All Creatures Great and Small: Comfort and Joy
7:50 pm - 9:00 pm, Friday, December 26 on 5SELECT (46)
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About this Broadcast
Comfort and Joy
Season 1, Episode 1
It's Christmas 1945, the first peacetime Christmas after the war and, with Helen feeling under the weather, it's fallen on James to take on the Darrowby Nativity play. That's not all that James has on his mind, as he fears it's the end of the road for Tricki's hopes of fatherhood and dreads telling Mrs Pumphrey, while Siegfried is back at Mrs Stokes' farm to see Hilda the goat, who's been up to more mischief. As the big day approaches, Mrs Hall becomes interested in the Drovers' darts competition, because the first prize is a turkey, and Maggie reminds Tristan that he's supposed to be supplying the Christmas tree
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audio-description
Historical/Period Drama
Literary Adaptation
Movie/Drama
Cast & Crew
Nicholas Ralph
(Actor)
.. James Herriot
Samuel West
(Actor)
.. Siegfried Farnon
Anna Madeley
(Actor)
.. Mrs Audrey Hall
Rachel Shenton
(Actor)
.. Helen Herriot
Callum Woodhouse
(Actor)
.. Tristan Farnon
Patricia Hodge
(Actor)
.. Mrs Pumphrey
Thomas Riches
(Actor)
.. Jimmy Herriot
Isabella Ward
(Actor)
.. Rosie Herriot
Gaia Wise
(Actor)
.. Charlotte Beauvoir
Susan Hilton
(Actor)
.. Mrs Stokes
Ralph Falkingham
(Actor)
.. Bobby Ainsley
Libby Falkingham
(Actor)
.. Lucy Ainsley
Mollie Winnard
(Actor)
.. Maggie
Maimie McCoy
(Actor)
.. Dorothy
Colin Callender
(Executive producer)
Melissa Gallant
(Executive producer)
Sharon Moran
(Executive producer)
Alexis Hood
(Executive producer)
Neil Jones
(Writer)
Damian Wayling
(Writer)
Andy Hay
(Director)
More Information
Did You Know..
Nicholas Ralph
(Actor)
.. James Herriot
Samuel West
(Actor)
.. Siegfried Farnon
Born:
June 19, 1966
in
London
Best Known For:
His roles in Howards End and Hornblower.
Early-life:
Samuel Alexander Joseph West was born in south London on June 19, 1966, to thespians Prunella Scales and Timothy West. He has a younger brother, Joe, and an older half-sister, Juliet, from his father's first marriage. His childhood was spent either at home with his mother or visiting his father on location around the globe. His parents discouraged him from becoming an actor, and at first it seemed their ploy worked when he concentrated on studying science at school. He planned to study physics at Oxford University, but switched to English.
Career:
West had a small part in TV series Nanny when he was 13, but didn't become hooked on acting until appearing with Oxford University's theatre group. He went on to appear in a TV adaptation of the Chronicles of Narnia as Prince Caspian, but 1992's Howards End was his big break, earning him a Bafta nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Since then he's appeared in A Feast at Midnight, Carrington, Persuasion, Jane Eyre, Stiff Upper Lips, Hornblower, Iris, and Van Helsing. He also starred in the critically acclaimed play ENRON in 2009 and alongside his father in Caryl Churchill's two-hander A Number, in 2011. In 2012 he appeared as grumpy angel Zac Gist in ITV1's fantasy drama Eternal Law. More recently he featured in Hyde Park on Hudson and Mr Selfridge.
Quote:
"The problem with being fashionable is you become unfashionable."
Trivia:
In 2005 West became the artistic director of Sheffield Theatres, eventually leaving two years later when the city's Crucible was closed for refurbishment. He's also directed a number of plays.
Anna Madeley
(Actor)
.. Mrs Audrey Hall
Rachel Shenton
(Actor)
.. Helen Herriot
Callum Woodhouse
(Actor)
.. Tristan Farnon
Patricia Hodge
(Actor)
.. Mrs Pumphrey
Born:
September 29, 1946
in
Cleethorpes
Best Known For:
Playing a string of stand-offish, English upper-crust characters.
Early-life:
Patricia Ann Hodge was born in Cleethorpes on September 29, 1946. She was brought up in a hotel in nearby Grimsby, where her father was the manager. She got fed up with eating posh food, when all she wanted was bangers and mash. She spent rainy Sundays roller skating in the hotel's empty ballroom. Acting was not her first love. She trained to be a teacher and taught for a while before treading the boards.
Career:
Hodge's first acting job was playing a 37-year-old tart and old-age pensioner in alternate scenes of the same play. She is one of the few actresses to win critical regard, despite spending the bulk of her career in commercial theatre and TV. She played a ballet teacher in acclaimed Quentin Crisp biopic The Naked Civil Servant and also appeared in The Elephant Man. Other memorable TV roles include Rumpole of the Bailey, Jemima Short Investigates, The Life and Loves of a She Devil, and Rich Tea and Sympathy. Film roles include the Harold Pinter drama Betrayal, Bruce Willis flop Sunset and Julie Walters drama Before You Go. She played Margaret Thatcher in controversial drama The Falklands Play and stripped to the basics in the hit West End production of Calendar Girls. Her recent work has included playing Miranda Hart's mother in the comedienne's hit sitcom Miranda.
Quote:
"I didn't choose late motherhood: it chose me. The best time to have children is in your thirties. The only good thing about doing it in your forties is that by then you know yourself, have nothing to prove, and you've come to terms with your shortcomings."
Trivia:
Hodge is joint president of Grimsby's Caxton Theatre.
Thomas Riches
(Actor)
.. Jimmy Herriot
Isabella Ward
(Actor)
.. Rosie Herriot
Gaia Wise
(Actor)
.. Charlotte Beauvoir
Susan Hilton
(Actor)
.. Mrs Stokes
Ralph Falkingham
(Actor)
.. Bobby Ainsley
Libby Falkingham
(Actor)
.. Lucy Ainsley
Mollie Winnard
(Actor)
.. Maggie
Maimie McCoy
(Actor)
.. Dorothy
Best Known For:
The Musketeers.
Early-life:
Born Mary McCoy in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, in 1980 to Eugene and Barbara, Maimie studied performing arts at London Metropolitan University.
Career:
McCoy has guest starred in Doctors, Waking the Dead, Taggart, The Bill and Endeavour. Her first leading role was in the 2009 BBC Three comedy drama Personal Affairs. She also starred in Victoria Wood's one-off drama Loving Miss Hatto. Her big break came in 2014 when she began portraying Milady de Winter in BBC drama The Musketeers.
Quote:
"Milady is bold and brazen and that is not me. But that's the fun bit - becoming someone else."
Trivia:
In the mid-1990s, her father became a minor celebrity as a guest judge on MasterChef.
Colin Callender
(Executive producer)
Melissa Gallant
(Executive producer)
Sharon Moran
(Executive producer)
Alexis Hood
(Executive producer)
Neil Jones
(Writer)
Damian Wayling
(Writer)
Andy Hay
(Director)
