American tourists are flocking to Yorkshire - after falling in love with warmhearted TV saga All Creatures Great and Small.
More than 10 million viewers watched the first series Stateside, and this week The New York Times hailed the “cheerful, optimistic” show.
It said the touching tale of a vet’s life in the Yorkshire Dales was providing an escape from “yet another coronavirus spike and profound political division” as the second series started airing on US channel Masterpiece.
Residents at picturesque filming locations - including Grassington, used as the fictional town Darrowby, for external shots of Skeldale House and the Drovers Arms - say it has already had an impact.
Tim Barber from Real Yorkshire Tours says the second series of the charming drama based on the books by rural vet James Herriot had an immediate effect on bookings being made for the summer.
“I saw an uplift when the second series started airing in the States,” he tells the Mirror. “It’s noticeable - there’s definitely a correlation.”
After being “badly” impacted by the pandemic, forcing him to focus on virtual tours of the area and domestic tourists, he adds: “Around 90% of my clients are from the US. It’s looking positive for this year.
“It’s going to be really good for my business, and for the area as well - an area that has struggled without international visitors coming in.
“For international visitors to come to Yorkshire, they have to have a reason. The main reason is they have seen Yorkshire on a film, read about it in a book or seen it on television.
“The economy benefits from that - there are stats that people are spending on average £400 a day on hotels, tours and food - and staying a few days as well.”
Visitors take in sights including Grassington - a “must see” for fans of the show, with some local shops and pubs keeping the TV production’s signage up - as well as Malham for country lane shots, Thirsk, for the James Herriot museum, Swaledale and Wensleydale.
Rolling Stone reviewer Alan Sepinwall noted that the timing of the first series - airing in the days after last year’s Capitol riots - meant the warmth of the show became a welcome tonic across the pond.
He said: “Suddenly there was nothing I wanted to watch more than this gentle show, with its low-stakes plotting, lush scenery, adorable animals and ensemble of fundamentally nice people.
“It is an incredible balm, and a welcome contrast … to the dumpster fire of our own reality.”
Tim says overseas fans of the show he encounters agree.
“The new TV series has caught people’s imagination, and has brought a whole lot of new people in,” says Tim.
“Somebody said to me: ‘We love it because nothing ever happens.’ There might be a slight problem birthing a cow, but people are used to violence and warnings on TV. It’s just such a great feel good story and it’s wholesome and honest - it’s how people would love to live. It connects to a lot of people.”
The show has already been commissioned for two further series - news welcomed by tour guide Tim, who hopes it may continue as long as the seven series the BBC ’s 1970s adaptation ran for.
“It’s fantastic news - the fact they’ve gone for two series on the bounce is wonderful,” he says. “The feel good factor means it will become one of the classic entertainments for the age.”
Script writer Ben Vanstone has described the series, which airs in the UK on Channel 5, as: “Not just a love story between Helen [Alderson - played by Rachel Shenton] and James [Herriot - played by Nicholas Ralph], but between James and the Yorkshire Dales.”
Tim agrees, adding: “The first series was a scene setter, and the second series played to its strengths - there were more rolling landscape shots and things to attract people towards the landscape and the environment which helps my business, in terms of people wanting to see the area. I can see why people engage with it.”
Fans who turn up to see the local sights do not leave disappointed.
“I’ve had a lot of retired US vets come over - they say they were originally inspired by the Herriot books they read as kids to get into veterinary practice,” he says. “The Americans don’t get a lot of holidays, so when they retire they want trips of a lifetime. It tends to be older retired couples.
“I drove an Australian couple and the lady was an uber fan - of the books and both series. I was driving through Wensleydale and I stopped at a fantastic view of fields over dry stone walls - a typically Yorkshire shot - and she started crying.
“I asked if anything was the matter and she said: ‘I’ve been dreaming of coming to Yorkshire for 60 years and it’s even more beautiful than I ever thought.’
“You couldn’t wish for a better compliment."
*To see the locations Tim's tours take in, visit https://www.realyorkshireblog.com/post/exploring-the-locations-from-channel-5-s-new-all-creatures-great-small
