COVER All Creatures Great and Small
he hankies were out in force when farmer’s daughter Helen Alderson announced her engagement to wealthy landowner Hugh Hulton in the final episode of Channel 5’s wonderful All Creatures Great and Small. “No!” many of us yelled at the telly. “Not Hugh! Helen should be getting engaged to James!”
Surely, she’ll come to her senses, break it off with Hugh and realise that James is the man for her – and the sooner the better. Ideally the decision would be great in the upcoming Christmas special.
Understandably, the All Creatures team don’t want to give the game away but there have been a few subtle hints that James does end up with Helen under the mistletoe this Christmas.
“I don’t know how much we’re allowed to say,” reveals actress Anna Madeley who plays housekeeper Mrs Hall. “But I think there’s going to be quite an exciting storyline on the broken hearts front.”
Let’s hope so. After all, James was smitten from the very first moment he laid eyes on la belle Helen.
“It was pretty much love at first sight for him,” says actor Nicholas Ralph who plays him. “And it’s a love that grows and grows as time goes on, and he gets to know more about her.”
Filming of the second series has already begun and promises to be just as successful as the first, which attracted audiences upwards of six million – the highest ratings the channel has had for five years. BBC bosses must be kicking themselves – the corporation was given first refusal on the new series, made by
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an independent production company, but they felt unable to commit, fearing that the warm-hearted drama would not attract younger viewers. Ironically, 16 to 34-year-olds are making up a large share of the audience.
The timing could not have been better for Channel 5 as in these uncertain times, we all crave comfort period drama on TV. But there is also the universal appeal of the Yorkshire scenery, likeable characters, humour, animals and a sense of simpler times.
“We live in a very divided world now – one of the joys of these stories is that they are about community and people coming together and supporting each other,” says executive producer Colin Callender. “I think that’s a story that we want to tell now more than ever.”
Actor Samuel West – son of Timothy West and Prunella Scales – who plays Siegfried Farnon, agrees. “The first thing to say is that you can watch it as a family,” he says. “There’s something for everybody and I think in particular there
James (Nicholas Ralph) shares a moment with Helen (Rachel Shenton)
are some great female characters. It’s also important that this (unlike other shows) is not about people who are very rich. I am very proud to be in The Crown, and it is a wonderful series, but it is not the only story of life on these islands.
“All Creatures Great and Small is about a community which is quite remote. It is
‘We live in a very divided world now – one of the joys of these stories is that they are about community and people coming together and supporting each other’ a collective and has to work like one. It is suspicious of outsiders but when they prove themselves it welcomes them into the collective very strongly. I think that is extremely important now.
“And it is about a time where there wasn’t a lot of money, and people were more community based. I think we need that now more than ever. We are going to need to exist more locally, more responsibly, more in tune with our animals, and more compassionate in terms of farming. That is what this story stands for.”
Samuel is also attached to Yorkshire. “I lived in Sheffield,” he says. “I used to be artistic director of The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield and my aunt still lives in the city. My dad was born in Bradford and my mum’s mum was too, so I have family connections with Yorkshire as well. The Dales are an extraordinarily beautiful part of the country.”
Then there are the animals…
“I’m really taken with the horses,” says Samuel. “They are so much more civilised and beautiful than the humans!”
■ Series One of Channel 5’s All Creatures Great and Small is available to stream on My5 (www.my5.tv). The Christmas Special is set to air on Channel 5 on Tuesday, December 22