Meet the Animal Cast of All Creatures Great and Small Season 4
Fall in love with the new and returning animal actors behind the characters of All Creatures Great and Small Season 4 when Jill Clark of 1st Choice Animals, animal handler since Season 1, introduces us to the adorable and mischievous creatures who are scampering, sprinting, shuffling, shaking, and snacking their way through the sometimes moving, often hilarious, and always memorable storylines.
- 1.
Piper as Duke the Whippet
Wesley Binks (Billy Hickey) and Duke (Piper) in All Creatures Great and Small Piper is a whippet who belongs to a friend of a friend. She’d never really done any filming before, so we had to do quite a bit of work with her just to get her to settle down. But once she got into it, she’s a good little dog, a nice dog; her temperament’s outstanding. Whippets are notoriously sort of shaky dogs. So she just naturally looked the part, always coming off like “I’m not sure what I’m doing here, I don’t feel very well.” But it’s a whippet thing. She was sweet as anything, and got on really well with the young lad.
- 2.
Abby and Anna as Betty and Hilda the Goats
Abby and Anna as Betty and Hilda We bought Abby and Anna especially for the show. They are so comical, so naughty, into everything. Don’t ever leave the feed room door open because they’re in every time! What a pair of goats—the nicest, most friendly goats. They broke the mold when those two were made. They’re absolutely super.
- 3.
Flossie and Phoebe as Wilf the Ferret
Wilf is played by sisters Flossie and Phoebe in All Creatures Great and Small, Season 4 Episode 2. Flossie and Phoebe are sisters, but you’d never believe it because Phoebe is twice the size of Flossie. They like fresh cat food, and if you give them a chicken bone, they’re in seventh heaven.
- 4.
Libby as Cedric the Boxer
Cedric the boxer, played by Libby in Episode 3 of All Creatures Great and Small Season 4 When I read the script, I thought, “I know what we want, I know just the dog.” I worked with Libby as a puppy and she is just special. She is so loving and funny—such a comical, comical dog. Too much love to give and too much energy, she is absolutely hysterical. She walks around with her tongue out all day long, completely gormless, not really knowing what she does and why she’s doing it. She’s just a dog in her own world, she’s gorgeous.
Libby belongs to a friend of mine and she lives with another two boxers that have a bit more sense, so I think they look after her a bit. She’s such a goon of a dog. She loves everybody and is so easy to work; she fitted in straight away, no training, that was it. She came in and was just absolutely natural.
- 5.
Mildred as Bernard the Tortoise
Mildred as Bernard the tortoise in All Creatures Great and Small Season 4, Episode 4 Mildred was born, I think, in the early ’70s. I’ve owned her for 25 years, and now I’ve got two friends with her. She’s never hibernated, and because we’re so cold here, they come indoors and walk around the house, in the warm. They all just wander about. Her favorite foods are peaches—they love peaches and strawberries.
- 6.
Humbug as Oscar the Kitten
Oscar is played by 1-year-old Humbug in Season 4 of All Creatures Great and Small. I adore Humbug. She is just the sweetest. She lives here along with all the rest of my cats. She’s about a year old, but she’s not very big. She’s a very small cat and very precious. But what a super little cat. Best thing that ever happened. And just like all the animals, she always knows where the treat tin is. I had her filming on another show, a chat show, and the cats were there in the background, wandering around doing their own thing. And I looked at my assistant and said, “Where did the cat get that from?” She’d come out with a whole packet of sandwiches and taken them underneath the table where they were doing the interview, sitting there opening this packet of sandwiches. She’d been into the cameraman’s bag, pulled out the sandwiches, taken them right into the middle of set, knowing that we couldn’t do anything about it, couldn’t take them off her. Promptly eaten the sandwiches. Yes, she’s a bit clever.
- 7.
Erin as Dash the Springer Spaniel
Springer spaniel Erin plays Dash in All Creatures Great and Small. Erin lives here with us. She’s in the kitchen right now. She’s a cracking little thing. We had to look for a nice little springer to play the part, and she’s absolutely gorgeous. She’s just done A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, and she was working last week on a show called Sapphire. She’s just done a show about the IRA, but I’m not sure of its title yet. She’s a really lovely little dog.
- 8.
Ernie as Jess the Golden Retriever
Jess is played by very good boy Ernie in All Creatures Great and Small. “Ernie the idiot!” He’s always been called an idiot, but he is super, he’s just lovely. I love Ernie to pieces. He sort of acts first and then thinks about it. He’s grown in training—as he’s aged a bit, he’s got a lot steadier, but he still comes flying in at a hundred miles an hour. He learned the word “action” before anybody else. So as soon as you say “action,” he’s up and he’s like “Yeah! What do you want me to do? I’ve forgotten already, but I’ll do it!” So as long as we don’t say “action,” he’s okay. So Ernie’s not dumb—he’s far too clever for his own good. He’s a dog in a million—you won’t get another one like him.
- 9.
Derek as Tricki the Pekingese
Derek, the pekingese who plays Tricki I’d really not had anything much to do with the pekingese breed up until Tricki came along, but they’re incredible little dogs, the nicest, bravest little dogs I think I’ve ever met. They have their own personalities, which just seep out of them. When it comes to training, they’re very, very clever. Derek is a diva—he likes his own space and he likes to do what he wants to do. He is loved by everybody, and his personality shines out wherever he is—that’s filming, that’s out when we’re in the park, that’s when we’re down at the beach—he just shines and people will stop and constantly want to talk to him. Not even knowing that he’s Tricki! They just love the breed, and they love Derek. He just seeps out with emotions. He’s lovely, such a nice little dog.
