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 (film) the book it was highly hypocritical, as Siegfried himself had earlier told James that he was 'spoiling' the farmers by coming out at all hours. Filming started in Yorkshire in May 1974, in the village of Pickering in North Riding. Studio work was done in London. Ward said "The roughest thing was putting a hand up a pregnant mare... for the film I had to do it again and again." The film's incidental music was by Wilfred Josephs. Having passed the British censors in September 1974, the film wasn't released until 9 May 1975, when it opened in London at