Herriot apprentice revels in return to meet fans
GUEST STARRING at Countryside Live for a second successive year was a powerful experience for TV vet Peter Wright.
The former Herriot apprentice and co-star of The Yorkshire Vet TV show said the reaction of the programme’s fans still takes him aback.
“It’s a great thrill for me to see how many people from my beloved Yorkshire that come and support us. It’s always a pleasure to see them,” said yesterday’s show guest, wearing a Yorkshire tweed jacket.
“Coming to Countryside Live makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.
“I’ve just been looking round Fodder (the showground’s farm shop), all the produce, as much as is possible is sourced locally, and I think there is no better place in the country than Yorkshire for providing good fine grub and the quality of food that we have in there. I do feel that Yorkshire is at the forefront of that in the country.”
Wright may have qualified as a vet in 1981 but he said that in the “twilight of my career” his workload is still coming thick and fast.
“First and foremost I’m a vet. Some people class me as a celebrity, but I don’t see myself as a celebrity, I’m a veterinary surgeon and the camera crew follow me around,” he said.
Hundreds of people crowded round the stage to hear his talks and then have copies of the vet’s memoirs signed.
“I wasn’t going to write a book,” he said. “Paul Stead at Daisybeck Studios (producers of The Yorkshire Vet) said have you thought about it and I said not really.
“I’d vaguely thought about it but considered myself not particularly interesting and he said well how many people get to have a book written about them? So I said I’d think about it.
“It’s not something I set out to do but it tells my life and it tells of my childhood. We weren’t wealthy at home but we grew up having an idyllic childhood that probably is disappearing now.” The seventh series of The Yorkshire Vet is drawing to a close on Channel 5, but Wright said a new series will be broadcast in the spring, plus some forthcoming special episodes.
Teasing fans of the show, he added: “For those people who like Mr and Mrs Green (two of the vet’s regular clients), we have a Green special and it will be quite emotional, in many ways, but I won’t spoil it!”