All Creatures Great and Small meets the real The Yorkshire Vet 

1 x 60’ special

Channel 5 has commissioned a one-off Christmas special from Leeds-based eOne indie Daisybeck Studios and GroupM Motion Entertainment; All Creatures Great and Small Meets The Yorkshire Vet.   The 1 x 60’ cross genre episode will bring together some of the key cast members from both shows in celebration of the renowned Channel 5 drama and the award-winning team from The Yorkshire Vet.  

In 2015 Daisybeck Studios started in production with the first series of The Yorkshire Vet, filmed in Thirsk, North Yorkshire - the working home of James Herriot - and featuring his apprentice, Peter Wright.   The Yorkshire Vet tells modern-day tales of All Creatures Great and Small through the vets, farmers and pet owners that call James Herriot country home, and has become a viewer favourite. 

The critically acclaimed drama adaptation of All Creatures Great and Small, produced by BAFTA and Golden Globe-winning production company Playground, has become one of Channel 5’s biggest shows.  The fourth series recently aired on Channel 5 with consistent slot winning performances across the run, peaking at 3.7m, and will return for a Christmas special later this year.   

This special show will see Yorkshire Vets, Peter Wright and Shona Searson, enter the world of Darrowby with exclusive behind the scenes access to the filming of the All Creatures Great and Small Christmas episode with actors Nicholas Ralph (James Herriot) and Rachel Shenton (Helen Herriot). We will also see Peter step in front of the camera as he appears as an extra in the drama.  Later in the show, Sam West (Siegfried Farnon) and Anna Madeley (Mrs Hall), enter the world of The Yorkshire Vet, discovering the real people behind their characters, with visits to some of the now well-known haunts, including the real Drovers Arms.  It has been commissioned by Greg Barnett, Commissioning Editor Factual Entertainment and Unscripted, Channel 5 & Paramount+, who originally commissioned The Yorkshire Vet for Channel 5.   

Greg Barnett,  Commissioning Editor, Factual Entertainment and Unscripted, Channel 5 and Paramount+: “Both these series command huge audiences and we couldn’t resist putting the actors and the actual Herriot trainee and team together to create some heart-warming and entertaining TV. In sort of a “job swap” way, viewers will get to see behind the scenes at this year's Christmas special whilst some of the actors experience Skeldale Practice first-hand and get taken to a couple of James Herriot’s favourite places. It’s a real Christmas treat.”   

Paul Stead, Managing Director of Daisybeck Studios, said: "Nearly 200 episodes have been made to date of The Yorkshire Vet, with Series 18 recently announced and we're really proud to continue the James Herriot legacy through the title, so it seemed natural to bring the two shows together for Christmas.   “We've been blessed with the support of James Herriot's family, and we can't wait to celebrate both All Creatures Great and Small and The Yorkshire Vet in this special, whilst continuing to remember the man who inspired both.”   

Peter Wright, real-life Herriot trainee and star of The Yorkshire Vet, said: “It’s going to be great introducing Sam West to people who knew Donald Sinclair, the real person who inspired his character Siegfried Farnon."

Melanie Darlastan, Exec Producer for GroupM Motion Entertainment, said: “It’s a privilege to have been working with Daisybeck Studios on The Yorkshire Vet right from the very start. This Christmas special promises to be a real treat for all animal lovers and a celebration of two brilliant shows.” 

Executive producer of All Creatures Great and Small Meets The Yorkshire Vet is Paul Stead, with Emily Cadman and Adam Purver as producers and Adam Caldow and Jacob Hesmondhalgh as producers/directors.

This episode is due to air later this year on Channel 5. 

ENDS 

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Daisybeck Studios

Daisybeck Studios is an eOne indie based in Leeds and creators of the award-winning The Yorkshire Vet. It is also behind the successful On the Farm series for Channel 5.   

About Channel 5 

Channel 5 is a public service broadcaster and the UK’s third largest commercial TV station. Launched in March 1997, Channel 5 has been part of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS) since its acquisition in September 2014. Channel 5 and its digital brands – 5STAR, 5USA, 5Select, 5ACTION and the on-demand service My5 – offer a diverse range of issue-led documentaries & popular factual celebrating the British countryside and drawing talent to the channel, accessible history, premium drama and critically acclaimed children’s, news and current affairs programming. Through its agenda-driving commissions, Channel 5 leads on societal issues from inequality to homelessness and mental health, aiming to tell the story of modern Britain by reflecting the lives of people across the nation. 

In 2018, Channel 5 won its first BAFTA for Cruising with Jane McDonald. The following year, Raped: My Story won best Single Documentary at RTS. In 2020, it won crowned Channel of the Year at the Broadcast Digital Awards and by the RTS. In addition, that year it secured its first ever Grierson award win in the ‘Best Single Documentary – Domestic’ category with Suicidal: In Our Own Words. In 2021, it won best factual entertainment at the Broadcast Awards for Springtime on the Farm. It also won best drama at Voice of the Listener & Viewer for All Creatures Great and Small the same year. 

About Paramount Global Paramount Global (NASDAQ: PARA, PARAA) is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates premium content and experiences for audiences worldwide. Driven by iconic studios, networks and streaming services, its portfolio of consumer brands includes CBS, Showtime Networks, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, Paramount+, Pluto TV and Simon & Schuster, among others. The company delivers the largest share of the U.S. television audience and boasts one of the industry’s most important and extensive libraries of TV and film titles. In addition to offering innovative streaming services and digital video products, Paramount Global provides powerful capabilities in production, distribution and advertising solutions.

About GroupM Motion Entertainment

GroupM Motion Entertainment funds, develops, produces and distributes premium television, digital content and award-winning programming around the globe in partnership with the world’s leading producers, talent, networks, and platforms. Through innovative commercial and creative partnerships Motion works alongside GroupM agencies to produce original brand-funded content and unique entertainment partnerships that create value and help clients play a positive and active role in culture. The company has co-produced over 1,800 series, equating to over 26,000 hours of television across all programming genres. Motion currently operates in 44 countries worldwide with headquarters in London and Los Angeles. GroupM Motion Entertainment is part of GroupM, a WPP company.   

About Playground   

Playground is a New York and London-based television, film and theatre production company founded in 2012 by award-winning producer Colin Callender. Playground has produced over 100 hours of primetime television drama garnering 16 Emmy nominations, 26 BAFTA nominations, and 12 Golden Globe nominations, including winning a BAFTA and a Golden Globe for Best Miniseries.   

Recent productions include Wolf Hall, the BAFTA, Golden Globe and Peabody Award winning miniseries starring Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis and Claire Foy for the BBC and Masterpiece on PBS, The Dresser, the RTS winning television adaptation of Ronald Harwood’s acclaimed play starring Ian McKellen and Anthony Hopkins and directed by Richard Eyre for the BBC and Starz, The White Princess, a limited series for Starz drawn from the bestselling book by Philippa Gregory, Howards End, Academy Award-winner Kenneth Lonergan’s adaptation of E.M. Forster’s classic novel starring Hayley Atwell, Matthew Macfadyen and Tracey Ullman directed by Hettie Macdonald for the BBC and Starz, Little Women, adapted by Heidi Thomas and starring Emily Watson, Michael Gambon and Angela Lansbury for the BBC and Masterpiece on PBS, King Lear starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson and directed by Richard Eyre for the BBC and Amazon, Chimerica, adapted by Lucy Kirkwood from her Olivier Award-winning play and starring Alessandro Nivola, Cherry Jones and Sophie Okonedo for Channel 4, The Spanish Princess, a continuation of The White Princess and The White Queen starring Charlotte Hope, Laura Carmichael and Harriet Walter for Starz, All Creatures Great and Small based on the iconic bestselling novels by James Herriot for Channel 5 and Masterpiece on PBS starring Samuel West, Anna Madeley, Nicholas Ralph, Callum Woodhouse and Rachel Shenton, Dangerous Liaisons based on the iconic novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos for Starz, and Peter Kosminsky’s The Undeclared War starring Simon Pegg, Mark Rylance, Adrian Lester and Hannah Khalique-Brown for Channel 4 and Peacock.   

Playground’s theatre productions on Broadway include: Nora Ephron’s Tony-nominated Lucky Guy directed by George C. Wolfe starring Tom Hanks in his Broadway debut, Harvey Fierstein’s Tony-nominated Casa Valentina directed by Joe Mantello, the Tony Award-winning revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Jez Butterworth’s The River directed by Ian Rickson and starring Hugh Jackman, and Kenneth Branagh and Rob Ashford’s critically acclaimed groundbreaking production of Macbeth at The Park Avenue Armory in New York, the Tony Award-winning Best Musical Dear Evan Hansen, and current smash hit musical New York New York. Recent theatre productions in the West End include: John Tiffany's The Glass Menagerie, Casey Nicholaw’s Dreamgirls, and Ian Rickson’s Rosmersholm.   Playground, in partnership with Sonia Friedman Productions, is currently producing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in the West End where it won a record-breaking 9 Olivier Awards, on Broadway where it won 6 Tony Awards including Best Play, and in Melbourne, San Francisco, Toronto, Tokyo and Hamburg where it has opened to further critical acclaim.