James Herriot is the pen name of James Alfred Wight, OBE, FRCVS also known as Alf Wight, an English veterinary surgeon and writer. Wight is best known for his semi-autobiographical stories, often referred to collectively as All Creatures Great and Small, a title used in some editions and in film and television adaptations.

Wight, Jim. 2000. The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of My Father. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-42151-7 The All Creatures Great and Small franchise consists of a series of books, movies, and TV series based on books written by James Alfred Wight under the pen name James Herriot based on his experiences as a veterinary surgeon. [1] The books have been adapted for film and television, including a 1975 film All Creatures Great and Small, followed by the 1976 It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet sequel, as well as a long-running BBC television programme of the same title, and a prequel series in 2011, Young James Herriot. All Creatures Great and Small season 2 release date: cast, plot, and latest news". Radio Times. 23 February 2021 . Retrieved 26 February 2021. set in 1938 Blow, John (18 October 2019). "First look as Yorkshire Dales market town is transformed for All Creatures Great and Small reboot". The Yorkshire Post . Retrieved 23 February 2020.New Appointment to the Main Board of the World of James Herriot Ltd". Harrogate News. 15 September 2020 . Retrieved 1 March 2021. the appointment of John Gallery onto their main board ... joins the board following the recent appointment of Kate Pawlett, centre manager as a director As always, James Herriot’s quaint little stories of life as a veterinarian in long ago England offered a pleasant, easy-read escape from the real world. Rolling hills, English accents, darling animals up the wazoo, and an occasional bloody medical scene to keep things interesting… You really couldn’t ask for a better take-a-break-from-everything book. While waiting for his RAF call-up Wight continued work as a rural vet, tending to ailing cows in the middle of air raids. (Or trying to, according to letters he wrote.) Donald Sinclair, the model for the character Siegfried Farnon (played in the Channel 5 adaptation by Samuel West), was about to begin his own RAF service and wanted to leave his practice in capable hands. Wight and Sinclair teamed up, but in the early days they were often separated by stints serving their country. (Or trying to; neither made it as a fighter pilot.) charlottelarson (30 November 2020). " "Big and Small of All Creatures": Channel 5, PBS Updates Season 2 Series". New York News Times . Retrieved 23 January 2021.

In his books, Wight calls the town where he lives and works Darrowby, which he based largely on the towns of Thirsk and Sowerby. He also renamed Donald Sinclair and his brother Brian Sinclair as Siegfried and Tristan Farnon, respectively. Wight's books are only partially autobiographical. Many of the stories are only loosely based on real events or people, and thus can be considered primarily fiction. James Herriot Biography". Biography.com. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012 . Retrieved 5 December 2015. In 1939, at the age of 23, he qualified as a veterinary surgeon with Glasgow Veterinary College. In January 1940, he took a brief job at a veterinary practice in Sunderland, but moved in July to work in a rural practice based in the town of Thirsk, Yorkshire, close to the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors, where he was to remain for the rest of his life. The original practice is now a museum, "The World of James Herriot". All Creatures Great and Small: Who was the real James Herriot". Irish Times/New York Times . Retrieved 3 March 2021. All Things Bright and Beautiful (1974) (incorporating Let Sleeping Vets Lie and Vet in Harness) ISBN 0-330-25580-0To the rear of the house you’ll find the tranquil gardens featuring the recent addition of the Alf Wight Statue created by the celebrated sculptor and artist Sean Hedges-Quinn (whose previous client’s include Alf’s beloved Sunderland Football Club). The Foldyard (described as an enclosure for sheep or cattle) houses a collection of primitive-looking hand tools in everyday use in farms before machinery appeared. In the hands of skilled workers, however, these tools were most effective. The Foldyard provides an authentic setting for visitors to watch an exclusive short film of Alf Wight, his family and friends and the cast of All Creatures Great and Small.

All Creatures Great and Small: Nicholas Ralph with Rachel Shenton, who plays Helen Alderson. Photograph: Ed Miller/Playground/Channel 5 A bizarre love triangle

The Austin Seven Car from ‘It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet’

Herriot paints a lovely picture of a time that's now long gone. I wonder what he would have made of modern industrial farming, without the space for the eccentrics and smallholders that populated the dales in the first half of the 20th century and who Herriot describes so lovingly. While I certainly wouldn't have wanted to live in that period (or, indeed, any period without modern medicine and a decent Wi-Fi connection), I can be slightly sad that we've lost something as we've modernised. Wight changed names, genders and other identifying features to protect the innocent (and his own reputation), but his son insists that the vast majority of the cases and clients in his books were based on real people (and animals). People didn’t always recognise themselves. One client, Mrs Bush, told Wight she had taken delight in a chapter “about that man and his pigs”, not realising that she had been the source. By 2020, the series of books featuring James Herriot had sold some 60 million copies. [2] In that year, the next television production was aired, All Creatures Great and Small. The programme, produced for Channel 5 in the UK and PBS in the United States, was renewed for a second set of episodes, [3] and then a third and fourth season. [4] Books [ edit ]