"All Creatures Great and Small" is one of the most popular British television series ever made. When it was broadcast in the Seventies and Eighties, viewing figures regularly soared above 20 million. The James Herriot series are some of my favorite books of all time. My paperbacks have creased spines from where I've read them multiple times. There are several reasons I enjoy the BBC series. The scenery of Yorkshire is beautiful; the episodes are generally well-acted and produced; and they are, for the most part, faithful to the books.
When I was growing up, our family spent many evenings watching TV shows together. We watched the Waltons, the Carol Burnett Show, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, Andy Griffith, and Peter Falk in "Columbo." And before all of those shows were around, we watched Walt Disney every Sunday evening. That seems like a lifetime ago now, before cable brought us hundreds of channels to choose from. They may have increased the quantity of shows on television, but not necessarily the quality.
Now, in addition to questionable humor and taste in almost everything on TV, we must be subjected to our weekly dose of political correctness and instruction on the social issues of the day, as it is assumed that we are not capable of deciding these things for ourselves. Oh yes, it's no wonder that I enjoy a show that is full of quirky British humor,
beautiful scenery,
...and real people dealing with the day-to-day life of farming and raising families during the Great Depression, World War II, and the years after the war.
Unlike in "Downton Abbey", you won't often find spectacular houses and gorgeous costumes in this series; although, Mrs. Pumphrey, the very wealthy owner of the pampered Pekingese, Tricki Woo, does have a beautiful home and lovely dresses. James' wife, Helen, usually wears pretty, feminine dresses and often charming hats, as well. But the hardworking farmers and their wives often lead a rather rugged existence, and their clothing is suited to their daily life on a farm in the 1930's and 40's.
Since most of us love to read and write about all things house and home, I've included some pictures of Skeldale House, the house in the fictional town of Darrowby where James Herriot (whose real name was James Alfred "Alf" Wight) and his veterinarian partner, Siegfried Farnon, lived and operated their small animal clinic. I was very taken with the descriptions of Skeldale House in the James Herriot books because it was obvious that the author loved this house and was impressed with its classic design and graceful, yet comfortable furnishings.
The building on the left with the cheerful red door is Skeldale House.
This is the back garden at Skeldale House, which is mentioned frequently in the books.
The front entry of Skeldale House -- I love the case clock and the pictures hung from chains on the walls.
This is the dispensary -- what a wonderful array of colorful, vintage bottles.
The real house where these now-famous veterinarians lived and had their small animal practice has been turned into a museum called "The World of James Herriot." It's located in the town of Thirsk, in Yorkshire. Thirsk became the town of "Darrowby" in the books and BBC shows. The above picture and the previous one are taken from the museum, which is furnished with many of the original tools of their trade.
A picture of the original cast. According to Wikipedia, "some indoor scenes (including all those of the interior of Skeldale House) were shot at the BBC's Pebble Mill studios in Birmingham." Set designs are so realistic, I don't know why I'm often surprised (and disappointed) to discover that they are not an actual house but a studio set. Did you know that Andy Taylor's house in the Andy Griffith Show was a studio set in Burbank, California? I was shocked when I learned that as an adult. Anyway, the above picture was from the television show, not the real house.
This is the room where the housekeeper, Mrs. Hall, directed James to wait for Siegfried when James arrived for his job interview. Most of the memorable scenes inside Skeldale House took place in this cozy sitting room.
This picture is a little blurry, but you can see they're enjoying tea, complete with lovely English china. The tables were always set so prettily in these episodes, filled with lots of traditional English food. These men worked up quite an appetite during long hours of traveling from farm to farm and doing strenuous work with large animals.
Another view of the sitting room. This is from the BBC set; you'll notice it is decorated a bit differently from the sitting room at the museum (below). I love the furnishings and the arched alcove with bookshelves.
These two pictures are from the museum in Thirsk, complete with a wax figure of James Herriot. I love the wonderful French doors opening out onto the back garden. Notice the children's toys in the sitting room. James and Helen and their two children, Rosie and Jimmy, lived in Skeldale House for many years; and the veterinary practice was still being conducted in the house, as well.
This room is also from the museum. I love the cheerful yellow walls and the Welsh dresser filled with blue and white dishes. Do you see the old-fashioned drying rack on the ceiling for laundry. You can see the pulley and rope used to raise and lower the racks. Makes us look kind of spoiled with our fancy washers and dryers, huh?
A different view of the kitchen.
Above, the interior of the King's Arms Hotel in Askrigg, Wensleydale, North Yorkshire, was used as the interior of the Drover's Arms pub in the TV series. The interior was much more rustic looking in the show.
The exterior of the Kings Arms Hotel. The remaining pictures are just stills from the show and images of buildings and surrounding countryside in Yorkshire.
The picturesque village of Askrigg (above) doubled as the fictional town of Darrowby.
I hope you enjoyed reading about this classic television series. I don't know if it still airs on PBS, but I'm sure you could probably rent it from Netflix, if you're interested in seeing it. Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to read my post. I hope you have a wonderful week!
Denise
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