All Creatures Great and Small's Rachel Shenton on the Pressures of Adapting a Beloved Classic
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If there’s a silver lining to be found during lockdown, Rachel Shenton is seeking it out. Speaking with me by phone on New Year’s Eve—naturally, she “didn’t have plans”—the All Creatures Great and Small actress says that despite the dire circumstances of an ongoing pandemic, she has found “moments of joy” in “jumping off the hamster wheel.”
“There's been peaks and troughs,” she says, “I think when we first locked down back in March, it really felt like the holiday I didn't know I needed. I got back into cooking and reading; I really like the peace that came with it, and I took it as a bit of a blessing. But then there are the times where you just want to see your family, and they're tough, but they're tough for everyone.”
Shenton, who, in addition to acting, is an Academy Award-winning screenwriter and an advocate for the hearing impaired, has also found more time to work on both of those passions in quarantine.
“I don't want to say too much about what I'm writing at the moment, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to talk about it in the not too distant future,” she says. “And I'm grateful for that. I think you have to find the positives. That's what you have to do.”
For many, her show All Creatures Great and Small, which is based on the beloved books of James Herriot has been one of those bright spots during this difficult time. Gentle and funny and centered around community, it follows a young veterinarian as he joins a farming village in the English countryside. Here, Shenton reflects on why people are so drawn to the show right now and the pressures of adapting an iconic British story.
All Creatures Great and Small feels like a such a nice show to watch right now. What has the reaction been like so far? And do you think it will have a different reception in the US than the UK?
I hope people in the U.S. enjoy it. It's a quintessentially British show, and it's about a part of Britain that we haven't seen as much on television. We've seen the posher side, if you will, with the lords and the ladies and the manors, but this is a very real portrayal of Britain and of people's lives. It's more of a working class angle, and I think ultimately these stories are so rich in togetherness and compassion and community.
In 1937, these people worked on small holdings, small farms where if one cow went down, that would really have huge economical impacts on the whole family for maybe a month or two. That was a really tough time to live. And you relied on togetherness as the village and the community of the people. And I think that's never felt more relevant than now.
The town of Darrowby is fictional, but it’s located within a real region in England. How would you describe the Yorkshire Dales?
If you haven't seen the Yorkshire Dales portrayed before, you're in for a treat because it really is a character within itself. We actually filmed in a place called Grassington, which was transformed into our Darrowby—and it was a perfect Darrowby—but we also shot in and around the Dales.
The Dales are miles and miles of beautiful, undulating countryside, and sometimes we'd stand on set and I'd just look around, and the Dales were there looking breathtaking, and I thought it doesn't really matter what I'm doing. I'm certain no one's looking at me right now because it's really, really peaceful and it's unspoiled. It's a part of England that hasn't got as much attention as it should really, so I think you're in for a treat.
Did you feel pressure going into this role because the books and the original television program are so beloved?
I was aware of the series. It was before my time, so I'd never seen it, but I knew it was a success. My mum watched it and some of my family, so there's always that idea of ‘Oh, goodness, these are quite big boots to fill.’
And then, I'd read one of the books out of order, years ago, so I kind of knew about the world, but obviously I re-read the books in order this time when this part came up and just fell in love with the world that Alf Wight created. But I think there's always pressure. There's absolutely pressure because it was so loved.
It was quite funny. When we were filming in the Dales, which is obviously synonymous with the story, everybody knows that the writer Alf Wight was from there. All his family were from there, the story was set there, and everything. People are very fond of it in that area. And when we were filming, all the locals in the villages were supporting us so much. We couldn't have done it without them, but it always came with a caveat of like, ‘Don't mess this up, guys.’ So we really felt that there was a collective pressure. Everybody felt it—the art department, design, directors, writers, makeup—so we shared the burden.
Your character is based on a real person. What research did you do into her life?
I feel very lucky with the research that was available because the books act as a blueprint, really. Our series is based on the books. And [the show’s writer] Ben Vanstone did a cracking job of picking out the moments in the books and shaping them into this great series. But we also had the privilege of meeting Rosie and Jim Wight, who were Alf Wight's children. Wight’s pseudonym was James Herriot. And in meeting the children, actually hearing about them mum from their perspective just gave us a real peek behind the curtain, because in the book, we learn about my character through James.
So we learned Helen based on how he feels about her rather than what she's like as a woman in her own right, really. And that was really nice to be able to speak to them. And then there's a museum in Yorkshire, which is the James Harriet Museum, and it's all the memorabilia and the things that were around at that time. We were really spoiled with how much research we got to do. And I was told really early on that she was actually one of the first women in her village to wear trousers. I thought that was a really telling bit of information, so I really took that on. And I think it was because she was through and through a practical woman. And now, I've tried to get on those tractors in the middle of winter in Yorkshire and it would be really hard to do in a dress, so of course she's wearing trousers.
Was putting on Helen’s costumes useful in getting into character?
Helen's got the best wardrobe. It's so good. I would wear most of the things in her wardrobe. And Ros Little, who's the costume designer, is brilliant. And she was an assistant, a very young girl on the BBC adaptation back in the seventies.
She has such a keen eye for detail, and was really keen to create something that was, what did she say in the end, ‘practical chic.’ Helen is a very practical girl. But always have an eye on fashion as well And it's really transformative when you go through makeup and costume. You can't help but be one step closer to Helen, really. As soon as those overalls go and my hair goes up, that's it.
Are you an animal person? You almost have to be for a show like this.
Oh, I'm all about the animals. Everyone who's an animal person is a people person. Yes. And I'm all about the animals, and they were just an absolute joy to work with and so good. There’s that old expression is: ‘Don’t work with children or animals’. And obviously, in a lot of my scenes, I had Imogen, who played my little sister, plus a load of animals. And honestly, they were just some of the easiest and nicest days. We had a great animal handler called Dean who worked with all the animals, training them, making sure they were comfortable, making sure that they knew what they were doing. The welfare of the animals was absolutely the beating heart of the show really, as it should be, and it was just a privilege to work with them.
The show has already been renewed for a second season. Can you share anything about filming plans, or what the next season’s story might look like?
I don't know anything about season two in terms of the story. I really don't; however, I know that it was planned to go ahead in springtime of 2021. So, hopefully that's still going to be the case. We live in a bit of a strange world at the moment, but hopefully that can still happen.
All Creatures Great and Small airs Sunday nights on Masterpiece PBS. The entire season will be available to binge watch on the Masterpiece Prime Video Channel on February 21.
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