James Herriot vet, Peter Wright worked with Alf Wight at Skeldale House; years later, his work was featured on a multi-season television series on Channel 5 (UK), "The Yorkshire Vet". In his books, Wight calls the town in which Herriot lives and works Darrowby, a composite of Thirsk, Richmond, Leyburn and Middleham. He also renamed Donald Sinclair and his brother Brian Sinclair as Siegfried and Tristan Farnon respectively, and used the name "Helen Alderson" for Joan Danbury. Contrary to popular belief, Wight's books are only partially autobiographical, with many of the stories being only loosely based on real events or people. Wight's
All Creatures Great and Small (TV series) and I wanted to do them," he explained in 2016. "I'd miss the second half of series 5 because of "A Very Peculiar Practice" and series 6 I missed because I was doing "Campion". I was incredibly lucky to move onto the things I did. There was no plan to it; it's just good fortune, being in the right place at the right time. But in the end, when I'd finished "Campion" and "A Very Peculiar Practice", "All Creatures" was still going and I never had any problem coming back." Helen Herriot (née Alderson) is played by Carol Drinkwater in