All Creatures Great and Small and James Herriot actor Nicholas Ralph longlisted for the NTA Awards 2024

Nicholas Ralph, who plays James Herriot, has also been longlisted in the Best Drama Performance category, alongside actors including David Tennant, Gary Oldman, Brenda Blethyn and Toby Jones.

The longlist for the best TV of the past year has been officially revealed today, and the public can now start voting for their favourites. For the fourth year in a row, it will be hosted by Joel Dommett at The O2 London in September.

Made by BAFTA award-winning production company Playground, All Creatures Great and Small features at the top of the NTA 2024 longlist for Returning Drama, although shows are listed alphabetically and this does not mean that the popular Channel 5 adaptation of All Creatures is leading the pack. Bridgerton, Vera, Slow Horses and The Crown all also feature on the longlist of 27 returning drama series.

Based on the best-selling books by real-life Thirsk vet Alf Wight, using the pen name James Herriot, All Creatures Great and Small is currently in production in the Yorkshire Dales, following the announcement, made in February by Channel 5 and PBS, that both series five and six had been given the green light.

Filming began in Grassington, which is used for Darrowby, soon after, for two days at the end of February, when James was seen returning to Skeldale House and Helen Herriot (Rachel Shenton) was filmed pushing a pram across the main street leading up to the village square. Mrs Hall (Anna Madeley) and Mrs Pumphrey (Patricia Hodge) were also filmed emerging from Grassington’s Church House along with new actor Jeremy Swift (butler Spratt in Downton Abbey).

Every year since the filming of the first series in 2020, Grassington has been dressed up to become Darrowby for periods throughout the spring and summer, with shop frontages changed and architectural details added to give a yesteryear look. Other locations include Arncliffe for the back of Skeldale House, Yockenthwaite for the Alderson farm, Broughton Hall for Mrs Pumphrey’s house, plus Sawley and a host of other scenic spots throughout the Yorkshire Dales and Moors.

The exterior of The Drovers pub is The Devonshire Arms at Grassington, but a new set has been built at the Summerbridge studios for filming the interior, marking a significant investment in production in Yorkshire.

The first four series of All Creatures Great and Small saw it rise to become Channel 5’s most popular shows. Series four, which aired from October 2023, had 4.4 million viewers tune in across the run to grow audience share further.

Callum Woodhouse will return as Tristan Farnon - head vet Siegfried Farnon’s mischievous younger brother, who has been away serving in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps - when he makes an unexpected reappearance later in series five.

The two new series will consist, as before, of six 60-minute episodes, plus the Christmas Specials. Season four ended in the UK with the Channel 5 Christmas 2023 episode, set at Christmas 1940, with James making it home from his RAF training to Darrowby the morning after Helen had given birth to their son.