It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet

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Corporations like Medivet, a breed once as rare as Mr Jeffery’s cattle, are now riding roughshod across the British veterinary landscape, as they are in America and the rest of Europe. Vet businesses provide an opportunity for cash-rich private-equity firms to roll up a plethora of small, relatively inexpensive operations into bigger firms, sell them on or do initial public offerings, hopefully for a tidy return. According to Bain, a consultancy, this “buy-and-build” strategy, using businesses ranging from vets to hair salons to suppliers for tattoo parlours, is the hottest trend in private equity, accounting for one in five transactions globally last year. The All Creatures Great and Small franchise consists of a series of books, movies, and TV series based on books written by James Alfred Wight under the pen name James Herriot based on his experiences as a veterinary surgeon. [1] The books have been adapted for film and television, including a 1975 film All Creatures Great and Small, followed by the 1976 It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet sequel, as well as a long-running BBC television programme of the same title, and a prequel series in 2011, Young James Herriot.

The Foldyard (described as an enclosure for sheep or cattle) houses a collection of primitive-looking hand tools in everyday use in farms before machinery appeared. In the hands of skilled workers, however, these tools were most effective. The Foldyard provides an authentic setting for visitors to watch an exclusive short film of Alf Wight, his family and friends and the cast of All Creatures Great and Small. All Things Wise and Wonderful (1977) (incorporating Vets Might Fly and Vet in a Spin) ISBN 0-7181-1685-2 Wight changed names, genders and other identifying features to protect the innocent (and his own reputation), but his son insists that the vast majority of the cases and clients in his books were based on real people (and animals). People didn’t always recognise themselves. One client, Mrs Bush, told Wight she had taken delight in a chapter “about that man and his pigs”, not realising that she had been the source.Nicholas Ralph, plays Herriot in the new TV adaptation of “All Creatures Great and Small,” joined by Callum Woodhouse, left, as Tristan Farnon, and Samuel West as Siegfried Farnon, modelled on Brian and Donald Sinclair. Photograph: Matt Squire/Playground Television (UK) Ltd The student years Much of Alf Wight’s work took place in farms all over North Yorkshire. To the rear of the house you will find the Foldyard and The Farrier exhibits, both with which Alf would have been very well-acquainted. In his books, Wight calls the town where he lives and works Darrowby, which he based largely on the towns of Thirsk and Sowerby. He also renamed Donald Sinclair and his brother Brian Sinclair as Siegfried and Tristan Farnon, respectively. Wight's books are only partially autobiographical. Many of the stories are only loosely based on real events or people, and thus can be considered primarily fiction.

In 1939, at the age of 23, he qualified as a veterinary surgeon with Glasgow Veterinary College. In January 1940, he took a brief job at a veterinary practice in Sunderland, but moved in July to work in a rural practice based in the town of Thirsk, Yorkshire, close to the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors, where he was to remain for the rest of his life. The original practice is now a museum, "The World of James Herriot".

Here's how the new All Creatures Great and Small builds on the original books and TV series". Radio Times. 20 January 2021 . Retrieved 25 February 2021. The Herriot books are often described as "animal stories" (Wight himself was known to refer to them as his "little cat-and-dog stories"), and given that they are about the life of a country veterinarian, animals certainly play a significant role in most of the stories. Yet animals play a lesser, sometimes even a negligible role in many of Wight's tales: the overall theme of his stories is Yorkshire country life, with its people and their animals primary elements that provide its distinct character. Further, it is Wight's shrewd observations of persons, animals, and their close inter-relationship, which give his writing much of its savour. Wight was just as interested in their owners as he was in his patients, and his writing is, at root, an amiable but keen comment on the human condition. The Yorkshire animals provide the element of pain and drama; the role of their owners is to feel and express joy, sadness, sometimes triumph. The animal characters also prevent Wight's stories from becoming twee or melodramatic — animals, unlike some humans, do not pretend to be ailing, nor have they imaginary complaints and needless fears. Their ill-health is real, not the result of flaws in their character which they avoid mending. In an age of social uncertainties, when there seem to be no remedies for anything, Wight's stories of resolute grappling with mysterious bacterial foes or severe injuries have an almost heroic quality, giving the reader a sense of assurance, even hope. Best of all, James Herriot has an abundant humour about himself and his difficulties. He never feels superior to any living thing, and is ever eager to learn — about animal doctoring, and about his fellow human creature.

In the United States, the books were collected as pairs into omnibus volumes because the publisher thought they were too short to publish independently. The title for the first book in the series All Creatures Great and Small (and subsequently of the movies and television series) was taken from the hymn " All Things Bright and Beautiful". According to Herriot's son, it was his sister who suggested the title, initially proposing All Creatures Great and Small. [8] All Creatures Great and Small: The pubs, shops and other locations that feature in the new Channel Five series" - Yorkshire Post, 2 September 2020 It was a fraught time, and a hungry one. Staples like eggs, butter and bacon were rationed. The delicious perk recounted in the stories, in which grateful farmers feed the country vets, was actually one way the two men eased the pangs of wartime austerity. Raised by artists In addition to the primary books listed below, a series of nine James Herriot Children’s Picture Books were published. Another 12 books, considered to be anthologies (with content taken from various of the primary books) was also published, some in the UK and others in the U.S. [7] UK series [ edit ] All Creatures Great and Small Is Getting a Season 2". Town & Country. 18 January 2021 . Retrieved 25 February 2021. Rigg, who played Mrs. Pumphrey, passed away in September at the age of 82All Creatures Great and Small season 2 release date: cast, plot, and latest news". Radio Times. 23 February 2021 . Retrieved 26 February 2021. set in 1938

Wight, Jim. 2000. The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of My Father. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-42151-7

Herriot Memorabilia

Herriot paints a lovely picture of a time that's now long gone. I wonder what he would have made of modern industrial farming, without the space for the eccentrics and smallholders that populated the dales in the first half of the 20th century and who Herriot describes so lovingly. While I certainly wouldn't have wanted to live in that period (or, indeed, any period without modern medicine and a decent Wi-Fi connection), I can be slightly sad that we've lost something as we've modernised. While waiting for his RAF call-up Wight continued work as a rural vet, tending to ailing cows in the middle of air raids. (Or trying to, according to letters he wrote.) Donald Sinclair, the model for the character Siegfried Farnon (played in the Channel 5 adaptation by Samuel West), was about to begin his own RAF service and wanted to leave his practice in capable hands. Wight and Sinclair teamed up, but in the early days they were often separated by stints serving their country. (Or trying to; neither made it as a fighter pilot.) Significant changes were made from the source material (both the previous television series and the memoir), such as Siegfried Farnon being a heartbroken widower and a dramatically increased role for Mrs. Hall, who has been reimagined as a young, live-in housekeeper and a "slightly warmer figure" than in the novels. The role of Helen was also greatly expanded. [12]