Generations of animal lovers have enjoyed All Creatures Great and Small. We've cried tears of joy and sorrow at the heart-warming tales of veterinary surgeon James Herriot and the animals he treated in 1930s Yorkshire.
The famous character was immortalised in two series - the original BBC drama in the 1970s and the newest series on Channel 5 from 2020 to 2022. Both productions were well received by viewers and were true to the books on which they were based.
Was James Herriot a real person? Yes, he certainly was! All the tales that we enjoyed on our TV screen, complete with their quirky characters, came from the memoirs of real-life vet and author James Alfred Wight. A prolific writer, he was best known for his series of eight books set in the Yorkshire Dales between the 1930s and 1950s, starting with If Only They Could Talk in 1970.
All Creatures Great and Small became a worldwide favourite and at the height of its popularity was attracting 20 million viewers, according to producer Bill Sellars. Broadcast every Sunday, the series was ideal for the early-evening traditional family viewing slot.
Popularity of Wight's stories
Over the decades, the popular series of vet books has sold around 60 million copies. Wight didn't shy away from the truth. When he lost a patient, he shared his distress and heartache with readers, who shed a tear for the people and animals they had never met.
The books were set in the veterinary practice of brothers Siegfried and Tristan Farnon, who were based respectively on real-life vets Donald Sinclair and his younger brother Brian. The character of Herriot's wife Helen was based on Wight's real spouse of more than 50 years, Joan.
Robert Hardy, who played Siegfried Farnon in the '70s series, commented how it had "hit the right moment" in an era when town dwellers saw the country as a "glorious place inhabited by amazing people".
The real James Herriot
James Wight was born in October 1916 in Sunderland, County Durham, but his family moved to Glasgow when he was a child. As a result, he had a "soft Scottish accent", according to actor Christopher Timothy, who played Herriot in the 1978 series.
One of Wight's favourite pastimes as a child was walking his Irish Setter, Don, through the Scottish countryside and letting him play with friends' dogs. Later, he said he was "intrigued" by the dogs' behaviour and character. He realised then that he wanted to spend his life working with animals.
In 1930, aged 14, he decided to become a vet following a lecture at his high school by the principal of Glasgow Veterinary College. After completing six years' veterinary training at the college, Wight graduated on 14th December 1939.
His first vet's job in January 1940 was working for JJ McDowall's Sunderland surgery. However, he wanted to work at a rural veterinary clinic, so took the position at Donald Sinclair's practice at 23 Kirkgate, Thirsk, in July 1940.
The former veterinary clinic run by Wight and the Sinclair brothers is the World of James Herriot Museum today.
Series remake
In 2020, All Creatures Great and Small was remade for Channel 5, with a screenplay written by Ben Vanstone. It ran for three series until 2022, totalling 21 episodes, with an additional three Christmas specials. Herriot was played by Scottish actor Nicholas Ralph.
Any doubts that the remake couldn't possibly match the sheer joy of its predecessor 40 years earlier were quickly dispelled.
Ralph had met Wight's son and daughter as part of his extensive research on the author, who died in 1995. They told the actor he had a tough job playing Wight, who had been overshadowed by the huge personalities of Donald and Brian, played by Samuel West and Callum Woodhouse respectively.
As part of his preparation, Ralph had to be trained in veterinary procedures, so he appeared authentic. He described how he got "up close and personal" with larger farm animals such as sheep, cows, horses and a bull. He learned how to approach them and basic medical procedures, such as placing a stethoscope on a cow's lungs, heart and stomach.
While the larger animals weren't a problem, Ralph said cats caused the most trouble on set, concluding, "They're impossible to train!"
Famous moments from the series
No-one could forget Herriot's most famous patient, Tricki Woo, the pampered Pekingese owned by wealthy socialite Mrs Pumphrey. Wight admitted the characters were based on a real client, Mrs Marjorie Warner of Sowerby and her pet Pekingese, Bambi.
Warner sent the Thirsk vets hampers of gourmet foods as a thank you, saying they were "sent by Bambi". When she learned she was the inspiration for Mrs Pumphrey, she reportedly didn't mind playing a big role in the story.
An ongoing storyline was Herriot's efforts to get Tricki Woo to lose weight, as Mrs Pumphrey had overfed him until he was obese.
During the Christmas 2021 special, while Siegfried throws his annual Christmas Eve party for the locals, Tricki Woo falls seriously ill. All three vets try to save his life, but he is deteriorating fast. In a desperate move, Herriot suggests giving him the same injection he had used earlier to save a sheep's life. A mixture of medicine and painkillers saves Tricki Woo too!
Veterinary practices then and now
Veterinary clinics in the 1930s were very different places from the state-of-the-art surgeries we're familiar with in the 21st century. While animal welfare has always been the goal, the equipment and medicines available in Wight's day were far less advanced.
There was little protection for vets, particularly when dealing with farm animals. Herriot is depicted standing in a barn, stripped to the waist, with no gloves or arm protection, carrying out rectal and uterine procedures and examinations on cows.
This was the harsh reality of life for rural vets in the early 20th century. In the 1920s, there were just five government veterinary research workers in Britain. There was little funding and vets were often expected to perform miracles with few resources.
In 1934, when the Economic Advisory Committee on Cattle Diseases was set up, it suggested that 40% of the national herd had tuberculosis. In 1937, Britain's first veterinary research field station was founded in Berkshire, followed by the launch of the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Health Division in 1938.
Hand hygiene has always been important to stop the spread of harmful bacteria, but today's vets have a wider choice of protection such as latex gloves and nitrile gloves. Just like people, animals can become ill through contact with germs and viruses, while they can also transmit infections when they're sick.
Wight was at the forefront of medical advances in the 1930s, such as the first effective canine distemper vaccine and the antibacterial medication sulphapyridine, which saved many cows' lives. He used his knowledge to the full and while progress was slow, gradually, the rural farming communities across Britain began to appreciate the value of their local vet.
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