Yorkshire stars and scenery light up bumper Christmas TV schedules in latest example of region's screen sector success

And the bumper holiday television schedule is the latest opportunity for Yorkshire to show off its production credentials, experts say.

Various shows starring acting talent linked to the region, or programmes filmed in Yorkshire, are being aired over the festive period, including All Creatures Great and Small, Doctor Who, and a Netflix premiere on Christmas Day.

Chris Hordley, the production liaison and development manager at Screen Yorkshire, said: “With shows like All Creatures Great and Small and The Yorkshire Vet proving to be such a hit this year, Yorkshire will be entertaining audiences on our TV screens more than ever over the festive season.

“In a year when trips to the moors and Dales have been somewhat curtailed, we can’t think of a better way to raise festive spirits as we prepare to bid farewell to 2020.”

Last night, Channel 5 aired The Yorkshire Vet – A Christmas Carol, a festive episode checking in on the stars Julian Norton and Peter Wright.

Helicopter ER, made by Air TV in York, is back with five new episodes about the work of Yorkshire Air Ambulance over the festive period, starting at 9pm tomorrow on the Really Channel.

Castle Howard in North Yorkshire will feature on Bridgerton, a Netflix period drama series starring Julie Andrews and based on Julia Quinn’s novels set in the competitive world of Regency London’s high society, which is available to view from Christmas Day.

ITV’s Emmerdale will get interesting as Paddy Kirk and Chas Dingle look set to tie the knot in soap, which is made in Leeds, while Meena attempts to win over her sister Manpreet after their feud. It airs throughout the week, including an hour special at 6pm on Christmas Day.

The Christmas special of rebooted All Creatures – based on the stories about the fictional vet James Herriot and part-funded by Screen Yorkshire – is repeated on Channel 5 on Boxing Day at 7.45pm after charming viewers yesterday.

Doncaster-born Dame Diana Rigg will posthumously appear in an adaptation of Black Narcissus. It will air on BBC One on Sunday at 9pm, with the following two episodes on at the same time over the next two nights. Dame Diana, who died in September aged 82, will appear as Mother Dorothea in her final role.

Yorkshire-born Jodie Whittaker’s returns in Doctor Who for the perennial festive special – and the Daleks are back. The episode will air on BBC One on New Year’s Day at 6.45pm. Whittaker, inset, is from Skelmanthorpe, near Huddersfield, and is the first woman to play the Timelord – the show’s 13th incarnation.

Last weekend, Our Big Yorkshire Christmas on Channel 5, made by Leeds-based Daisybeck Productions, was broadcast featuring characters from the region, including Jane McDonald and friends.

Meanwhile tourism businesses in Staithes have been inundated with interest since the village appeared in the special Christmas episode of BBC hit Gone Fishing. Comedians and co-presenters Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse stayed in an old fisherman's cottage and chartered a small boat to fish off the coast in the December 13 episode.