All Creatures Great and Small (franchise)

Lore & Background

The book series focuses on the adventures of veterinary surgeon James Herriot, set in the fictional town of Darrowby in the Yorkshire Dales, based on a combination of Thirsk, Richmond, Leyburn and Middleham. In the books, Herriot works with fellow veterinary surgeons Siegfried and Tristan Farnon, based on real-life counterparts Donald Sinclair and his brother Brian Sinclair. Wight used the name Helen Alderson for his real-life wife, Joan Danbury, who in real life was not a farmer's daughter but worked as a secretary. According to one source, Wight met her on a group outing to a local dance.

Reader's Guide

The All Creatures Great and Small franchise has had a lasting cultural impact, bringing the life of a rural veterinarian to a global audience. The books have been adapted into multiple film and television versions, including a 1975 film and a 1976 sequel, a long-running BBC series (1978–1990) that produced ninety episodes, and a 2011 prequel series. In 2020, a new television production began airing on Channel 5 in the UK and PBS in the United States, which as of 2025 has produced five series. The franchise also includes a writer's home museum attraction, The World of James Herriot, in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, established in 1999 and operated with the involvement of Wight's children.

Did You Know?

• The title for the first U.S. compilation book, All Creatures Great and Small, was taken from the hymn 'All Things Bright and Beautiful'.
• The 2020 television series was filmed in Grassington rather than Askrigg due to the latter's A roads detracting from the 1930s look.
• The BBC series All Creatures Great and Small (1978–1990) had two runs: the original (1978–1980) based directly on Herriot's books, and a second (1988–1990) also based on Herriot's books.
• The World of James Herriot museum in Thirsk was set up in 1999 by the James Herriot Partnership and Hambleton District Council and was taken over by a charitable trust in 2011.

The Books and Their Remarkable Reach

The literary foundation of the franchise was built by James Alfred Wight, who published his veterinary memoirs between 1970 and 1981 under the pen name James Herriot. The stories unfold in the fictional Yorkshire Dales town of Darrowby, a composite drawn from the real market towns of Thirsk, Richmond, Leyburn, and Middleham. At the heart of the narrative are three young vets—Herriot himself alongside Siegfried and Tristan Farnon—whose characters were modeled on Wight's real colleagues Donald Sinclair and his brother Brian. The author also fictionalized his wife Joan Danbury as Helen Alderson, though in reality she was a secretary rather than a farmer's daughter. The publication history reveals a transatlantic quirk: in the United Kingdom, the stories appeared as eight individual volumes, while American readers received them paired into omnibus compilations because the publisher deemed the standalone books too short. The franchise's iconic title, drawn from the hymn "All Things Bright and Beautiful," was reportedly suggested by Wight's sister. By 2020, the complete body of work had sold approximately sixty million copies worldwide, with additional children's picture books and anthologies extending the reach further.

Hollywood Meets the Dales: The Film Adaptations

The franchise's first foray into cinema came in 1975 with a feature film bearing the same title as the American omnibus volume. Directed by Claude Whatham and scripted by Hugh Whitemore, the movie drew its narrative from the first two novels, If Only They Could Talk and It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet. Simon Ward took on the role of the young veterinarian, while the celebrated Anthony Hopkins brought gravitas to the senior vet Siegfried Farnon. A year later, the follow-up It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet arrived in 1976, adapting the next pair of books, Let Sleeping Vets Lie and Vet in Harness. This installment shifted creative hands: Eric Till directed, Alan Plater penned the screenplay, and the casting changed again, with John Alderton stepping into the Herriot role and Colin Blakely assuming Siegfried. The two films together covered the first four UK-published volumes, establishing the core trio of characters and the pastoral Dales setting for a movie audience. Though neither film matched the cultural footprint of the later television productions, they proved that Wight's episodic, character-driven storytelling translated effectively to the screen and kept the franchise visible during the mid-1970s.

A Decades-Long Television Journey

The BBC's 1978–1990 adaptation became the franchise's most enduring screen presence. Producer Bill Sellars recognized that the novels' episodic structure—each chapter essentially a self-contained story within Herriot's ongoing life—made them naturally suited to serialized television. Christopher Timothy and Robert Hardy anchored the cast as the young vet and his senior mentor, respectively. The series ran in two distinct phases: an initial three-series stretch (1978–1980) adapted directly from the books, followed by a second four-series run (1988–1990) using original scripts. Ninety episodes were broadcast in total. The fourth series of the second run introduced Calum Buchanan, played by John McGlynn, a character inspired by Wight's real assistant Brian Nettleton. The franchise returned to television in 2011 with Young James Herriot, a three-part BBC drama tracing the protagonist's student years at Glasgow Veterinary College, drawn from personal diaries and case notes in the Herriot archive. Then in 2020, a new series launched on Channel 5 in the UK and PBS in the United States, filming in Grassington rather than Askrigg to preserve a period-appropriate small-town atmosphere. As of 2025, this latest production has completed five series.

The Real People Behind the Pages

Every character in the Herriot universe has a living or once-living counterpart. Siegfried and Tristan Farnon were inspired by Donald Sinclair and his brother Brian, the actual veterinary surgeons who worked alongside Wight in the Dales. The beloved Helen Alderson was modeled on Wight's real wife, Joan Danbury, though the books embellished her background as a farmer's daughter when in truth she worked as a secretary. According to one account, Wight first noticed her at a group outing to a local dance and was immediately drawn to her, despite the fact that she had numerous other suitors at the time. The fictional town of Darrowby itself is a patchwork of several real Yorkshire Dales locations—Thirsk, Richmond, Leyburn, and Middleham—blended into a single small community. Even the 2020 television series deliberately avoided filming in Thirsk, where Wight actually practiced, because the town had grown too large to convey the intimate, close-knit village atmosphere the producers wanted. The 2011 prequel Young James Herriot drew on Wight's own student diaries and case notes held at Glasgow Veterinary College, produced with the cooperation of his family, grounding the drama in genuine personal records rather than invention.