'BBC turned down new All Creatures Great and Small over young audience concern'

An article in the Telegraph quoted Colin Callender, who works for production company Playground, which created the remake.

Despite being home to the the original adaptation that aired in the 1970s and 1980s, the BBC was prepared to only make a pilot episode while Channel 5 offered to make a full series, he said.

Callender is quoted as saying: “They only wanted to do a pilot. They had concerns about whether it would speak to a younger audience and, I think, whet her or not the show could emerge from the shadow of the first series.”

Callender said the show had in performed well with younger viewers and others.

“It is clear the show has struck a chord. It lives comfortably and respectfully alongside the original series.”

The new series - the original ended in 1990 - attracted more than three million viewers to the first episode and is Channel Five's most popular new show since 2016.

Along with being set in the Yorkshire, it was filmed in the region too.

The BBC has been approached for a comment.