#Character sketch of dr james herriot series

He later wrote: 'I was intrigued by the character and behaviour of these animals. When he was a boy in Glasgow, one of Wight's favourite pastimes was walking with his dog, an Irish Setter, in the Scottish countryside and watching it play with his friends' dogs. Wight attended Yoker Primary School and Hillhead High School. He had a 'soft, lilting Scottish accent,' according to actor Christopher Timothy, who portrayed James Herriot in the 1978 series.

Although Wight was born in England, the family moved to Glasgow when James was a child, and he lived there happily until leaving for Sunderland, and then Thirsk in 1940. James Alfred Wight, who was called 'Alf' for short, was born on 3 October 1916 in Sunderland, County Durham, England.

#Character sketch of dr james herriot series

In addition to the books, there have been several television and film adaptations of Wight's books, including the 1975 film All Creatures Great and Small a BBC television series of the same name, which ran 90 episodes and a 2020 UK Channel 5 series, also of the same name. The franchise based on his writings was very successful. Over the decades, the series of books has sold some 60 million copies. He is best known for writing a series of eight books set in the 1930s–1950s Yorkshire Dales about veterinary practice, animals, and their owners, which began with If Only They Could Talk, first published in 1970. James Alfred Wight OBE FRCVS (3 October 1916 – 23 February 1995), better known by his pen name James Herriot, was a British veterinary surgeon and author.īorn in Sunderland, Wight graduated from Glasgow Veterinary College in 1939, returning to England to become a veterinary surgeon in Yorkshire, where he practised for almost 50 years.