‘All Creatures Great And Small’ showrunner Ben Vanstone

5th February 2021

All Creatures Great and Small tells the story of a Scottish veterinarian who moves out to the English countryside. It started as a book series written under the pen name James Herriot. In each chapter, Herriot drives around the Yorkshire Dales in an old car, from farm to farm, appointment to appointment. He treats horses, cows and dogs in neighboring villages. In the ’70s and ’80s, the books became a TV series of the same name on the BBC. All Creatures set in the ’30s, between the wars. It’s a quiet series – gentle, funny and bursting with love. There’s a brand new television series based on the book. We talk about the latest reiteration with Ben Vanstone, writer and showrunner who created the reboot. There’s quite a few animals on the show, but who’s Ben’s favorite? All that and so much more on the latest episode.

Episode notes

(Photo: Matt Squire / Playground Television (UK) Ltd. )

Ben Vanstone on rebooting the beloved PBS series All Creatures Great and Small

All Creatures Great and Small tells the story of a Scottish veterinarian who moves out to the English countryside.

It started as a book series written under the pen name James Herriot. It’s set in the ’30s, between the wars. In each chapter, Herriot drives around the Yorkshire Dales in an old car, from farm to farm, appointment to appointment. He treats horses, cows and dogs in neighboring villages.

We get to know the farmers through Herriot while we take in the details of the characters homes, and the landscape.

The books inspired several movies. In the ’70s and ’80s, the books also became a TV series of the same name on the BBC.

There’s a brand new television series based on the book. It premiered on channel 5 in the UK last year, and it just made its debut on PBS in the states.

The show features a whole new cast in the story of young James the vet, his boss Siegfried, Siegfried’s brother Tristan, and a lot of other characters Herriot aficionados know and love. Like the books and the TV show before it: it’s gentle, funny and bursting with love.

We talk about the latest reiteration with Ben Vanstone, writer and showrunner who created the new reboot. Plus, there’s quite a few animals on the show, but who’s Ben’s favorite? Listen and find out!

In this episode...

Senior Producer
Producer
Maximum Fun Producer
Maximum Fun Production Fellow
Video Editor

Guests

  • Ben Vanstone

About the show

Bullseye is a celebration of the best of arts and culture in public radio form. Host Jesse Thorn sifts the wheat from the chaff to bring you in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary minds in our culture.

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People

Senior Producer

Producer

Maximum Fun Producer

Maximum Fun Production Fellow

Video Editor

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