All Creatures Great and Small (TV serial)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| All Creatures Great and Small | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Format | Comedy/Drama |
| Created by | Bill Sellars |
| Written by | James Herriot |
| Directed by | Peter Grimwade |
| Starring | Christopher Timothy Robert Hardy Peter Davison Carol Drinkwater Margaretta Scott Lynda Bellingham Mary Hignett |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 91 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Bill Sellars |
| Running time | 50 mins |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC1 |
| Original run | 1978 – 1990 |
All Creatures Great and Small is a television comedy drama series.
Contents |
[edit] Background
In 1978, the BBC tasked producer Bill Sellars with the creation of a television series from James Herriot's first two novels, If Only They Could Talk and It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet, using the title of the 1975 film adaptation All Creatures Great and Small.
[edit] Cast
The leading role was taken by a relatively unknown actor Christopher Timothy, after Simon Ward, John Alderton and Richard Beckinsale all turned it down. Siegfried Farnon was played by the well-known Robert Hardy. Tristan was played by Peter Davison (who became a household name as a result, and went on to take many other starring roles, notably as the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who and as Margery Allingham's detective Albert Campion in two series of Campion). Helen was played by Carol Drinkwater in the first three series and two specials and she had a real life romance with Christopher Timothy. Mary Hignett played the housekeeper Mrs. Hall, and Margaretta Scott appeared as the recurring aristocratic dog-owner Mrs Pumphrey.
With the amount of time available to it, the series quickly became much more of an ensemble show, developing all the characters considerably. In particular, the role of Tristan was significantly increased, partly because Christopher Timothy suffered an automobile accident part-way through the first series and so was restricted to studio shooting (in at least one episode, he can be seen having visible difficulty walking about the surgery), requiring that scenes involving location filming be rewritten and given to Davison.
[edit] History
The programme ran for three series, but broke off in 1980 at the stage where the characters were drawn into the Second World War. Two specials were subsequently made in 1983 and 1985, and then in 1988 the programme was revived, and ran for four more series carrying on the story after the war. In the revived series, Lynda Bellingham took over the role of Helen, and Judy Wilson played a new housekeeper, Mrs. Greenlaw, as Mary Hignett had died shortly after the end of the third series. The Darrowby practice added a young vet with a liking for badgers in the form of John McGlynn playing Calum Buchannan (based upon Herriot's real-life assistant Brian Nettleton), a former classmate of Tristan's. The Herriot children, who had been introduced in the two specials, now became recurring characters, with Jimmy played by Oliver Wilson and Rosie by Rebecca Smith.
[edit] Locations
The programme was filmed around Yorkshire, with some scenes shot at Bolton Castle and in the village of Askrigg, which doubled for the fictional Darrowby. Indoor scenes were shot at the BBC's Pebble Mill studios in Birmingham. Apart from the two specials, most interior scenes were recorded on video and edited together with filmed exterior shots, as was common practice in British television at the time. The original set of the interior of the vets surgery is now located at the Richmondshire Museum in Richmond, North Yorkshire and is open to the public.
[edit] Theme
The famous theme tune "Piano Parchment" and incidental music was by Johnny Pearson.
[edit] DVD
As of September 2007, the first four series have been released on Region 2 and 4 PAL DVDs ; on Region 1 NTSC, all seven series and the two intermediate Christmas specials are available.
[edit] Realism
In real life, the counterparts of Siegfried and James were reverse physical types from the actors who played them in the TV series. "James Herriot" (Alf Wight) was stocky, and "Siegfried Farnon" (Donald Sinclair) was of slender build. Tristan was described as having dark hair but Peter Davison was blond.
[edit] Cast
- 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)
- Mrs Pumphrey — Margaretta Scott
- Jimmy Herriot — Oliver Wilson (1985 special - series 5) & Paul Lyon (series 7)
- Rosie Herriot — Rebecca Smith (1985 special - series 5) & Alison Lewis (series 7)
[edit] TV episodes
[edit] References in other Popular Culture
- Mr Chinnery, a recurring character in the TV comedy series The League of Gentlemen, is clearly based on the series. Mark Gatiss plays a Peter Davison-like character who accidentally kills every creature he treats.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- All Creatures Great and Small TV series title sequence (RealAudio). Cult TV. BBC.
- TV.com entry for television series
