All Creatures Great and Small star teases fan-favourite character’s life hangs in the balance in Christmas Special
AN ALL Creatures Great and Small star has teased that a fan-favourite character’s life hangs in the balance in the Christmas Special.
The festive episode of the Channel 5 drama has quite an emotional storyline for Mrs Hall, which will majorly impact everyone in Skeldale.
Skeldale House is preparing for Christmas and Jimmy’s first birthday, and while times are hard, Mrs Hall has the perfect Christmas planned.
However, when a worrying news bulletin shatters her world, the Skeldale family rallies round.
Mrs Hall is played by Anna Madeley and speaking about her festive storyline, she said: “It’s a horrendous time for Mrs. Hall.
“It’s every mother’s worst nightmare. She receives the news that Edward’s ship has been struck, and this happens right before Christmas, when Jimmy’s birthday is also coming up – a time when you desperately want good news and for everyone to be together.
“I think Mrs. Hall copes by staying busy and focusing on what little she does know.
“Initially, she tells herself, “Let’s deal with the facts we have.” But as the story progresses, it becomes harder and harder to hold on to that strategy.
“She even seeks out information on her own, meeting a young lad named Paddy, who had been with Edward on the ship.
“It’s a difficult journey for her, and even though she tries to stay strong, that uncertainty starts to take its toll.”
Nicholas Ralf is James Herriot in the series, the newly qualified vet who secures a job under an eccentric vet called Sigfried Farnon.
He says about the upcoming episode: “Mrs. Hall is like the mother of this surrogate family. She’s the middle point, and we all revolve around her.
“She helps everyone, fixes people’s problems, and looks after everybody. So, when she’s going through something very painful and emotional, you can’t help but empathise and want to do anything you can to take away some of that pain or burden.
“Sometimes, though, that means doing nothing and just really listening to what the other person needs.
“The whole family is affected, and you just want everything to be alright for her.”
Samuel West, who plays Siegfried Farnon added: “It’s really hard to know what the best thing to do is… he’s dreadfully confused, because he cares deeply for her.
Top Channel 5 dramas
Channel 5 has become a hub for gripping drama, these are some of the best My5 has to offer.
- All Creatures Great and Small – Based on the best-selling novels by real-life vet Alf Wright, the show revolves around a trio of vets working in the Yorkshire Dales in the late 1930s. Eccentric Siegfried Farnon (Samuel West) hires James Herriot (Nicholas Ralph) for his veterinary practice at Skeldale House alongside himself and his younger brother Tristan (Callum Woodhouse). There James settles into his new life and even finds love with local farmer’s daughter Helen (Rachel Shenton).
- The Ex-Wife – New parents Tasha (Céline Buckens) and Jack (Tom Misson) seem to have the perfect life, but the constant presence of Jack’s overly friendly but suspicious ex-wife Jen (Janet Montgomery) puts pressure on the couple. But as the series progresses it becomes less clear who the bad guy really is and how far everyone will go to get the life they think they deserve.
- Heat – EastEnders alum Danny Dyer leads this four-part action thriller, set in Australia, which sees two families holidaying together during bushfire season. But instead of rest and relaxation, secrets and lies start to unravel — and not everyone will make it out alive…
- Lie With Me – Another soap legend jets off to Australia, this time its EastEnders alum Charlie Brooks who takes as a married woman trying to saving her marriage by moving halfway around the world after her husband had an affair. However it’s far from plain sailing, as a young and attractive live-in nanny comes to work with the Fallmont family, and tensions soon build and eventually, someone ends up dead.
- The Drowning – Jill Halfpenny plays Jodie, a woman whose life is shattered following the disappearance of her beloved four-year-old son, Daniel. However, ten years later, the grieving mother thinks she’s finally found her missing child, and embarks on a journey to discover the truth about him. But has she really just found the son she has been missing for so long?
“He is the hand she needs to hold and Siegfried has to try and be a shoulder to cry on if it’s needed, and a hand to hold if one would help.
“Mrs Hall has her own ways of dealing with it, most of which don’t require another person, because she’s very strong that way – possibly to her detriment at times.”
All Creatures Great and Small Christmas Special airs on December 23 at 9pm on Channel 5.