All Creatures Great and Small (franchise) "James Herriot", and are set in the fictional town of "Darrowby", based on a combination of Thirsk, Richmond, Leyburn and Middleham.. In the books James Herriot work with fellow veterinary surgeons, Siegfried and Tristan Farnon, based on real-life counterparts, "Donald Sinclair" and his brother "Brian Sinclair" respectively. Wight also used the name "Helen Alderson" for his wife, Joan Danbury. In America the books were collected as pairs into omnibus volumes, as the publisher felt they were too short to publish independently. The title chosen for the first book in the series "All Creatures Great and Small" (and subsequently one of
All Creatures Great and Small (TV series) 1995, eight months after the author's death. In 2003, Timothy, Hardy, Carol Drinkwater and Lynda Bellingham appeared together on "Stars Reunited". Due to having other commitments, Peter Davison could not be present. Also briefly joining them, and host Dale Winton, on the couch was Jack Watkinson, MRCVS, the Yorkshire vet with whom Timothy worked with a week prior to the filming of the series. Timothy has stated that, for him, it was the best week of the whole series. "I did seriously feel, with all humility, that when I turned up to start filming: 'I'm sort of equipped for this.'"