This is how they made the All Creatures Great and Small Christmas Special 2024 as cast share stories of filming in the Yorkshire Dales

“We were outside in the sun eating our Christmas lunch, and for dessert we had ice lollies,” says Nicholas Ralph, who plays James Herriot in the Channel 5 drama adaptation, now in its fifth series, of the bestselling books penned by real-life Thirsk vet Alf Wight.

It was so hot that production crew members were handing out fans and ice packs. Callum Woodhouse, who plays Tristan Farnon, says: “Costume come over and they’re like, ‘we need to put your scarf on you’. Like, please don't do this to me.”

Nicholas grew up watching classic TV Christmas specials from Only Fools and Horses to Gavin and Stacey, so he is pleased that All Creatures has become a “one to watch” staple of the festive viewing calendar.

As is Callum, who would watch Morecambe & Wise re-runs with his father, who had enjoyed them himself as a child. “So that was quite a special thing to my dad and my mum, Christmas specials,” he says. “And every year, I'm in one, so it's really, really nice.”

Nicholas has described the ACGAS Christmas specials as a “comfort blanket”, but this year - 1941 in Darrowby - the shadow of war darkens further when Mrs Hall, wonderfully played by Anna Madeley, is rocked by some devastating news.

Anna’s co-stars pay tribute to her touching performance, which Callum describes as “nothing short of masterful”, adding: “As well as being an absolute star of the episode, I really do think her performance in this one makes us all look better.”

Rachel Shenton, who plays Helen, says: “Anna did it beautifully. You couldn’t help but be on that journey with Mrs Hall.”

Anna says: “I think Mrs Hall copes by staying busy,” adding: “But as the story progresses, it becomes harder and harder to hold on to that strategy.”

There are lighter moments, of course. How could there not be with baby Jimmy about to celebrate his first birthday on Christmas Day? Jimmy is now played by Otto and Sullivan Pearson. Nicholas says: “Because they're a little bit older, they were more expressive. There were little happy accidents or times where they've improvised and it's ended up in the show, like when he dunks his hand in his food at the breakfast table - just little happy accidents like that, which are so sweet and so good, and it takes the realism of the show up another notch as well.

“Of course, they have their moments like anyone, like any of us, like me or Cal when we go storming off and have a little cry in the corner but, no, all in all, it's been a lot of fun.”

For Samuel West, who plays Siegfried Farnon, Jimmy represents hope: “Having a baby in wartime is an act of the purest optimism,” he says.

“If there is hope, it lies in the babies. And yes, it’s an event that gets properly hijacked by the possible tragedy facing Mrs Hall, and the amazing acting of Anna Madeley. I think it’s right that we are concerned about that.

"One of the things that was really important in this series was getting the actual issue of the Yorkshire Evening Post, where they printed all the MPDs – missing presumed dead – from the Prince of Wales and the Repulse, and it took up the whole of the second page.”

Callum made a popular return to All Creatures, which is made by Playground, for series five, after a year’s absence. This Christmas, he shares scenes with Bradford-born actor Duncan Preston, who is Enoch Sykes, a pigeon-fancier not at all keen to let Tristan near his precious birds.

“He just slotted right into the world of All Creatures immediately,” says Callum. “I was particularly excited about working with him because another one of the things growing up that I used to watch with my parents, specifically my mother, was Dinner Ladies. It was my grandma's favourite show as well, and he was my favourite character, so I had to tell him about how much of a fan I was.”

All Creatures costume designer Ros Little describes creating the looks for series five here

Callum proved to be a whiz with the pigeons. “Obviously they're quite flappy,” he says. “And every single time, I absolutely nailed picking them up. I was like the bird whisperer, and all the pigeon handlers were very, very impressed.”

Helen’s father, Mr Alderson, played by Tony Pitts, and her sister, Jenny Alderson, played by Harrogate actor Imogen Clawson, also feature in the Christmas episode - and a disagreement surfaces at a family gathering. “I think people can relate - certainly, I can, anyways,” Nicholas says.

Asked what Christmas presents they would buy for their character, Callum says: “I think I would probably just put some money behind the bar at The Drovers.”

Nicholas clearly likes the idea. “I would join you there in my new wardrobe, because James’s wardrobe is the same wardrobe since season one. He needs some new threads,” he says. "No, I have had some nice new bits, but in general I could definitely do with some new clothes, I think.”

Callum jokes that he would like “a full three-piece suit for next season”.

“It keeps you trim,” says Nicholas. “You’ve got to fit into the same three-piece suit. The waist’s go up.”

Callum laughs. “You go for like the costume fitting, and before you’re like … ‘Oh, God’,” he says

Filming in Grassington draws crowds in increasing numbers. Callum says: “We've got two cameras filming the TV episode, and then behind the cameras you’ve got upwards of like 100 members of the public who've all gathered to watch it. And yeah, as Nick says, every time they shout ‘Cut’, there's a round of applause.”

Nicholas adds: “The filming there is brilliant because you get to meet some of the people, some of the fans just watching or passing by, so it's always lovely just have a quick chat or that you have to sign a picture, or whatever it is, but really just have a quick chat. And they all have just lovely things to say about the show. So I really do enjoy that part of the job as well, getting to meet people face to face for a little moment.”

Callum says to Nicholas: “We've had a few sketches made of us, haven't we?”

Nicholas agrees: “That was really sweet as well.”

The locations never lose their appeal. “Arncliffe is one of my favourites, and we were back up there quite a few times. I just love it,” he says. “And then Litton, it’s just this little place, I don't even know how many people live there. And Malham, I always love Malham. It was great to get to Broughton Hall as well.”

Callum, meanwhile, takes visiting friends on the Malham walking trail. “It takes you down to the waterfall,” he says to Nicholas, meaning Janet’s Foss, and adding: “Where you did your skinny dipping in series one.”

But his favourite location is anywhere in Siegfried’s green vintage Rover. “I just absolutely love being in that car. It’s such a pleasure to drive,” he says.

Will Tristan be staying in the series? Callum seems to think so. “I can't imagine he'd be on his way out again, but we'll see what happens,” he says. “Historically, he did sort of lead a life away from Skeldale at times.”

Nicholas says he loves receiving the scripts. “Obviously, we shoot in blocks, so we get the first two scripts through, and that's the ones we're going to film in the first block. And it's just brilliant when you get those scripts in because you're just like, yeah, here we go again.

“We've got a WhatsApp group with the main cast, and you just message people, like ‘Oh, Cal, do you see that thing we got to do? That's so exciting. It's such a buzz and it will soon come round. Before we know it, we'll be there. Yeah, can’t wait.”

The message of the Christmas episode, he says, is being with the people you love, not materialistic things. “That's what I'm looking forward to anyway, and that's what I look forward to every year, going back and seeing friends and family - that's the highlight, always.”

He watches it with his folks in the North of Scotland. “A couple of years we've done press, you know, we've been on Lorraine Kelly or something on the 23rd. So I've missed it airing. But then, as soon as I go back, my folks are like, ‘Right, Nicholas, is it the Christmas episode night tonight?’

“I love it, watching it with the folks. It's always brilliant as my mum pretends she's not crying.”

Callum also sits down with family to watch the All Creatures Christmas Special, although this year, he is in London rehearsing a play up until the 24th. “They'll probably get me to watch it again with them, because they always watch the episode multiple times, especially when it's airing - they'll watch it at 9pm on Channel 5 and then at 10 o’clock they switch over to Channel 5+1 and start and just immediately watch the episode again. It's really sweet.”

“My family does that as well,” Nicholas says.

The ACGAS Christmas Special is about being together, especially in the face of loss and hardship. “I think it’s an annual reminder of what is important. All Creatures Just always does it so well,” says Rachel. “It’s always so rich in its simplicity.”

Nicholas says: “James is mainly counting his blessings. It's another moment of realisation of being so happy that he's back, and how fortunate that he is – and it's another reminder that a lot of young men weren't.”

The All Creatures Great and Small 2024 Christmas special airs on Monday, December 23, at 9pm. Seasons 1-5 are available to watch on My5.