Planting some roots: New season of 'All Creatures Great and Small' finds Nicholas Ralph settling into married life

Nicholas Ralph has always felt the battle between the heart and mind when he steps into the role of James Herriot on “All Creatures Great and Small.”

For four seasons, Ralph has brought Herriot to life on the TV series.

At 8 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 7, the fourth season of Masterpiece’s “All Creatures Great and Small” will premiere on New Mexico PBS, channel 5.1. It will also be available to stream on the PBS app.

Season four begins in spring 1940.

With Europe at war, the community in Darrowby are pulling together more than ever before. With Tristan away serving, Siegfried and James bring in some extra hands to help around the practice – highly efficient bookkeeper Miss Harbottle, and student vet Richard Carmody.

Happily married, Helen and James begin to think about their future, despite the looming possibility that James could be called up to serve.

“With James it’s always a battle between heart and mind and that continues in this series,” Ralph says. “He absolutely wants to do his best. He wants to stand up and be counted if needs be, you know. We see all sorts of people in the village leaving, Tom Chapman and Tristan of course. We know that Siegfried fought in World War I. There is that part of James that wants to do his bit, at the same time he’s a young man who’s just got married.”

Ralph says James and Helen are living in their bedsit at the top of the house, they’re in a little nest away from everyone else.

“Back then, things moved a little quicker. If you were married, children seemed to come not too far along down the line,” he says. “There is a little seed of that planted in James’ mind as well. But it’s all conflicting. With war, people left and didn’t come back, so there’s a lot at play. Of course, it’s not just James that feels this, it’s Helen as well. How does Helen feel and where is she at, and where she would be in the future if James did leave. She could be left behind, you know, she’s moved into Skeldale and she left her family back at the farm.”

Planting some roots: New season of 'All Creatures Great and Small' finds Nicholas Ralph settling into married life

Ralph says at the end of season three, James and Tristan both signed up for service and Tristan got called up.

“We kick off (the new season) with a wonderful story with a little boy who’s a bit of a terror in the town called Wesley Binks, and he has a little sick dog,” he says. “James receives the brunt of that sometimes, but we find out a little bit more about why as the episode goes on. The wonderful thing about James and all the vets in the show is that they don’t only look after the animals, they look after the people, the owners, and we very much see that with James and Wesley Binks. It is a lovely episode to start the series.”

The new season will feature a number of guest actors – Wesley Binks is played by Billy Hickey, Neve McIntosh comes in as Miss Harbottle in episode two.

Paul Bazely plays Joe Coney, who has a ferret storyline in the series.

Ralph says James is also settling into married life in the new season, as James and Helen have settled into Skeldale House.

“We see the bedsit developing all the time, you know, little additions here and there — something old has gone and something new has come in,” he explains. “There’s that difference between being public and being private as well. When you’re out and about, there’s a certain way you must act. There are obviously certain things you can talk about, certain ways of behaving in public and even just with the rest of the gang in Skeldale House so, for the two of them to have their little bedsit, to have their own little world away from everyone else, is really nice.

“They can be far more tactile and they can speak a lot more deeply there. It’s a wonderful home they’ve made for themselves and it’s becoming more and more comfortable all the time.”