ralph begins his scene as kindly vet James Herriot, talking to a little girl about the kitten she’s rescued and wants to keep, played so charmingly by Toto. 

‘This is my first job in TV and I’m still over the moon,’ Nick Ralph has been saying between breaks in filming at a secret location in the Yorkshire Dales. 

He was plucked from the National Theatre of Scotland to star in the remake of these classic stories back in 2020 and he’s been blown away by its popularity, which has led to him being cast in some upcoming films as a result. ‘This has been a life-changer,’ he says. 

But Channel 5 has been canny, casting heavyweights like Sam West alongside the youngsters. West is an actor and theatre director as well as a familiar face from TV and the movies, and he brings both gravitas and mischief to the role of Siegfried Farnon, James’s eccentric boss. 

But he’s very clear about who – and what – the viewers love most. ‘We are in no doubt: the animals and the Yorkshire landscape are the stars of this show. As actors, we’re just here to serve.’ 

He’s being too modest, but it is true that All Creatures is filmed in some of England’s most stunning countryside. We’re out of sight from the road behind a row of trees, but the rolling fields around the village of Summerbridge are living up to its name today, with sheep and cows lazing in the fields as the sunlight sparkles on drystone walls. 

This is the kind of land which a young vet, who grew up in Glasgow, came to just before the Second World War, fell in love with a secretary and stayed – then much later wrote down his adventures in a set of stories that have become favourites all over the world. 

His real name was Alf Wight and his wife was Joan, but he wrote as James Herriot and called her Helen. And they became household names through his bestselling books, a 1975 film called All Creatures Great And Small, then a long-running BBC drama series of the same name starring Christopher Timothy as James and Robert Hardy as Siegfried (Helen was played by Carol Drinkwater then Lynda Bellingham). 

‘So many of us in our 50s remember being on the sofa and seeing that when we were children,’ says Sam West, who watched in those days with his parents, the distinguished actors Timothy West and Prunella Scales. 

All Creatures Great And Small is returning to Channel 5 on 15 September. The series returns with a modern twist where women are at the centre of action. Pictured: Callum Woodhouse as Tristan Farnon

The new All Creatures hired Nigel Havers and Diana Rigg to play village grandees General Ransom and Mrs Pumphrey, although her place was taken by Patricia Hodge when Dame Diana sadly passed away after season one. These people are British acting royalty and the lead director of the new All Creatures, Brian Percival, has a top-class pedigree too, having also worked on Downton Abbey. 

Still, talent alone does not quite explain why the remake was such an immediate success, attracting four million loyal viewers, with two more series and their Christmas specials already commissioned. 

‘We must acknowledge an amazing piece of timing,’ says Sam. ‘We came out in September 2020 after the initial Covid lockdown, when everybody wanted warm, truthful stories that were not necessarily about human problems, and were based in a beautiful landscape they could enjoy through us – even if they couldn’t actually get there. 

‘Art did a lot to get people through the pandemic and I’m proud as well as pleased that we played our part.’ 

Another secret to its success is the script by Ben Vanstone, who brought a modern edge to another historical setting in Anglo-Saxon adventure The Last Kingdom. Not every animal can be saved – and there’s a war coming – but there’s still kindness, compassion and a strong sense of community in the Dales. 

It’s all beautifully bittersweet, says Sam. ‘I went to the hospital with a damaged Achilles tendon last year and the nurse recognised me and said, “I love your programme, it’s happy and sad.” That’s my favourite review.’ 

As we return to the fictional village of Darrowby, it is 1939, James has established himself as a vet and is engaged to Helen. Siegfried is adjusting to life with his little brother Tristan (The Durrells’ Callum Woodhouse), who is still a bit of a rogue. 

‘This improvised family is held together by Mrs Hall,’ says Anna Madeley, who plays the housekeeper. She wasn’t in the foreground of the original books or series but is front and centre now as a veteran of the Great War, having served in the Women’s Royal Naval Service, helping to run the practice and acting as a confidante to Siegfried. 

‘She opens up the emotional world inside the house, because Mrs Hall is not a vet, so she has a different perspective. She has a lot of the same caring qualities, but for people not animals.’

GUESS WHO’S AN OSCAR WINNER 

Rachel Shenton wrote The Silent Child (pictured) about a young deaf girl who’s isolated until she learns to sign

Did you know that Rachel Shenton, who plays Helen, has won an Oscar? Her father went deaf after chemotherapy, and following his death she learned British sign language. 

She then wrote The Silent Child about a young deaf girl who’s isolated until she learns to sign. ‘I thought maybe primary schools would like it as an educational tool, then I started chucking it in to film festivals to see what happened,’ she says modestly. 

It then won a qualifying festival which meant it could be entered for the Oscars. ‘That was crazy. 

‘I was invited to the nominees’ luncheon and remember being in this room with Meryl Streep and Steven Spielberg, it was so surreal,’ says Rachel, a Staffordshire woman whose first big British part was in Hollyoaks. ‘And then we won the bloody thing!’ 

She made headlines for giving the acceptance speech in sign language after a promise to its young star Maisie Sly. So has winning an Oscar changed her life? 

‘It changes everything and nothing,’ she says, looking around her and smiling. ‘It helps in terms of financing, but it’s not a golden ticket. 

Mrs Hall is one example of a very striking way in which this version of All Creatures is different to those we have seen before. ‘The females are absolutely at the heart of the show,’ says Rachel Shenton, who plays Helen as a no-nonsense farmer. 

‘There’s nothing this woman can’t take.’ How much of that is true to the original stories? 

‘Helen isn’t in the books much, and when we do see her it’s through the eyes of James,’ says Rachel. ‘So I spoke with Rosie Page [daughter of the author], who’s been brilliant and come up with stories about her mother. 

‘I stuck all that in with the books and Ben’s writing and came up with my own version of Helen.’

This may be a modern take on the tales, but it seems viewers still love a nice wedding. They got very excited when photos of Rachel and Nicholas getting married in a rural Yorkshire church as Helen and James appeared online earlier this year. 

‘That was a bit disappointing because we don’t want any surprises to be spoiled,’ says Rachel. ‘My mum is a fan of the show and tries to get things out of me, but I don’t tell her anything!’ 

Is the wedding actually going to happen? ‘This is telly so it’s never straightforward, is it?’ she teases. 

‘We’ve seen them leaving the church so I think it’s safe to say they get married, but is it a smooth ride?’ 

The leading players on All Creatures have become close friends, says Nicholas. ‘We’re all based in Harrogate during filming. 

‘Me, Rachel and Anna are in the same block and Callum is a stone’s throw down the road, as was Sam until he moved out to the sticks as he likes to do a bit of twitching,’ he says, meaning bird-watching. ‘We go out for family dinners as a cast once a week. Everyone is together.’ 

All Creatures brings a lot of tourism to the area, so aren’t people staggered to see their favourite characters sitting together having a curry? 

‘Yes, last night there was a guy who waited until we’d finished our dinner then came over and said, “We’re all big fans, can we get a quick picture?” Then other tables asked too. It was lovely.’ 

Rather less lovely are the times the animals go off-script, such as the terrifying moment as he started filming All Creatures when a bull called Jester charged. ‘He’s massive. 

‘Two tons. When a bull like that wants to run, nobody is stopping him,’ says Nick. Not even on-set vet Andy Barrett, who tried to hang on to Jester’s harness and ended up ‘kind of water-skiing’ across a rainsodden field towards the cast and crew. 

‘The director shouted, “Split!” and Jester came straight through the middle of where we’d been.’ They then had to film a scene with the bull. ‘That was quite intimidating.’ 

At least he doesn’t have to stick his hand up a cow’s backside, as Christopher Timothy regularly did in the original series. ‘You can’t do anything to an animal now that is not strictly required and that you’re not trained to do,’ he says with some relief. 

‘For the wide shot my arm was along the spine of the cow with some hay over it. For the close shot, where you actually see my hand going inside, that’s a false back end of a cow. Amazing prosthetics.’

Other things have changed too, says Callum Woodhouse. Tristan is less of a womaniser than Peter Davison’s original version, apparently. 

‘He’s more about trying to make women laugh now, rather than being a bit of a lecher. Not that I think he’s lecherous in the books or the original series, but that’s how it could be interpreted nowadays.’ 

His lover takes no nonsense. ‘Maggie the bartender runs the Drovers Arms with an iron fist. I think that’s what really attracts Tristan… as well as the prospect of free beer!’ 

Weekend has been given exclusive access to a former warehouse today where James Herriot’s fictional veterinary practice Skeldale House has been built as a studio set. The shelves are full of original bottles of potions with names like Newman’s Embrocation and Hayhurst’s Chill And Fever Drink For Cattle And Horses. 

Alf Wight’s authentic instruments sit close by, borrowed from The World Of James Herriot museum in Thirsk. 

The actors are in period clothing, and here comes Patricia Hodge in a splendid emerald 30s dress. A young member of the crew, checking if she’s prepared for the next scene, asks, ‘Are you good?’ 

This distinguished actor gives an amused smile. ‘I’m always good. The question is, am I ready?’ 

And the answer is yes, of course. Soon the cameras are rolling again as she shares a scene with the young girl and Toto, the tiny kitten. 

We viewers will never see the boom mics and bright lights, or the crew pressed in close together, holding their breaths, but we can look forward to Toto’s starring role in this acclaimed reimagining of All Creatures Great And Small as a voice says, ‘Cut! Very good!’ 

• All Creatures Great And Small returns on Thursday 15 September at 9pm on Channel 5.