All Creatures Great and Small Series 4: Star cast returns without Tristan actor Callum Woodhouse - but new vet Richard Carmody joins the team

But fans will be disappointed to learn that Callum Woodhouse will not be appearing in the new series because his character, Tristan Farnan, is away serving in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps.

To fill the void, a new character, studious student vet Richard Carmody, played by James Anthony-Rose (Slow Horses, Pennyworth), will arrive at Skeldale House when All Creatures Great and Small returns in the autumn.

Filming is currently underway in the Yorkshire Dales, centred around Grassington, which is used for Darrowby and the exterior of Skeldale House, the vets’ practice and home in All Creatures Great and Small. Fans from across the world have been gathering in the village to watch the production, with many hoping to catch a glimpse of Callum Woodhouse, to no avail, although some were intrigued to spot a new character, now confirmed to be Richard Carmody. Channel 5 points out that Tristan’s absence is in line with the original books by James Herriot.

Based on the stories by best-selling author James Herriot (real-life Thirsk vet Alf Wight), season four of All Creatures Great and Small picks up in 1940 as Churchill takes office and Europe is under severe threat. There will be six new 60-minute episodes, plus a Christmas Special.

James (Nicholas Ralph, who recently starred in The Most Reluctant Convert) is now happily married to Helen Herriot, played by Rachel Shenton (recently seen in Channel 5 drama For Her Sins). Samuel West returns as capricious head vet Siegfried Farnon while Anna Madeley is back as Mrs Hall, housekeeper and matriarch of Skeldale House. Patricia Hodge also reprises her role as the wonderful Mrs Pumphrey, alongside pampered Pekingese Tricki-Woo.

The Christmas episode was filmed recently, like last year in swelteringly hot conditions. Fans visiting the location were also looking for signs of a new baby, reporting that areas surrounding James and Helen were screened off from view.

Channel 5, production company Playground and MASTERPIECE on PBS have today also announced that the season four cast will include Sheffield-born actor Tony Pitts as Helen’s father Richard Alderson and young Harrogate actor Imogen Clawson as Jenny Alderson.

Will Thorp returns as Gerald, and fans will be intrigued to find out whether or not romance continues to blossom between him and Mrs Hall. Cleo Sylvestre MBE will return as Anne Chapman, while Paul Copley, James Bolam MBE and Sam Retford will also appear.

Neve McIntosh (Shetland) joins the cast as efficient bookkeeper Miss Harbottle, who will no doubt have her work cut out trying to keep Siegfried and his eccentric billing system in order.

James Alfred Wight was a veterinary surgeon who graduated from Glasgow Veterinary College at the age of 23 and headed to Thirsk, Yorkshire, in 1940 where he fell in love with the Dales and the woman he would marry, Joan Danbury. She later encouraged Wight to write the stories based on his own adventures, and so it was that James Herriot quickly became one of Britain’s best-loved authors. Never out of print, the All Creatures Great and Small books have sold 60 million copies internationally.

In April, Samuel West took a break from filming to visit The World of James Herriot museum in Thirsk, where he met up with the author’s real-life children Jim Wight and Rosie Page, who last year published a book celebrating the words and tales of their father, called The Wonderful World of James Herriot, a collection of favourite stories taken from all eight of the vet novels, interwoven with background and insight as to what happened in real life to inspire the penned work.

Both Rosie and Jim still live in and around Thirsk. Rosie told The Yorkshire Post in an article last year that her father’s stories still make her laugh and lift her up. “He was a genius with words,” she said.

Siegfried and Tristan were based on Alf’s real-life fellow vets Donald Sinclair and younger brother Brian, who were a constant presence in Rosie and Jim’s young life. They called Donald and his wife “Uncle Donald and Auntie Audrey”, a fact that will excite many fans of Channel 5’s remake of All Creatures Great and Small. Some might also be surprised to learn that Donald was just five years older than Alf and Brian.

Returning for a fourth series is executive producer Ben Vanstone who will write the Christmas special. Writer Jamie Crichton also returns, this time as lead writer with writers Maxine Alderton and Helen Raynor.

Series three aired in 2023, averaging 3.8 million viewers, and an 18 per cent TV audience share, making Channel 5 the most popular terrestrial channel during that slot while All Creatures Great and Small was on air. Sir Colin Callender CBE, executive producer and CEO of Playground, said: “We are thrilled to be back in the glorious Yorkshire Dales for a fourth season of family, community and, of course, animal hijinks. Our wonderful cast and crew are all delighted to be returning to adapt more of James Herriot’s joyful and life-affirming stories.”

Paul Testar, commissioning editor, Drama, Channel 5 and Paramount+, said: “All Creatures Great and Small is one of the highlights of our year and we are eager to return to the glorious Yorkshire Dales this autumn. We can’t wait to welcome some new additions to our stellar cast for series 4.”