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''Young James Herriot'' is a three-part British television drama based on the early life of veterinary surgeon
James Herriot
James Alfred Wight (3 October 1916 – 23 February 1995), better known by his pen name James Herriot, was a British veterinary surgeon and author.
Born in Sunderland, Wight graduated from Glasgow Veterinary College in 1939, returning to Eng ...
. It is part of a
series of movies and television series based on Herriot's novels. It features
Iain De Caestecker as the title character following his arrival at veterinary college, alongside
Amy Manson
Amy Manson (born 9 September 1985) is a Scottish actress. She has portrayed Alice Guppy in ''Torchwood'', Abby Evans in '' Casualty'', Lizzie Siddal in ''Desperate Romantics'', Daisy Hannigan-Spiteri in '' Being Human'', Medea in ''Atlantis'' ...
and
Ben Lloyd-Hughes
Benedict Lloyd-Hughes (born 14 April 1988) is a British actor. He is known for portraying Josh Stock in the British series '' Skins'' (2007) and for his role as Will in the film '' Divergent'' (2014). He plays Tsar Alexander in the 2016 BBC tel ...
as fellow students Whirly Tyson and Rob McAloon. Directed by Michael Keillor and written by Ann McManus and Eileen Gallagher, it was a Koco Drama production for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
which first aired on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
in December 2011.
Plot
The plot is based on the early life and studies of veterinary surgeon
James Herriot
James Alfred Wight (3 October 1916 – 23 February 1995), better known by his pen name James Herriot, was a British veterinary surgeon and author.
Born in Sunderland, Wight graduated from Glasgow Veterinary College in 1939, returning to Eng ...
, known for his autobiographical books which were the basis for the BBC television series ''
All Creatures Great and Small''. The series is set in the 1930s at the
Glasgow Veterinary College
The School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Glasgow is one of nine veterinary schools in the United Kingdom, and offers undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications in Veterinary Medicine.
It was established in 1862 as the independ ...
, where Herriot (
Iain De Caestecker) has arrived to train as a veterinary surgeon. It focuses on his relationship with his new-found friends Emma 'Whirly' Tyson (
Amy Manson
Amy Manson (born 9 September 1985) is a Scottish actress. She has portrayed Alice Guppy in ''Torchwood'', Abby Evans in '' Casualty'', Lizzie Siddal in ''Desperate Romantics'', Daisy Hannigan-Spiteri in '' Being Human'', Medea in ''Atlantis'' ...
) and Rob McAloon (Ben Lloyd-Hughes). They lodge together at the home of Elspeth Munro (
Natasha Little
Natasha Emma Little (born 2 October 1969) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles as Edith Thompson in the film '' Another Life'', Lady Caroline Langbourne in the BBC miniseries ''The Night Manager'', and Christina Moxam in the B ...
).
Also featured are Jenny Muirhead (
Joanna Vanderham
Joanna Vanderham (born 17 October 1990) is a Scottish actress. She was nominated for an International Emmy Award for her debut role in the Sky One crime drama '' The Runaway'' (2011).
Early life
Vanderham was born in Perth and grew up in Scon ...
), who is the only other female student at the college, and lecturers Professor Gunnell (
Gary Lewis) and Professor Richie (
Tony Curran
Tony Curran is a Scottish actor who has appeared in '' Underworld: Evolution'', ''Doctor Who'', ''Roots'', and the Netflix historical epic '' Outlaw King''. He appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film '' Thor: The Dark World'' (2013) as Bo ...
). Topics which features in the story lines include the subjugation of women, the treatment of students by Professor Gunnell, and the rise of the
fascist movement in the UK.
Production
Announced in July 2010 with the title ''Young James'', the series was devised by
Johnny Byrne, a scriptwriter on ''All Creatures Great and Small'', and consultant producer Kate Croft. Byrne, who died in 2008 during the development of the series, knew Alf Wight (who wrote under the
pen name Herriot) and his passion and experience convinced Croft that a series could be successful:
The series was produced by Koco Drama, a
Shed Media
Warner Bros. Television Studios UK (formerly Shed Media Group and later Warner Bros. Television Productions UK) is a British creator and distributor of television content. The Group produces long-running television brands in drama, factual, doc ...
company, and written by their executives Ann McManus and Eileen Gallagher.
The team had access to the Herriot archive and the archives of the Glasgow Veterinary College, including the diaries and case notes he kept during his student years. It was produced with the cooperation of Wight's family; they met de Caestecker, who found them "very helpful", and he had dinner with Wight's son Jim.
Episodes
Reception
The first episode gained an audience of 6.73 million, with the second and third episodes attracting 5.08 million and 4.99 million viewers respectively.
Christopher Hooton in ''
Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urb ...
'' found that it failed to leave a lasting impression, saying it was "an insubstantial, mildly-pleasing period soap". He later said that "the last thing we needed was a bloated, plodding period drama", and he found the lighting "more appropriate to a sombre Dickens adaptation than tales of a charming young Scot bumbling his way through veterinary college". Jasper Rees for ''The Arts Desk'' also discusses the production design, and said: "Basically, they've made a children's drama and slotted it after the watershed. The writing goes exceptionally easy on nuance and texture." It reminded Michael Hogan, writing in ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'', "of
French and Saunders's cruelly accurate costume parody, ''The House of Idiot'', where characters crowbarred in clumsy nods to 'the period' just to remind forgetful viewers". Despite the "odd amusing moment", he felt it "rather let down the well-loved original".
At the
2012 British Academy Scotland Awards
The 2012 British Academy Scotland Awards, were given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), Scotland (also known as BAFTA Scotland, or BAFTA in Scotland), and honoured the best Scottish film, television and animated product ...
, Iain de Caestecker and Michael Keillor were nominated for the television actor and director awards respectively.
In April 2012 the BBC confirmed the series would not return.
Home release
The first series was released in the United Kingdom on 5 March 2012. In the U.S. and Canada on 4 September 2012.
References
External links
*
*
{{All Creatures Great and Small
2011 British television series debuts
2011 British television series endings
2010s British television miniseries
BBC television dramas
2011 in British television
2010s British drama television series
Prequel television series
English-language television shows
Television shows set in Glasgow
Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios