All Creatures Great and Small Christmas Special: Stars of The Yorkshire Vet get exclusive access behind the scenes of much-anticipated episode

All Creatures Great and Small: Yorkshire Vet Special will see Yorkshire vets Peter Wright and Shona Searson given exclusive behind the scenes access to the filming of All Creatures Great and Small Christmas episode with Nicholas Ralph and Rachel Shenton, followed by actors Samuel West and Anna Madeley, who plays Mrs Hall, entering the world of The Yorkshire Vet, discovering the real people behind their characters.

Anna Madeley meets Herriot’s family, explores the World of James Herriot in Thirsk and also enjoys a festive afternoon tea at Betty’s in Harrogate, a tradition that Alf Wight (Herriot) and his wife Joan did every Thursday.

Peter, 67, who trained at Sinclair & Wight in Thirsk in the 1980s, under the leadership of Alf Wight (James Herriot) and Donald Sinclair, spent two days with Samuel West introducing him to one of Donald Sinclair’s old client farmers and also indulging him in his love of birds and taking a trip in a classic Austin 7 – the type Herriot used to drive.

The bond Peter and Samuel formed in the few days they were together is plain to see as Peter regaled Samuel with stories of his former boss and gave him some ‘Donaldisms’ to take into the next series of All Creatures, including swatting flies on the inside of the windscreen, tell them you’re not getting married a day before you’re 45 and whiskey and milk.

Peter said: “It was great for the two shows to get together in both we portray life as it is and as vets we’ve got to show our failures as well as our successes and that’s what makes the shows so real.”

Samuel added: “To be playing a somebody who is based on a real character around people who knew him and can tell me about him is joyous and in a programme that people like and find useful. I love playing him, I love that people can tell me about him and tell me that I’m getting him right, I love our cast and that people love the programme.”

During filming Peter took Samuel to meet farmer Clive Grey and to do some work on his sheep. Samuel said: “We met Clive who told us when he was born Donald put £10 into a bank account for him.”

Peter said: “This was typical of Donald, he was a very generous and humble man and those traits and eccentricities have been brought out perfectly by Samuel, he was a true eccentric. I took Samuel to treat some sheep with foot rot and we had to trim some feet and he was my useful assistant with the purple antibacterial spray, he quite impressed the farmer.’

Samuel added: “When I’m doing my scenes I try to make sure my hands know what they’re doing and that they have a firm grip to be believable, this is something you get better at the more you spend around animals.”

The pair also got to drive an Austin 7 sports car driven by Herriot in his day.

Peter said: “Alf Wight used to drive an Austin 7 sports model that Donald Sinclair bought him. In some of the valleys used to reverse up the hills as he couldn’t get up any other way.”

Like Donald Sinclair, one of Samuel's passions is birds, so much so that 18 months ago he became an ambassador for the RSPB.

The pair went to the Thirsk Bids of Prey Centre to meet a milky eagle owl and some red kites.

Peter, who also got a cameo in an earlier episode of All Creatures Great and Small, said: “It was great to be in it. What impressed me about being on the set was the attention to detail, in the dining room there was a pewter mug which Donald Sinclair used to have – if anyone had a cash transaction it would go in the mug and get shared out – I looked in the mug and there were old fashioned pound notes and the attention to detail is brilliant, it was just like the old days.

“What typified Sinclair and Wight was it was one big family of which I was part of and everyone at Sinclair and Wight welcomed me.”

Samuel said: “Talking to Peter over the last couple of days I’ve really felt the love and confidence that Sinclair and Wight gave to their various assistants and partners over the years and how it’s spread it through the profession and through our programmes they continue to inspire huge numbers of young vets today.”

All Creatures Great and Small: Yorkshire Vet Special is on tonight (Dec 21) at 8pm on Channel 5 followed by the All Creatures Great and Small Christmas special at 9pm.