‘We're thrilled to be back!'

Rachel Shenton and Nicholas Ralph on returning to 1930s Yorkshire – and why their characters won’t be rushing into romance…

- TESS LAMACRAFT

They say never work with animals. But All Creatures Great and Small favourites Nicholas Ralph and Rachel Shenton prove absolute pros as they each happily cuddle a super-cute lamb for our exclusive cover shoot during a break in filming for the hugely anticipated second series of the hit Channel 5 period drama in the glorious Yorkshire Dales.

‘My lamb was so sweet; he kept falling asleep,’ laughs Rachel, 33, AKA sparky farmer’s daughter Helen Alderson, when TV Times catches up with the actors after the snaps are in the bag.

‘And my lamb wouldn’t stop wiggling about,’ smiles Nicholas, 31, who plays kindly vet James Herriot. ‘Rachel was like, “Are you all right, Nick? You keep shaking…” I had to explain it was the lamb and not my nerves!’

As we return to the village of Darrowby this week, the dedicated staff of veterinary practice Skeldale House again have their hands full coping with emergencies and tricky cases. But, after the Christmas special which saw Helen leave her fiancé – wealthy landowner Hugh Hulton (Matthew Lewis) – at the altar, fans are wondering if Helen and James are now a couple.

Here, in an exclusive interview, Nicholas and Rachel tell TV Times what we can expect…

This fresh interpretation of vet Alf Wight’s classic memoirs first hit our screens last year – you must have been delighted with how well it was received?

NICHOLAS It’s just brilliant. I couldn’t believe the response. For people to say they can’t remember the last time they sat as a family to watch something… it’s exactly what we wanted to help bring back when we started, so I think it is something we can all be proud of.