Has All Creatures Great and Small been renewed for season 5 and which of your favourite characters could return?

“Has All Creatures Great and Small been renewed?” is the question on many people’s minds since the latest season came to an end.

Whether you’re entirely up-to-date with All Creatures Great and Small season 4 or have yet to enjoy the emotional rollercoaster of the festive special, the prospect of this being the end of the show likely fills many of us with dread. The latest season was already heart-wrenching enough with the possibility of Mrs Hall leaving All Creatures Great and Small - not to mention James heading off to do his RAF training. 

The festive special picked up after the All Creatures Great and Small finale and it provided so many special moments to round off the Channel 5 drama’s latest outing. Now fans will be anxiously hoping for news about whether All Creatures Great and Small season 5 is on the cards and if the show will be renewed in 2024.

*Warning: Spoilers ahead*

Has All Creatures Great and Small been renewed for season 5? 

It might seem almost unimaginable to long-time fans but All Creatures Great and Small hasn’t been renewed for season 5 - at least not yet. Given the Channel 5 drama’s popularity and its continued renewal over the years since 2020 there’s every chance that there will be an official announcement of All Creatures Great and Small season 5 at some point. The fourth season has only just finished in the US with the festive special set to land on 18th February, so it’s possible that the announcement would come after both the UK and US runs have come to an end. 

Since season 1 of All Creatures Great and Small fans have been treated to a return to Skeldale House every year without fail. If we are going to get All Creatures Great and Small season 5, then this pattern suggests that it might be released sometime in late 2024. In this case, news that All Creatures Great and Small has been renewed would likely have to come relatively soon to allow time for writing, filming and production schedules.

Until an update is given by Channel 5, we’ll just have to be patient and trust that the demand for more All Creatures Great and Small helps to secure the drama’s renewal for another outing. There are certainly plenty of directions the story could develop in going forwards, not least because the show is based on the memoirs of Alf Wright writing under his pen-name James Herriot. 

His life experiences go well beyond the point shown so far in the show - something that gave us an early hint that despite any clues suggesting otherwise, we wouldn’t see James leaving All Creatures Great and Small in season 4.

Which characters could return if All Creatures Great and Small is renewed for season 5?

If you’ve been asking yourself - has All Creatures Great and Small been renewed for season 5? - then you’re probably also already wondering who might return if there is another series. Of course, we’d expect Nicholas Ralph to return as James Herriot and Rachel Shenton to return as his wife Helen in All Creatures Great and Small. They are the cornerstone of the Channel 5 drama and are based on Alf Wright and his wife Joan who went on to have two children together, James and Rosemary. 

All Creatures Great and Small: The Classic Memoirs of a Yorkshire Country by James Herriot | Was £10.99, Now £8.99 at Amazon

Featuring the first two volumes of Alf Wright's works, If Only They Could Talk and It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet, these serve as inspiration for All Creatures Great and Small. After finishing veterinary college in the 1930s, James Herriot settles in Yorkshire and it's not long before he meets farmer's daughter Helen.

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Only James has been born so far in All Creatures Great and Small as he was welcomed into the world in the 2023 Christmas episode. We will probably continue to see less of James, though, if the show continues as he is away from the practice and in real life Alf Wright served in the RAF until 1943.

We’d also be seriously surprised if Mrs Hall (played by the brilliant Anna Madeley) wasn’t back if All Creatures Great and Small does end up being renewed for season 5. After all, life at Skeldale House just wouldn’t be the same without the housekeeper, as Siegfried knew all too well when she resigned in season 4.

Thankfully for us Mrs Hall changed her mind about moving to the Lake District with her partner Gerald and she was there every step of the way as Helen gave birth to James in the festive special.

Siegfried Farnon played by Samuel West will also most likely be back and just like James and Helen, he is based on a real-life person. Donald Sinclair who inspired Siegfried’s character and Alf Wright worked together as vets for 50 years and so there’s so many years left to explore with the two of them in a potential All Creatures Great and Small season 5. 

Mrs Pumphrey, a wealthy woman who is a regular at James and Siegfried’s practice and played by Patricia Hodge, would perhaps return as she’s been part of the show since 2021. It’s also possible that Helen’s father Richard Alderson and sister Hannah could make another appearance too. The only primary character that we’re not sure about is Tristan Farnon played by Callum Woodhouse. 

His final appearance in All Creatures Great and Small was in the season 3 Christmas special when he was called up to serve as a vet in the army. By the time season 4 started, Tristan had left Darrowby to fulfil his new role and we sadly didn’t get another glimpse of him all series. 

It was clear that Siegfried was missing him but he ended up telling new vet Richard Carmody that he could have his brother’s room so it seemed like Tristan won’t be back anytime soon either. However, if All Creatures Great and Small is renewed, potentially not just for season 5 but for more seasons, we could end up seeing Tristan again as his actor Callum teased when he left that it was “over and out for now”.

When could All Creatures Great and Small season 5 be set? 

The first season of All Creatures Great and Small was set in 1937 and each of the following three seasons has been set a year later so right now we left our favourite characters in 1940. This suggests that if All Creatures Great and Small is renewed for season 5 then it would perhaps start in 1941. With this in mind, it’s perhaps even more likely that we won’t see Tristan back just yet and that James won’t be as much of a focus as before as they do their bit for the war effort.