All Creatures Great and Small star snubbed by Channel 5 over major role
Carol Drinkwater has opened up about the All Creatures Great and Small reboot and admitted she wanted to star in the series. The actress played Helen Herriot in the original series, which aired in the late 1970s and is based on the books written by James Herriot.
In 2020, a reboot of All Creatures Great and Small was produced for Channel 5. In February, it was revealed that a fifth and sixth series is in the works, leaving fans delighted.
Carol, 76, revealed she wanted to play the role of Mrs Pumphrey in the reboot. However, she admitted she wasn't offered the part.
Speaking on Alan Titchmarsh Show on Sunday, 5 May, Carol opened up about the return of All Creatures Great and Small. She said she hadn't seen much of the new series yet, but had seen an episode from the first series of the reboot, when actress Diane Rigg was playing Mrs Pumphrey.
“I wanted to play Mrs Pumphrey and they didn’t give it to me. They gave it to Diana Rigg," she admitted to Alan. Mrs Pumphrey is the the wealthy owner of the Pekingese Tricki Woo in All Creatures Great and Small.
OK! has reached out to Channel 5 for comment.
Margaretta Scott played the role in the original edition of the show. Diana portrayed Mrs Pumphrey in the first series of the reboot, with Patricia Hodge having taken over the role in the second series.
Carol played Helen in the first three series of All Creatures Great and Small before being replaced by Lynda Bellingham. However, Carol's decision to depart didn't go down well with TV bosses.
When Carol left the series, she said: "I'd given everything I could and I couldn't think where else I could take the role, because there was no more material. I wasn't leaving in any kind of spiteful thing. The BBC was so angry with me, they put a ban on using me."
She added: "So they re-cast and another actress got the role. I was terribly upset because it was a wonderful role and would have been very good for me. I must say now, looking back on my career, it's one of the few things in my life I would do differently, and I wouldn't have left."
Carol has since penned several books, including children's titles, fronted the 2021 series Carol Drinkwater’s Secret Provence.
