All Creatures Great and Small

All Creatures Great And Small - Complete Series Box Set Available now!

James Herriot was the pen name of real life vetinarian James Alfred Wight born in 1916 in Sunderland, England. His parents moved to Glasgow almost immediately. He graduated from Glasgow Veterinary College in 1939 and joined Yorkshire practice of J. Donald Sinclair in 1940. In 1966 he began writing and his first book was published in 1972 "All Creatures Great and Small". After a long and fulfilled life he passed away in 1995 at the age of 78. 


"I was dumbfounded by the reaction to that first book, absolutely dumbfounded," James Herriot/Wight told the Daily Mail in 1981. "The most I had hoped for was that someone would publish it and a few people quite enjoy reading it.". His books have been read by millions all over the world.


It is testament to the huge popularity of the first book "All Creatures Great And Small" and it's follow up "All Things Bright And Beautiful" that a feature film of the same title had already been released starring Simon Ward as James Herriot and Anthony Hopkins as Seigfried Farnon. The BBC producer Bill Sellars spotted the huge potential for a prime-time show and in 1978 the corporation commissioned the first series. The leading role of James Herriot was given to Christopher Timothy (Simon Ward having turned it down), and the part of Siegfried Farnon was given to the classicly trained Robert Hardy. Tristan was played by the british TV actor of the decade Peter Davison who went on to become the fifth Doctor Who. The pivotal role of Helen, James Herriot's wife, was initially played in the first three series by Carol Drinkwaters (he actually briefly married Christopher Timothy in real life) and later by Bisto mum and Loose Woman Lynda Bellingham. Peter Grimwade directed.


Like the other great BBC Sunday night Primetime hit "Last Of The Summer Wine", "All Creatures Great and Small" was filmed on location in Yorkshire and went a long way to reviving the tourist industry in that beautiful part of the world. James Herriot based the fictional town of Darrowby on the real life towns of Thirsk and Sowerby and the area of the North Yorkshire Moors and the Yorkshire Dales, an area that became known as "Herriot country". The actual locations for the TV show were in North Yorkshire and the village of Askrigg doubled as the fictional Darrowby.


"All Creatures Great And Small" was one of the first what could be described as the gentle sunday night primetime nostalgia comedy dramas, shows like darling Buds of may, Heartbeat, The Royal etc have all successfully followed in the wake of All Creatures Great and Small.


The Cast Of "All Creatures Great and Small"


James Herriot — Christopher Timothy
Siegfried Farnon — Robert Hardy
Tristan Farnon — Peter Davison (series 1-5, 7)
Helen Herriot — Carol Drinkwater (series 1-3 & specials) &
Lynda Bellingham (series 4-7)
Calum Buchanan — John McGlynn (series 4-6)
Mrs Edna Hall — Mary Hignett (series 1-3)
Mrs Greenlaw — Judy Wilson (series 4-5)
Mrs Alton — Jean Heywood (series 7)
Jimmy Herriot — Oliver Wilson (1985 special - series 5) & Paul Lyon (series 7)
Rosie Herriot — Rebecca Smith (1985 special - series 5) & Alison Lewis (series 7)


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  • Briton
    My wife and I have been working our way through all the series again. It's a unique programme sure enough, with extraordinary demands on the performers -- where else could you see actors bringing real calves to birth? Robert Hardy as Siegfried is incomparable and for my money the star of the lot. With the Yorkshire Dales as a backdrop, bucketloads of eccentric characters, and goodwill and humour oozing from every pore this is as close to perfect as the BBC gets.
  • bhome
    I and other buyers at amazon have received the box set but with incorrectly packed dvds. I had two copies of one disc, but with series 1, volume 1 dvd 3 missing instead. This is really not good enough and very disappointing for buyers. Amazon will replace but it seems like a lucky dip to see if you get the correct dvds and the poor labelling makes checking difficult. There is no guide to how many discs there are per series.
  • frank matranga
    There will never be a better zigfried(hardy) a better herriott(timothy)a better helen(drinkwater) a better triston (davison) never. But having said that. all the other characters presented in the series had me fooled They were so good at being who they were supposed to be,you would have thought they weren't actors but the real country folk of the yorkshire dales..............absolutely the best series on both sides of the ocean.
  • dchristy
    Absolutely fabulous series, was saddened when it ended so much so that I had to own the lot.