It’s an irrefutable fact that the brand new adaption of All Creatures Great and Small has big shoes to fill. The original series was an icon of Sunday night television throughout the 1970s and 80s, its beloved cast starring Robert Hardy, Christopher Timothy and Peter Davidson, bringing to life the heart-warming, often absurd stories of real-life veterinary surgeon Alf Wight, aka James Herriot.
Yet, with a roll call of top flight names, including theatre stalwart and star of Mr Selfridge, Sam West as Siegfried and Oscar winning actress and screenwriter Rachel Shenton as Helen, along with future heart throb, Nicholas Ralph as the new James Herriot, Channel 5 has struck gold. Add in the backdrop of the Yorkshire Dales and it’s hardly surprising there’s already talk of a Christmas special.
‘We thought the challenge would be finding 1937,’ explains Richard Burrell, the show’s producer. ‘But then when you’re in the Dales, it’s there.’
An early decision to discount Thirsk, the spiritual home of James Herriot and Askrigg, the location of the original show because of their major A roads, made finding the new Darrowby a critical first task.
‘There were such a lot of potential Darrowbys to explore,’ says Richard. ‘But the moment we stood in Grassington and looked around we just said, “This is it”.’
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