Spring has sprung in Skeldale house with animals aplenty and Helen’s got her hands full too looking after baby Jimmy as the new series of All Creatures Great and Small returns to Channel 5. After giving birth at Christmas , Jimmy is now four-months-old and quite the handful. “Helen’s really trying to navigate the full time job of motherhood single handedly,” explains Rachen Shenton who plays Helen .
“Of course she’s got support from her Skeldale family, Siegfried , Mrs Hall and Richard Carmody , but Jimmy is taking up most of her time.” Rachel has been spending a lot of time with the babies on set, so how does she feel about the youngsters? “Working with a baby makes things very efficient,” says Rachel. “You have to nail the scene because the baby can only work for a certain amount of time.
When we rehearse, we use a jelly baby and it feels like a stone, it’s so heavy. So I prefer working with a real baby because they’re so much lighter. I love working with babies, we worked with three in the series, and two in the Christmas special.
” Meanwhile, after an emotional reunion at Christmas, Helen’s husband, James Herriott, is away serving in the RAF. “I’ve learned how to do the salute now,” explains Nicholas Ralph, who plays James . “We filmed in Lincolnshire surrounded by 30 extras with World War Two planes which was incredible.
It feels like a new chapter for James, something to get stuck into. But he is having a tricky time. And when he deliv.