All Creatures Great and Small Christmas Special 2024: Channel 5 releases exclusive preview clip of young Yorkshire actor Owen Phillips with Samuel West

In the 75-second long clip, released exclusively to The Yorkshire Post to preview the festive episode, which airs on Channel 5 on Monday, December 23, Owen, 13, from Rotherham, plays Christopher Taylor, a young lad who arrives at the vets’ surgery at Skeldale House with an abandoned fox cub.

Siegfried is at first reluctant to treat the fox, telling the boy that he should not be feeding a wild animal, but Christopher holds his own and manages to persuade the vet to reconsider giving it care, suggesting they release the animal together.

Owen clearly enjoyed making the episode, saying: “One of my best memories on All Creatures Great and Small is when Samuel West came into the break room and we talked about the show and work and his family and his dad. He said, let’s go through our lines together, and he showed me some acting techniques - that was unbelievable.

“At the end the director Andy Hay gave a speech about me to the cast when we wrapped. It was very humbling - all the behind-the-scenes staff and my chaperones were amazing.”

Owen is represented by Articulate Agency, based in West Yorkshire. He first appeared in the Yorkshire Post in 2021 aged nine, when he told The YP Magazine how he had had roles in Hollyoaks, The Syndicate, Tracy Beaker and a major Euros TV ad campaign, and was soon to be seen on screen in Gentleman Jack, Traces - and making his first appearance in All Creatures Great and Small.

At the time, he had been with Articulate for 18 months, following a suggestion by The Voice judges will.i.am and Sir Tom Jones, who were at the studios in Manchester where Owen and a friend were filming a Judge Rinder Christmas Kids Court ITV special.

“They were in the corridor. They said that we would be really good actors,” he told the magazine, adding that he was getting quite used to auditions. “I just go for it. I try my best and practise loads,” he said. “I got shortlisted for a Danny Boyle film and he called me the mini Leonardo DiCaprio, and I really loved that.”

In this year’s All Creatures Christmas episode, which is made by Playground, Owen and the fox will also appear in scenes with Mrs Hall (Anna Madeley), who receives news that leaves her reeling, and then forms a connection with the fox as she struggles to make sense of her newly upturned world.

Articulate Agency has represented many children on the show to date, including babies playing the part of baby Jimmy Herriot.

Meanwhile, Owen says he is thrilled to be part of such an iconic series, especially the Christmas special, adding: “It’s been a joy to work with the cast and crew to bring this story to life, and I can’t wait for everyone to see it.”

The All Creatures Great and Small Christmas Special is on Monday, December 23, at 9pm, on Channel 5 and My5. Stream series 1- 5 on My5.