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) mixed blessing. "After I did "All Creatures", it was eight years before I acted on television again," he recalled. "I remember once going to see my agent and, going up the stairs to his office, hearing him screaming down the phone: 'He's not a vet, he's a bloody actor!'" "I asked Pete [Davison] once, 'How is it that you go from one role to the other and I can't get arrested on television?' He said, 'Because I didn't play James Herriot...' I think there's an element of truth in that." "It was a big slice of my career, for which