5/5
Carols, roaring fires, and a kiss under the mistletoe all made for a perfect Christmas visit to Darrowby
22 December 2020 • 10:25pm
Samuel West, Anna Madeley, Nicholas Ralph and Callum Woodhouse
Credit: Channel 5
The Christmas spirit has been difficult to locate this year. Nothing was working for me. Not the Christmas lights on my local high street. Not Magic FM’s decision to replace its entire playlist with Christmas songs, beginning in November. And definitely not the M&S Christmas advert with Olivia Colman (Olivia, why would anyone want edible gold leaf in their drink?) or anything else on television, for that matter.
There’s been one nagging frustration blighting this year’s successful reboot of All Creatures Great And Small, one of TV’s most cherished shows. Why are vet James Herriot and farmer’s daughter Helen Alderson still only friends?
They’ve been pussyfooting around each other like lovesick teenagers since James first clapped eyes on Helen in a muddy farmyard in episode one, with neither revealing their true feelings.
In the original BBC version in the 1970s, James and Helen (played by Christopher Timothy and Carol Drinkwater) were married halfway through series one, and many of this revival’s five million viewers (a record audience for a drama on Channel 5) have been wondering why TV history hasn’t repeated itself.
Wed, December 16 10:17am
Rachel Shenton reveals all about the festive drama in store in Channel 5 vet drama All Creatures Great and Small
Wedding bells are ringing in the All Creatures Great and Small Christmas Special on Channel 5. The period drama finds Helen (Rachel Shenton) on tenterhooks at Skeldale House’s Christmas Eve party as she prepares to marry Hugh Hulton (Matthew Lewis) the following day. But vet James (Nicholas Ralph) is still trying to hide his feelings for her…
We caught up with Rachel Shenton to find out more about the All Creatures Great and Small Christmas Special…
Tell us about the festive episode…