DCI Banks at Aysgarth

 

Unlike in James Herriot's day, one must now pay to park when visiting Aysgarth Falls. So a visit there must be carefully measured against the cost of parking, as well as the other stops on one's itinerary. My wife and I had quite a long list of places to visit on our drive through the Yorkshire Dales ten years ago, so it's not as if we would have spent the entire day there. 

Still, we might have spent a little more time, and felt more relaxed and at peace, if we hadn't needed to watch the clock.

Plus, we wanted to look around, and see a little of the surroundings too.

In the TV series D.C.I. Banks, based on the novels of Peter Robinson, Detective Alan Banks' investigation takes him to Aysgarth in the final two-part episode "Undertow." I had hoped that the production would feature Aysgarth Falls, and perhaps the village's beautiful church, which we had time to walk up and see, but didn't have time to actually go inside and explore.

Sadly, Banks and his team just investigate a suspect's house.

Aysgarth may seem like an insignificant village, with a population of less than two hundred. But the locals worship in a beautiful church, and can walk the banks of the falls and river at their leisure. Perhaps one day we could visit Aysgarth again, and see more of this shining gem set amid a landscape of astounding natural beauty.

Dragon Dave

James Herriot at Aysgarth Falls

 

Aysgarth Falls, Yorkshire Dales, England

Near the little town of Aysgarth lies Aysgarth Falls, a beautiful place dear to James Alfred Wight (known to us as James Herriot).  After reading about it in his book James Herriot's Yorkshire, I knew we had to visit it. Thankfully, on the day we arrived, the sky was clear, the sun shone down, and we could walk along the rocky side of the river and really enjoy our visit.

James, or Alf as he was known by family and friends, always took time out of each day to walk his dogs. In fact, in The Real James Herriot, his son Jim Wight mentions that Alf played golf at a particular course for many years. But when the club decided to crack down on members who insisted on bringing their dogs with them, he let his membership lapse.

After a long day of Tuberculosis testing in the Dales, James returned home one evening, thinking his day was over, and he could finally relax. "Alf, where's Danny?" his wife Joan (Helen Alderson) asked. So he hopped back into his car, and undertook the twenty-five mile drive back to Aysgarth Falls.

Thankfully, his dog was still there, and waiting patiently for him.

It's hard to believe it'll be ten years this summer since we were there. Perhaps, if we should return to England one day, my wife and I can pay another visit to Aysgarth Falls. 

Dragon Dave

James Herriot and The Lonely War of Captain Willy Schultz Part 2

 

 

In March 1941, Nazi Germany bombed Glasgow, where James Alfred Wight (James Herriot) had grown up. His boss, Donald Sinclair (Siegfried Farnon) gave him leave to visit his parents. While there, his mother slept in one of the few undamaged houses in the neighborhood, leaving James and his father to sleep on the floor beneath the family dining table. According to his son Jim Wight, in his book The Real James Herriot, James was "so infuriated by this affront to his beloved city that he signed up to join the Royal Air Force."

By November 1942, when he was finally called to serve, twenty months had passed. He had married his wife Joan (Helen Alderson), and she was pregnant. James worked hard in his new calling, and was one of a few recruits who flew a single engine Tiger Moth solo after two weeks. Yet a recurring medical issue which had plagued him in his youth struck again. As RAF authorities were keen on their pilots being one hundred percent fit, this cast his prospects of defending England's skies in doubt. 

 

In Will Franz and Sam Glanzman's graphic novel, The Lonely War of Captain Willy Schultz, young Willy had also seen his military career overturned. When his commanding officer was shot by a German soldier, he was accused of murder. Yet the jeep taking him to meet the firing squad hit a landmine, giving him an opportunity to escape certain death.

Here's the remaining preview pages, courtesy of Drew Ford at It's Alive.

Wow! You certainly can't blame Willy for taking any opportunity to stay alive. Still, what an unexpected turn of events!

If you'd like to read more of the graphic novel Drew Ford calls "one of the most controversial World War II stories of all time," follow the link for The Lonely War of Captain Willy Schultz at the end of this post. As for James Herriot...

 

In July 1943, he was sent to an RAF hospital. Sadly, the operation went badly. So he watched his fellow recruits head off to Canada to continue their training, and he was sent to a convalescent home. After that, he was shuffled around in the RAF system. Finally, after two applications, and a year in the military, he received his discharge. 

In November 1943, James Alfred Wight was allowed to reunite with his wife, get to know his new son, and resume his work with Donald Sinclair in their veterinarian practice in Thirsk. He may not have gotten to defend the skies above Britain, but at least he returned home (and without having to don a Nazi uniform).

Dragon Dave

P.S. Many thanks to Drew Ford at It's Alive for sharing this preview with us, and to Jim Wight for writing his biography The Real James Herriot.

Related Links

Order The Lonely War of Captain Willy Schultz

James Herriot and The Lonely War of Captain Willy Schultz Part 1

 

 

Lately I've been reading The Real James Herriot by Jim Wight. It seems that when his father, James Alfred Wight (aka James Herriot) arrived in Thirsk, England in 1940, Donald Sinclair (Sigfried Farnon) gave him a speedy tour of nearby farms, and the surgery premises at 23 Kirkgate (Skeldale House), before coming to a momentous decision. Donald took an instant liking to the young vet, and made James an extraordinary offer. 

Donald was about to join the Royal Air Force, and his assistant would also leave to serve his country within a month. So after working six months in a struggling practice in Sunderland for little money, James suddenly had the opportunity to run Donald's practice all on his own. It would be hard work, but James could keep five-eighths of what the practice earned.

Such are the unexpected upheavals of wartime.

 

Through his company It's Alive, Drew Ford has been sharing interesting wartime stories with readers. Hot on the heels of his Combat collection, he's now publishing another WW2 epic: The Lonely War of Captain Willy Schultz by Will Franz and Sam Glanzman. He's kindly shared a preview from his forthcoming book with us.

Enjoy!

Ultimately, Donald Sinclair returned to Thirsk after four months. No matter how much he wanted to serve his country, the Royal Air Force decided the rather unconventional vet just didn't belong. As Will Franz and Sam Glanzman relate in The Lonely War of Captain Willy Schultz, no matter how much you want to serve others, sometimes circumstances and personality get in the way.

 

If you'd like to read more about The Lonely War of Captain Willy Schultz, follow the link at the bottom of this post. I'll relate a little of Jim Wight's wartime experiences, and share more previews from Will Franz and Sam Glanzman's book in the next post.

Dragon Dave

Related Links

Read More About The Lonely War of Captain Willy Schultz

James Herriot: Before Helen

 

Veterinarian James Alfred Wight, who wrote under the pen name James Herriot

The 1970s TV series All Creatures Great and Small begins with James Herriot riding a bus through the verdant Yorkshire countryside. Although he doesn't realize it, someone he will later get to know rides the bus that day. Her name is Helen Alderson.

After disembarking the bus in the town of Darrowby, he asks a local for directions to Skeldale House, where he hopes to secure work as a veterinarian. Who, in fact, gives him these directions? No one other than Helen Alderson. 

Apparently his mind is too full of his upcoming interview with Siegfried Farnon to notice her beauty. Unlike Siegfried Farnon's brother Tristan, whom he will soon get to know, James always acts cautiously. As a young man with no income, he wouldn't be looking for potential dates. 

 

Carol Drinkwater, the first actress who portrayed Helen Alderson in the TV Series All Creatures Great and Small

 

In the third episode of the first season, James meets Helen again when he drives to her farm, as Siegfried Farnon's assistant, to put a cast on a calf's broken leg. While he doesn't remember her from his first day in Darrowby, she remembers him. It is from this second meeting that his interest in her blossoms.

While all this happens very early in the first year of the TV series, events proceed quite differently in James Herriot's first novel, All Creatures Great and Small. While he does travel into Darrowby by bus, he does not ask a pretty young woman for directions. Nor does he meet Helen Alderson until halfway through the book. This may cause some American fans to scratch their heads when trying to correlate the novel with the 1970s TV series.

 

A scene from the film "It Shouldn't Happen To A Vet" (1976)

 

In case you didn't realize it, All Creatures Great and Small is actually a conglomeration of James Herriot's first and second novels. These were published in the United Kingdom as If Only They Could Talk and It Shouldn't Happen To A Vet. While I have read neither British version, I understand that some material in those novels was edited out for American readers. As to how much might have been taken out, and whether or not anything was added, I cannot say.

If Only They Could Talk--or the first half of All Creatures Great and Small--covers the entire first year of James Herriot's time in Darrowby. It introduces us to many characters that will become important to us later on, such as Mrs. Pumphrey and her beloved Pekingese Tricki Woo. 

 

Mrs Pumphrey & Tricki Woo

 

That first novel--and his first year as a veterinarian--ends with James contemplating his commitment to his veterinary career, at least when it comes to serving farmers. 

Imagine: you've just just returned from a late night call, changed into your pajamas, and fallen asleep for a few minutes. Then the telephone rings, and another farmer says, "I need you out here now." James is so flustered by this that he refuses to change back into his cold, dirty clothes, and drives out to the farm in his pajamas.

Unlike in the TV series, after assisting the farmer, he doesn't show up at the Alderson family farm in his pajamas to inquire as to the progress of the injured calf. Remember, he has not yet met Helen, let alone attended her father's calf.

 

Poster for the hilarious 1976 film "It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet"

All that would take place after James Herriot had spent an entire year serving the good people of Darrowby and those on nearby farms. As to whether Helen Alderson ever saw James Herriot in his pajamas before their marriage, all I can say is that it's not mentioned in the novel All Creatures Great And Small. 

That said, I suppose it could have been one of the bits edited out of the American compilation. If you're an insatiable James Herriot fan who needs to know the answer to that question, I can but point you to the original version of his second novel in the United Kingdom as It Shouldn't Happen To A Vet.

Dragon Dave

P.S. All photos from The World of James Herriot in Thirsk, England. To learn more about James Herriot's life, and see where he lived and worked, visit their website, https://worldofjamesherriot.com/

 

James Herriott on Tristan Farnon

The World of James Herriot, Thirsk, UK

 

In his novel All Creatures Great and Small, writer James Herriot paints an intriguing portrait of his younger colleague Tristan Farnon. Unlike in the 1970s TV series, we don't see his first arrival in town by train. Instead, Tristan hitchhikes his way home from veterinary college in Edinburgh.* When James picks him up at a cafe on the Great North Road, Tristan carries his own luggage out to the car, instead of expecting James to carry it. 

As in the TV series, Tristan gets on well with older folks. There are, for example, his fellow members of the Darrowby Bellringers Society. But there is also old Boardman, a character not featured in the TV series. 

The old man, a WWI veteran, serves as gardener for Siegfried. Although he's friendly with James, Tristan is the one whom he's most taken with. Perhaps it's the youthful high spirits that prompt Tristan to ride a bike through Skeldale House while performing his errands. 

 

The back garden of "Skeldale House"

 

I suspect that easygoing Tristan possesses vast stores of patience, and is a good listener. Old Boardman always welcomes Tristan into his little gardening headquarters, whereas, according to Herriot, few others are ever invited. There, surrounded by his tools and Bairnsfather cartoons, the veteran regales Tristan with his wartime adventures.

Tristan may be training to be a veterinarian, but he also loves to study personalities. When Siegfried strongarms him into caring for the chickens, he spectacularly fails to do so regularly enough to produce eggs. Yet on the occasions he does feed them, he studies them intensely, learning to distinguish each by sounds and mannerisms.

When Tristan is forced to feed the pigs Siegfried buys, he finds himself attracted to the piglets. Yet as they mature, and trade in their youthful personalities for increased girth and determination to consume, his affection for and interest in them wanes. Perhaps Tristan missed his calling as a psychologist?

Additionally, despite not always doing well at university, Tristan possesses a keen mind for facts. James Herriot finds it humiliating to do the daily newspaper at Skeldale House, as Tristan can finish them in the time it takes James to fill in one answer.

Actor Peter Davison (Tristan) visits the real "Skeldale House"**

All these little observations that James Herriot puts into his novel may not be at odds with the Tristan that we saw on our TV screens in the original All Creatures Great and Small series, but they do enhance our understanding of him. Or at least, the fictional character based on Brian Sinclair, as chronicled by James Herriot, the pen name of veterinarian Alf Wight. 

Perhaps sometime I'll have to watch the 2020 TV series, and see how they portray Tristan in the updated show.

Dragon Dave

*That's a 180 mile journey. Given the state of the roads back then, I wonder how long it would have taken him to reach Thirsk (Darrowby), and if he managed it in one day.

**Photo from The World of James Herriot, Thirsk, UK

Hello Norman Clegg, Farewell Star Trek Security Guards

Waiting for Norman Clegg to have tea with me

A year-and-a-half is a long time, but that's how long it's been since I've updated by Top Ten Blog Posts. "Catching a Glimpse of Norman Clegg," always a popular post, has since captured the number one position, and continues to attract new readers to The Dragon's Cache. Two others have not only clawed their way onto the list, but done so in style. "Jean and Lionel's House in As Time Goes By" has risen to number three, while "James Herriott Trivia II" has clawed its way to number five. Meanwhile, one-time favorites like "Looking For Alec and Zoe" and "Those Nameless Star Trek Security Guards" have fallen off the list. 

You can review the new standings by clicking the link to my page on the right hand side. 

It's interesting to note that, while I started this blog chiefly to discuss the books I read, three of my top five posts are about British TV shows. Even more interesting is that two of those three are comedies, which usually don't have the fan base of a drama or a science fiction series. Even a fan-favorite topic, such as discussing the woeful role of the security guard in the original "Star Trek", couldn't keep pace with two posts about comics, an interest that revived five years ago, and more than a year after I started The Dragon's Cache. Amazingly, two of my posts are just about me, my thoughts and experiences, unconnected with a TV series, or a novel or comic. I'm not sure what's made them so special to readers, but I'm glad they're still on the list.

Like I said, a year-and-a-half is a long time. Sometimes it's fun to revisit the past, and see where you used to be. I look forward to doing so in the future (perhaps not so long as eighteen months from now), and seeing how my popular posts reflects reader interest and real-life developments. 

Dragon Dave

The Problem with Indulgences: Part 1

When we travel to England, the hotels we stay in usually offer a free breakfast. So we fill up on breakfast, eat a decent lunch, and then go light for dinner. Here I am in Thirsk back in 2012, having breakfast before venturing off to explore the adopted town of James Herriot, which he calls Darrowby in his books. 

As you can see, I had a plate of eggs, bacon, and mushrooms, along with toast and tea. 

My wife opted for yogurt and oatmeal (which they call porridge), along with fruit, tea and toast. When it arrived, she helped remove all the bones from my kippers. The bones are just so tiny, so hair-thin, that she could see the fish bones better than I could.

All this good food left us feeling stuffed in the morning, and a little lethargic. But it didn't stop us from exploring "The World of James Herriot," (a museum housed in the building in which he lived and worked), and other notable Herriot sites. 

This year in Hawaii, I noticed that my sinuses felt plugged, and I had to breath through my mouth more. This made my voice hoarse. I also felt a little pressure in my chest, which worried me. When we returned home, these problems persisted. Catching a cold shortly after returning home didn't help matters. Finally my arm started hurting. My upper arm ached, as if I had pulled a muscle. Pins and needles descended into my lower arm, making my hand constantly want to fall asleep.

At this point, I finally gave in, and went to go see a doctor.

Dragon Dave

Oh, the Places We've Seen: Part 1

As we firm up our plans for this year's trip to England, it made me reflect on the special places we visited on our three previous trips, and I thought I'd share my thoughts with you.

One of those special places was Rye, where author E. F. Benson lived and set four of his Mapp & Lucia novels. A ten episode "Mapp & Lucia" miniseries was filmed there in 1985. It starred Geraldine McEwan as Lucia (who also played Agatha Christie's spinster-sleuth Miss Marple), Prunella Scales as Mapp (who also played Mrs. Fawlty in "Fawlty Towers") and Nigel Hawthorne as Georgie (who also played Sir Humphrey Appleby in "Yes Minister" & "Yes, Prime Minister"). I bought the first five episodes in a five VHS set many years ago, which were adapted from the fourth novel titled Mapp & Lucia (from which, of course, the book and TV series took its name). A handful of years later, I realized that I really enjoyed them, as I periodically pulled them out and watched them again. More years later, I came across a second series of five episodes on DVD, which were based on the fifth and six novels. Then I discovered the novels, Mapp & Lucia first, then the first novel Queen Lucia, and gradually accumulated the entire saga. After that, as I enjoyed reading those novels so much, I began looking around for other Benson novels to read. 

Anyway: Rye. It's a beautiful seaside town, and the tourists certainty fill it up on the weekends. We enjoyed walking the narrow, winding streets, and seeing all the locations that inspired Benson to write his stories, as well as those the film crews used for the miniseries. One unexpected discovery was that E. F. Benson isn't the biggest literary figure who lived in Rye. That honor belongs to American novelist Henry James (but I haven't read him yet, so he doesn't count. Yet). Benson moved into the house after James died, and according to all reports, acknowledged him as a literary icon. Recently, I've learned that the British film "Yellowbeard," which featured some of the Monty Python gang in addition to Cheech and Chong, shot some scenes on the idyllic, cobbled streets of this medieval town. That was a wacky, funny movie. I'll have to watch it again.

Another great place I visited was Holmfirth, where "Last of the Summer Wine," the world's longest-running sitcom, was filmed. It was so neat to walk the streets and the surrounding countryside, take the bus tour, and visit Sid's Cafe, wherein Compo Simmonite, Norman Clegg, and Foggy Dewhurst often ventured for a cup of tea, and usually received far more than they bargained for from Ivy, the proprietor (and Sid's wife). The ability to sit down there, and drink a cup of tea...it was just indescribable. Amazing.

Even better, we never got an earful from the proprietor.

To follow up our love of James Herriot's books, and the TV series "All Creatures Great and Small," we spent several days in Thirsk, where he lived and worked. Later, we stopped in beautiful Askrigg, where much of the fictional Darrowby was set. It was such a pretty little town, set in the Yorkshire Dales, that we had to return there for another visit.

You no doubt recall our visit to Brighton, where we attended the World Fantasy Convention, and saw one of my favorite Fantasy authors Terry Pratchett. That week will always be special to me, as I got to see him before he passed away earlier this year. Meeting and talking with Peter F Hamilton, K. W. Jeter, and Mary Robinette Kowal was also lots of fun.

Another attraction of Brighton was that it served as the setting for E. F. Benson's novel The Blotting Book. We enjoyed walking the streets he mentions in the novel, and taking buses and trains to see places farther from the hotel where crucial acts in his story took place. A really, really special visit.

What amazes me most is how much we've been able to tailor these trips to our interests using the information so readily available over the internet. Planning trips like these would have been much more difficult, if not impossible, ten or fifteen years ago. One of the reasons we weren't visiting England back then was because we had little incentive to go. But now, my wife and I can look up places of interest, read about the authors who lived there, map out potential routes and travel times, and book hotels, all while sitting on the couch with our laptops, comparing notes and ideas. We can also find books online, often for free, from authors that are mentioned as living or writing in places we will visit. Reading those books may give us an enhanced appreciation for the places we will visit, and suggest additions to our itinerary. Back then, I was angry that the airlines were downsizing their telephone operators, and forcing us to book tickets online. I missed the personal service and interaction, and saw it as an unwelcome dehumanizing aspect of technological innovation. Now, although we may be spending far longer planning our vacations, we're following up ideas as we think of them, and those discoveries lead us to other points of interest, and so on, and so forth, without needing to visit the library, pay a travel agent, or book spaces on a tour. As a result, we can fine-tune our trips to our interests far more effectively than we ever could have back then. 

There were good old days in the past, but today and tomorrow hold the truly Great New Days.

Dragon Dave

July 2013 in Review

While a few of "My Ten Most Popular Posts" have swapped positions, no new entries have climbed onto the list.  So, instead of listing the old numbers and positions for you, I thought I'd share with you the posts that generated the most interest in July.  (As always, I've listed the titles as links, so you can review any posts you might have missed).

Oscar Goldman.  Yeah, he's cool.

1. My Meeting with Oscar Goldman (40 Page Views).  I posted this last October, and it only got a few page views initially.  But people love the Bionic TV shows, and I'm glad some people found it, and shared it with their friends.  

2. James Herriot Trivia (36 Views).  I posted this back in June, but as it came well after I posted the rest of my James Herriot-themed entries, I think it took those readers awhile to find it.  

3. Daleks Versus Monsters (34 Views).  This was the most popular post for July.  This came as quite a surprise to me, as I had intended it as a lead-in to what I thought people would really get a kick out of, which was the appearance of Captain Skaro, the Dalek equivalent of Captain America.  (As it happened, Captain Skaro to the Rescue! fell below the Dalek average).  I guess it's just as well I never got into playing Poker.

4. Norman Clegg's TV House (28 Views).  Despite how Blogger continually juggles its Page View numbers (see My Ten Most Popular Posts for an explanation), it's rare that a month goes by without a few people checking out my post "Catching A Glimpse of Norman Clegg's House."  When a reader alerted me to the fact that the house Norman Clegg lived in during the production of the TV series "Last of the Summer Wine," I knew I had to return to Holmfirth and check it out.  Oh, it would be neat to live there.

5. C. J. Cherryh: Exceptional & Accessible (22 Views).  Meeting this Science Fiction luminary was a real treat.  I enjoyed my long chat with her at a convention, and we've corresponded once or twice since then. I really, really like her.  Obviously, other readers do too.

6. Understanding Kimi Raikkonen: Part 3 (22 Views).  This was one of a series I did last year, when I compared Kimi Raikkonen not only to other Formula One race car drivers, but also to test pilots of experimental aircraft.  This idea seems bizarre in retrospect, but if you never act on an idea other people might regard as crazy...well, maybe you're too busy playing Poker.

7. Pocket Dalek Knitting Pattern (20 Views).  People like my Dalek posts.  People like Daleks.  People obviously want to knit Daleks for their very own home.  What's even remotely crazy or bizarre about that?

8. Catching a Glimpse of Norman Clegg's House (17 Views).  See!  See!  See!

9. Indulging my Inner Cow with Superman (17 Views).  I suppose it's possible that people were interested in my review of the Superman movie "Man of Steel," but personally, I think they just liked seeing me in a funny outfit.

10.  Robert E. Howard's King Kull in Comics (16 Views).  It's amazing how high profile readers, critics, and historians continually denigrate Robert E. Howard's writing.  It's equally amazing how fans of his literary efforts usually denigrate adaptations of his stories and characters, particularly in comics.  But my Robert E. Howard comic-related posts get a fair number of views, usually in excess of my Dalek entries.  

Well, there you have it, what you and other readers found most interesting at The Dragon's Cache in July.  Thanks for reading, and recommending my posts to your friends.

Dragon Dave

James Herriot Trivia II

As with the British TV show “Last of the Summer Wine,” Yorkshire’s notoriously changeable weather saddled the production of “All Creatures Great and Small” with numerous problems.  Michael Hayes filmed one scene under a cloudy sky, only to have the sun blaze down when it came time to shoot the next.  So he ordered crew members to gather around, and hold their umbrellas over the camera, the actors, and the horses while filming.

In the commentary track for the episode “Pig in the Middle,” available on the third season DVD set, we learn that director Michael Hayes was used to conditions on a working farm, as he owned his own (horse) stud farm, and thus took the weather in his stride.  Carol Drinkwater, who played Helen Herriot in the show, also grew up on a farm, and so she was used to bundling up and sipping a little brandy to keep warm during cold, blustery days spent filming on Yorkshire fields, fells, and moors. 

Robert Hardy poses for me outside the real Skeldale House,
"The World of James Herriot" in Thirsk.

Robert Hardy, who played Siegfried Farnon, grew up on a farm in Ireland, and nature was such a part of his life that he didn’t shrink from sewing actual stitches into real living animals, as the actors did during the first few years of the program.  When asked about the first time he had seen a sheep deliver a baby lamb, he racked his brain, but simply couldn’t remember the first time he had seen this happen.  To him, such events were woven into the tapestry of his life. 

Watching his younger self riding horses brought Hardy a little sadness, as riding had given him great joy throughout his life.  But with the relentless march of years, he had finally decided to give up, due to the stresses on the body and the legal liabilities of the acting profession. 

The real Siegfried Farnon:
Donald Sinclair

He also missed Donald Sinclair, the man whom Alf Wight (writing as James Herriot) immortalized as Siegfried Farnon.  After the premature death of his first wife, Donald remarried eight years later.  Hardy met the veterinarian while working on the program and maintained a friendship with him until Sinclair’s death.  Every time Hardy thought of Donald, he remembered the vet’s second wife Audrey, and how devoted the couple had been to each other.  Apparently, they had never wanted to be apart, and couldn’t cross a room without holding hands.

Carl Drinkwater also spares a moment for me,
and my camera.

Carol Drinkwater left the program after a few years to take on larger roles. In order to record her commentary, she had flown in from her farm in France, where she grew olives, wrote books, and still acted when the right part came along.  She remembered all the dogs that tore around the studio sets of Skeldale House.  Two had been owned by John Nathan Turner, who served as Production Unit Manager for the first three seasons of "All Creatures Great and Small."  Like Drinkwater, Turner would also leave the series, in his case to become the producer of another great British TV show, “Doctor Who.”  There he employed notable directors like Michael Hayes.  But sadly, not the venerable actors Carol Drinkwater, or Robert Hardy.

Dragon Dave   

James Herriot's First Job

Dalek the Gray: Mr. Herriot, wake up!  The telephone is ringing!

James Herriot: A prolapsed what?  Oh, I really don't think I could--
Dalek the Gray: Of course you can.  Remember what Master Siegfried says: "If called upon, you must attend."  
James Herriot: But Mr. Farnon hasn't hired me.  I haven't even met him yet.
Dalek the Gray:  That is immaterial.  Immaterial!  Burn this into your brain, Mr. Herriot: If called upon, you must attend!  YOU MUST ATTEND!

Dalek the Gray: Here's the cow in pain.  Please hurry!
James Herriot: Oh, very well.  (Sighs)  You know, this really shouldn't happen to a vet.

Dragon Dave

Related Internet Links
The World of James Herriot

James Herriot Trivia

Included in the DVD release for the third season of “All Creatures Great and Small” is a commentary track for the episode “Pig in the Middle.”  The title of the episode is drawn not from an actual pig, but from a situation James finds himself in, where Siegfried and Tristan Farnon ask him to arbitrate over the matter of which brother will get to take a particular night off.  Both have good reasons why they should not have to remain home that evening in case a veterinarian’s skills are needed, and both are James’ close friends.  As he doesn’t wish to favor one over the other, James decides that neither should benefit, and both should cancel their plans and remain at home that evening.  Needless to say, neither Siegfried or Tristan is satisfied with his ruling.

Providing commentary was Michael Hayes, the director of the episode, Carol Drinkwater, who played James’ wife Helen, and Robert Hardy, who portrayed James’ senior partner Siegfried Farnon.  I found their commentary informative and delightful, and thought I would share some snippets with you.

When producer Bill Sellars approached Robert Hardy about the part, he sent him the first two books Alf Wight had written under the name James Herriot.  These were American editions, as the Herriot books first gained popularity there.  Hardy read the first, All Creatures Great and Small, which was a compilation of two shorter books originally published in England.  While Hardy found the stories “enchanting,” he called Sellars and said, “I don’t know how you’ll make a TV show out of this. You’ll bore the cities and enrage the country.”

Farms in Darbyshire

Nor was Hardy particularly wowed by Sellars’ initial decision to film the series in Darbyshire, another portion of England from James Herriot’s beloved Yorkshire.  While Darbyshire was closer to London, would have simplified production, and saved costs, Hardy saw the landscape as completely different, and the idea disrespectful to the author and his stories.  He told Sellars that either the TV series would be shot in Yorkshire, or he would have nothing to do with it. 

Darbyshire Cow: "C'mon Hardy, be reasonable!"

Yorkshire cows outside Askrigg: "Stick by your convictions, Robert!"

The locals had mixed feelings about the production.  Many people enjoyed it, and one town even demanded that their rector change the time of the Sunday morning services so they could get home in time to watch the program.  Carol Drinkwater remembered that the couple who owned the house in Askrigg that doubled for Skeldale House later sold it for far above its market value.  And, as people began to visit remote locals such as Askrigg which the production used for James Herriot’s fictional Darrowby, many of the houses located at the center of such villages were converted into shops, restaurants, and vacation cottages.  During the fourth through seventh seasons, which were filmed several years after the third, Robert Hardy fainted on a particularly hot summer day.  The doctor who attended him said that, while he didn’t particularly mind being called out, he wasn’t happy about doing so for them, as they had made his beloved region into a tourist attraction.

Skeldale House in Askrigg: A tourist attraction?
Never!

The weather changed dramatically during our visit to Yorkshire, from cold, rainy days to hot and sunny weather.  Thankfully, I never fainted.

Dragon Dave