All Creatures Great and Small - an appreciation of the BBC TV show

Our All Creatures photos Wikipedia All Creatures articles All Creatures links

Photos from our visits to All Creatures filming sites
Castle Bolton roof
In the first season, James & Helen became engaged high atop Castle Bolton. Here's Sue on the same spot.		 Castle Bolton walkway
In the first season, James & Helen tour Castle Bolton. Here's me on the same spot.		 Langthwaite bridge
In the opening credits for the first few seasons, Seigfried's car crosses this bridge in Langthwaite. Here are Sue and I at the bridge.
Watersplash near Langthwaite
In the opening credits for the first few seasons, Seigfried's car fords the watersplash near Langthwaite. Here's me at the site.		 Center of Richmond
In the very first episode, James asks directions from Helen in Darrowby, here represented by Richmond. Here are Sue and I on the same spot.		 Click thumbnail images to see 800x600 versions. Watch this video of the opening credits to see two of these places.
All show images Copyright BBC

Wikipedia articles about All Creatures and James Herriot
For All Creatures basics, there's no point in my writing articles because excellent ones are already written and available at Wikipedia.org, which has become one of my favorite internet resources. This table provides quick access to relevant articles:
The All Creatures television show James Herriot - the pen name of Alf Wight Christopher Timothy - played James Herriot on the show
All Creatures in general Donald Sinclair - the real-life counterpart of Siegfried Farnon Robert Hardy - played Seigfried Farnon on the show
The Yorkshire Dales - beautiful setting of All Creatures Brian Sinclair - the real-life counterpart of Tristan Farnon Peter Davison - played Tristan Farnon on the show
Thirsk - Real-life counterpart of the town of Darrowby Carol Drinkwater - played Helen Herriot the first 3 seasons of the show Lynda Bellingham - played Helen Herriot after the first 3 seasons
Yorkshire - the county that is home to Thirsk & the Dales Mary Hignett - played Skeldale housekeeper Mrs. Hall John McGlynn - played Calum Buchannan
Bolton Castle - A castle ruin in the Dales, where Season 1's marriage proposal scene was filmed Margaretta Scott - played Mrs Pumphrey
Tristan's name is taken from the Wagner opera Tristan and Isolde, based on the Tristan legend. To me, it's clear that Herriot chose this name because the Tristan of legend was a rulebreaker and seeker of forbidden love.
Siegfried's name is taken from Wagner's symphonic poem The Siegfried Idyll, and opera, Siegfried, which was part of his Ring Cycle.

Links to sites about James Herriot, the Yorkshire Dales & the TV version of All Creatures
I assembled this collection of links about James Herriot and the television version of All Creatures Great and Small:
Return to Skeldale group - Fans share thoughts, experiences, photos
Site of the official Herriot museum, housed in his former offices/home in Thirsk. We visited, it was great! See the surgery set from the TV show at the Richmondshire Museum Bus tours of Herriot country
HerriotCountry.com - lots of info for tourists HerriotsYorkshire.org - lots of info for tourists JamesHerriot.org - still more info for tourists
Episode Guide All Creatures page at bbcprograms.com CarolDrinkwater.com
Page about the video James Herriot's Yorkshire Another page about the video James Herriot's Yorkshire televisionheaven.co.uk
Video clip at TV.com Video clip at bbc.co.uk Jacek Matulewski's All Creatures site
Release dates for DVDs of the show, with links to buy Buy DVDs of the show at WarnerBros.com Buy DVDs of the show at Amazon.com - The entire run of the series is available
About Yorkshire at english-heritage.org.uk phill.co.uk All Creatures desktop picture
tv.com castlehoward.co.uk - Sue's favorite among Yorkshire locations we visited. Beautiful Wikipedia page about North Yorkshire Moors Railway
  Goathland Station - a Dales train station that has appeared in some of the Harry Potter movies North Yorkshire Moors RR - Short RR connecting some Dales towns, including Goathland

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