Channel 5 confirms commissions for All Creatures Great and Small series three and four

Channel 5 has today announced that it has officially commissioned not one but two more series of its hit TV adaptation of All Creatures Great and Small.

Set and filmed in the Yorkshire Dales and based on Thirsk vet and best-selling author James Herriot’s cherished collection of stories, the popular and critically acclaimed adaptation will return for two more batches of six 60-minute episodes each, plus Christmas specials.

Made by BAFTA and Golden Globe-winning production company Playground (Howards End, Wolf Hall). Masterpiece on PBS in the US, which airs season two from January 9, will co-produce, and All3Media International is the global partner.

The series made a triumphant return in the UK earlier this year with an average of 4.1 million loyal viewers tuning in across the series run. As series three returns, viewers will rejoin the Skeldale House family in the spring of 1939 as the prospect of another world war looms large over the Dales. Channel 5 said: “Change is afoot for all our Darrowby residents, especially James and Helen, who are embarking on the next chapter of their lives as the wider world around them heads toward a period of great uncertainty.”

The All Creatures Great and Small actors and production team are preparing to return to shoot on location in Yorkshire in the spring for series three. This includes Nicholas Ralph as young vet James Herriot, and Samuel West as his mercurial mentor Siegfried Farnon. Rachel Shenton returns as local farmer - and James’s fiancee - Helen Alderson. Anna Madeley returns as the matriarch of Skeldale House, Mrs Hall, while Callum Woodhouse is Siegfried’s slowly maturing brother Tristan.

The show’s signature characterful ensemble of farmers, animals and townsfolk will also return, including Patricia Hodge as Mrs Pumphrey, and her adored pampered Pekingese Tricki Woo (portrayed by the loveable Derek).

Never out of print, the All Creatures Great and Small books have devoted fans around the world, thanks to their sharp focus on community, seen by many as a much-needed antidote to the challenges of modern times, transporting viewers to a gentle past, populated with wonderfully observed characters.

James Alfred Wight OBE FRCVS was a veterinary surgeon who graduated from Glasgow Veterinary College at the age of 23. He headed to a veterinary practice in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, in 1940 where he fell in love with the Dales and the woman he would marry, Joan Danbury. Wight later wrote stories based on his own adventures as a young country vet, under the pen name James Herriot, quickly becoming one of Britain’s best-loved authors.

On the announcement of a third and fourth series, Jim Wight and Rosie Page, Wight’s children, said: “For many years the books of James Herriot have provided a source of comfort to tens of thousands of people worldwide at difficult times in their lives. With this recent adaptation of his books, a new generation has been introduced to the joys of the Herriot stories. We are delighted that there are to be at least two more series of All Creatures Great and Small, and we are especially pleased that the same excellent actors and producers are to be involved.”

Returning for series three is lead writer and executive producer Ben Vanstone (The Last Kingdom), and writer Chloë Mi Lin Ewart, who will write episodes two and four. Karim Khan has joined the writing team for episode five, and Jamie Crichton will write the script for episode six. Brian Percival (Downton Abbey) remains lead director and executive producer, and Richard Burrell (Alex Rider, Silent Witness) returns as producer.

Series three and four were again commissioned by Channel 5 deputy director of programmes, ViacomCBS Networks UK, Seb Cardwell, who said: “It is clear that our viewers adore James Herriot’s adventures in Darrowby and so do we at Channel 5. I am looking forward to us all being reunited with the Skeldale House family when series three arrives on our screens this year.”

The returning executive producers are Colin Callender and Melissa Gallant for Playground, Louise Pedersen and David Swetman for All3Media International and Rebecca Eaton and Susanne Simpson for Masterpiece.