Second season gives ‘All Creatures’ room to grow

Ralph, who made his television debut with the first season of “Creatures,” found the slow build crucial to his success. “I was really lucky because the first day was with Sam (West) and he didn’t really leave my side. It was a great introduction and you just kicked on from there.”

The first season – which took five months to film was “a sharp learning curve.” When he returned for the second, now airing on PBS, he was “ready to hit the ground running and continue on.”

Aimed as a five-season show, the story of a neophyte veterinarian in 1930s Great Britain resonated with viewers forced to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic. Because the actors were confined to an area in North Yorkshire during filming, they were able to focus on the series and drink in the atmosphere.

“Shooting in spring in North Yorkshire is freezing,” West says. “We should have done our Christmas episode in April when there were no leaves on the trees. Instead, we did it in June and had to look quite hard for some dead trees and Christmas trees.”

Using supporting characters more frequently makes the series feel “more like an ensemble of six people now,” he adds. “Any of them could carry a story.”

West, who plays Siegfried Farnon, Herriot’s boss and mentor, says “Creatures” has many of the same people behind the camera in Season Two, too. “I think that continuity argues for what a beautiful time we had and how many people wanted to do it again.”