Nicholas Ralph Has "Big Welly Boots to Fill" in All Creatures Great and Small
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Nicholas Ralph has "big Welly boots to fill." At least, that's how he describes playing James Herriot in the reboot of All Creatures Great and Small.
"There was a little bit of nerves," says Ralph, who is making his television debut in the series airing now on Masterpiece PBS. After all, he's stepping into the shoes of Christopher Timothy, who portrayed the much-beloved character in the 1978 version of the television series, and Alf Wight, the real-life Herriot, who used his adventures as a veterinarian as fodder for a best-selling book series.
But despite the pressures of recreating an iconic story, "the overriding feeling was definitely one of excitement," Ralph says, "because you're doing a show that already has a fan base of millions, and these books have sold 60 million copies worldwide. If anything, it focuses you in because you want to get it right. You don't want to do an injustice."
Of course, when playing a veterinarian on TV, it helps to be an animal lover. "I grew up in a small town in the Highlands of Scotland, and where we lived, there was our back garden, a fence, and then a field that was always full of cows and sheep," Ralph says. "So I was a bit more used to being around farm animals than maybe some of the other cast."
Even still, he had to go through what he describes as a "vet bootcamp" before filming, and received training in how the procedures depicted in the show are performed.
"From the start I said, 'I want to do as much as possible that's still allowed,' because the rules for animals in entertainment have changed in the last 75 years, so now you can't do anything that one, the animal doesn't require, and two, you're not trained to do."
When the cow gave birth in the show's premiere, for example, Ralph was primarily working with a prosthetic. "That was a real cow in the wide shots, and then the up close, it was a prosthetic back end of the cow, fully functional and everything, so we can go through the procedure," Ralph explains.
It's one major difference between production today and how the BBC adaption from the 1970s and '80s was made. "I kind of got away with that one, where Christopher Timothy didn't," he jokes.
And that old adage, "Never work with children or animals"? Ralph says there's no truth to it. "The animals were just superb throughout. Absolute scene stealers as well. You had to be on your A-game, completely, because if you weren't, the animal would steal the show," he says.
Making your prime time debut as the lead in a Masterpiece period drama would be an impressive career achievement for any performer, but Ralph's star turn is even more notable when you consider that he almost didn't become an actor. Back in high school, two of his teachers tried to talk him out of pursuing a career in the dramatic arts. "You don't want to be an actor, you'll end up living out of the back of your car. It's a terrible career choice," he recalls one teacher saying.
After a few more discouraging conversations, he says he "mucked around for a little bit," but eventually, the allure of the stage grew too strong to ignore. He studied drama at Inverness College and then, at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. And just two years after graduation, he landed the audition for All Creatures. Ever since, he says, his life has been "an absolute whirlwind."
"As you go along through the audition process, you meet Brian Percival, the lead director, who did Downton Abbey, and Ben Vanstone, the lead writer. And then you find out that Samuel West has been cast, that Dame Diana Rigg is going to be guesting in it, and it's being produced by Playground who did Wolf Hall and Howard's End. I'm pinching myself."
All Creatures Great and Small has proven to be a hit, both in the U.S., and the UK, success that could, at least in part, be attributed to people seeking out feel-good television as the pandemic rages on.
Paula Kerger, the President and CEO of PBS, shared that the show has been having "an extraordinary run" during a conversation at the television critics association press tour earlier this month. "I think people are looking for something that will truly be an escape and taking us away into such an immersive experience of Yorkshire, as All Creatures Great and Small does."
Ralph agrees.
"It's really gentle," he says. "One of the things I just loved about the material from the outset was that it had a beautiful balance. There's humor one moment, then the next it can be quite poignant. And because it's based on real people and a real place, real times, it's true, it feels very truthful and authentic."
The show has already been renewed for a second chapter, and barring any major pandemic health and safety setbacks, filming is set to start back up soon.
"We're going to film spring and summer, all being well," Ralph says. "So we'll be up in the Yorkshire Dales for about five months doing that, which we're all very excited about. Last time we filmed, it was during autumn and winter in the Yorkshire Dales, so that's some cold, dark, long days. Everyone's very happy that to be back in spring and summer.
Ralph is keeping quiet about the plot, but he did mention viewers might see some baby sheep next season. Another benefit of filming in the spring? "It's lambing season."
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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