Nicholas Ralph in his co-stars of all creatures, best moments

It’s easy to see why All creatures large and small it charmed critics this winter as it followed the gentle adventures of the newly formed Scottish veterinarian James Herriot, who got a job with hard-but-tender animal surgeon Siegfried Farnon, and a low-risk drama follows in 1930 Yorkshire, England. The novice vet, played by Nicholas Ralph,
treats sick cattle (Mr Rudd’s raped cow), equines (Mr Shaw’s horse with an abscess), canines (Mrs Pumphrey’s exaggerated Pekingese) and felines (Mrs Dinsdale’s almost neutered cat) in the farming community of Darrowby.

Ralph himself is also new to the medium – the series is the newly formed Scottish theater’s first TV role. Talking to Vulture about the first season, which ends its US showing on the PBS Masterpiece tonight with a Christmas special that aired in the UK in December, he says James Alfred “Alf” Wight’s semi-autobiographical books (pseudonym of James Herriot) on which the show is based were his “gospel” during filming. Talking from London, where he was quarantined before returning to Yorkshire to shoot in March, Ralph revealed how far the production went – veterinary training, shooting live births – to accurately portray “the stars of the show”, the animals. He also explains how the series diverges from the first book when it comes to the promotion of James and Helen leaving Hugh at the altar.

Note: Extremely discreet spoilers for the first season of All creatures large and small ahead.

I read that the cast did veterinary training with the series’ veterinary consultant before filming.
Yes, we did – me, Callum [Woodhouse]and Rachel [Shenton]. Sam [West] couldn’t do that, and did it the other day. Immediately with our veterinary consultant Andy Barrett, we were very close to horses, sheep, going through procedures and things that we would be doing. Learn how to approach the animal and everything. Using the stethoscope on the cow’s heart, then on the lungs and then on the stomach: you do this type of triangle as an initial exam.

For the horse [abscess] in episode one … we went to these stables and a huge racehorse is standing there. [Andy explained] that the horse owner and runs the stables used to be a farrier. But he doesn’t do that anymore because once when he was working on one of the horse’s hooves, the horse actually fell on him and broke his spine. That was before we went through the same thing with the horse – raising the hoof between the legs. So I thought, “Andy, choose your time when you tell me your stories”. [Laughs.]

Rachel looks so convincing with the huge bull that she played Clive.
When we were filming that scene [in episode two], I was on top of the wall – and I was very happy to be [there]. The bull turned 180 degrees and left. I was shocked and almost fell off the wall because I thought, Well, he will never come back. And sure enough, Rachel led him by the halter, and [brought] he returned. And this is the plug that we ended up using. She handled it so well. You would never know that she met that bull just hours before.

What was the most complicated thing to do? You talked about the scene where James is kicked twice by the horse with the abscess. Am I assuming it was a stunt double?
That was probably one of the most complicated, to be honest. Since the animals are very well trained, the kick was always at a similar distance, so my stuntman did that. And then I said to the guys in the production [that] I thought I could do it: “Let me in and I’ll try”. And I managed to set the time very well, and that’s what they used. So, I was really delighted with that.

Are you really? Do security and insurance personnel allow this to happen?
That’s me, yes. The director really thought I got kicked in the face, so that was a good sign. I think there’s also a bit of a camera trick, as it was a very useful angle. Therefore, the distance is not as close as one might expect.

There are a lot of scenes where James sticks his bare arm inside cows, horses and dogs. You are even shirtless when James diagnoses Hugh’s racehorse, Andante. Was that the standard procedure?
Yes, you are right there. Now [vets have] a long sleeve that covers the entire arm, going to the shoulder. Alf Wight as James Herriot says in the book that it’s funny that when giving birth to a calf, the distance [to it] it’s just an inch longer than your arm. So you are really reaching out. But yes, in the 1930s, it was sleeveless and shirtless.

It was your first time filming, and you worked with the legendary Diana Rigg, in what turned out to be one of your final roles. Were you nervous or intimidated?
It was a treat. Any nervousness you may have had before the date was completely washed away when you did, because she was so adorable to talk to and easy to live with. She still had a sparkle in her eyes, you know, a real wicked sense of humor. But she also kept everyone alert. I remember a scene – so we’re at the mansion filming, and Callum and I are walking in. And it is far away because these rooms are so big. [Laughs.] And she said [imitates Rigg], “Oh come on, let’s go. Can’t we make this entry a little shorter? My soul is on the floor. [Laughs heartily.] So I think Callum and I ran in. [Laughs.] Any moment like that, any lull in a scene, she was right.

How did she do with Derek the Pekingese? And will Mrs. Pumphrey be reformed?
She got on so well with little Derek. I find it difficult not to do that because he is so placid. Basically a scene stealer too. You have to be alert when you’re working with little Derek because no one is looking at you.

I do not know [about recasting]. Mrs. Pumphrey is a brilliant character and is present in all books. There are some great stories, especially in the second book [when] she gets a pig called Nugent that causes all kinds of confusion.

Much of the show’s charm is the chemistry of the cast. Were there any surprising or particularly memorable moments during the shoot? Perhaps during all those meal scenes at the Skeldale house?
We were doing a breakfast scene, and it was close to breakfast time. Sam loves black pudding – black pudding is his favorite. So he asked for good help. I think he was very hungry, so he ate a lot. But, of course, we have to do shot after shot after shot. I think in the end, he was sick to the back of black pudding.

When you’re shooting in the Yorkshire Dales during the fall and winter, you can get a few long, cold, dark days. [Laughs.] So, we really kept each other up. The top five teams there all the time – Sam, Anna [Madeley], Rachel, Callum and me [would] go out to dinner and go out on weekends.

You didn’t really drive old cars, right?
I have to drive [both] the big blue and the Rover hood. There were only a few times when we used the charger. I remember driving the blue car for the first time because the only time I saw a gearshift like [that was] the old school bus that used to take my brother and me to school when we were kids. This [has] a long, thin pull with a small button at the top. When in neutral or in gear, it would swing from side to side so much in either direction, so you never really knew when it was in gear or not. Just finding a gear … you would just throw it in all the general directions and wait for something to catch. And the brakes, the pads are made of wood. Then, you would hit the brake hard and end up stopping somewhere along the way. [Laughs.] So it took a little getting used to. But then, when you got used to it, it was a great joy to drive it, and you couldn’t get me out of it even when we were restarting the cars.

In the final episode, Suzy’s newborn puppies of the Chapman dog look real. What were you holding on to when James is trying to bring the first to life?
In fact, it was a prosthetic puppy. I had to hold it in a very strange way because my little finger had to wag its tail while I manipulated the upper body to make it squirm and look alive. [Laughs.] But they were real puppies there with Suzy. This was filmed separately and then displayed on a green screen. They found a pregnant dog and filmed her giving birth in documentary style. When Rachel and I read the script, we thought, “Oh, brilliant – let’s spend the day with puppies”. And then we got there, and there was only one prosthesis. [Laughs.]

This also happened with calf calving. There was a documentary team with a pregnant cow, and they delivered the entire delivery. And we use it intertwined with me and a prosthesis. Again, I could never see the beautiful baby animal. [Laughs.]

When James and Helen are together, he starts to tell her how he feels, but stops. Instead of going home for Christmas, he turns the Rover … to do what? Would he try to stop the marriage?
I think he is in a constant battle of heart and mind. He has these deep feelings for Helen bursting out of it. But he’s keeping a grip on that because he wants to be the good guy too. He wants to do the right thing. Hugh is not a bad guy. What would it be like if he told Helen [he loves her] the night before your wedding? That’s what he says when he finally arrives at the church: “Something inside said I should be here”. Maybe he just had this burning hope that she wouldn’t continue with this.

Siegfried promotes James to senior vet after he successfully performed surgery on Mr. Rudd’s Strawberry cow in episode six. So, maybe he’ll let you down next season?
[Laughs.] Siegfried being Siegfried, I don’t see him taking a back seat in any way or form. But yes, he has more responsibility now. So I hope he gets a little more confidence … Of course, James and Helen get married at the end of the first book. But with our adaptation, things have obviously changed slightly.

Seriously, did all the good things happen at once?
Yeah, I think he almost got promoted because Siegfried kind of made a little joke like, “Well, you’re married now. You will have to raise more money than I am paying with your current salary, so I will promote you. ”It’s his way of taking care of James, as well as having a lot of respect for [him] and your work ethic.