Behind the scenes of “All Creatures” TV series

I’m a big James Herriot fan, and thanks to the JamesHerriot.org Twitter feed, I recently learned that there’s a BBC 4 documentary — a good one, with modern-day interviews with all the actors plus lots of behind-the-scenes footage — available on YouTube about the making of the “All Creatures Great and Small” TV series. It’s split into parts One, Two and Three.

See “Boris” the hellion cat actually tear into the actors! (What an amazing example of an actress staying in character as the cat tears strips of skin off her back.) See “James” and “Helen” talk sweetly about their real-life romance!

Bonus: A 1985 news feature that visits the set during filming at the end of the third series, just as they ran out of original Herriot material and before they knew the show’s producer would persuade the veterinarian himself to let them continue by writing new material that didn’t come from his own life.

Second bonus: Here is the gag they played on actor Robert Hardy (Siegfried) once they found out they were going to be able to make a fourth series. Hardy believes they are filming a real episode as the cameras roll… Come to think of it, Hardy does a pretty spiffy job of staying in character here himself.