All accents great and small: TV vet Nicholas Ralph on his farmyard impressions

TV vet Nicholas Ralph has told how he became a master of accents while voicing the audio books of All Creatures Great And Small.

The actor, who plays vet James Herriot in the rebooted series, won an Audie award in March for his recording work.

“You’ve got 100-odd voices. There are a lot of Yorkshire farmers in Herriot’s books so you’ve got to come up with different ways of doing them,” he explained. “Thankfully he’ll give a description of the character some of the time, which helps, but sometimes not.”

James Herriot was the pen name of vet-turned-author Alf Wight, and the second of his popular reads, All Things Bright And Beautiful, is out now in audio book. Ralph, who comes from Nairn, has just finished recording the third and fourth.

He said: “With audiobooks, preparation is the main thing. The prep almost takes as long, if not slightly longer, than the actual book. In the fourth book, he goes on an adventure with animals that are being transported to Russia. There’s a Danish crew, we bump into some Russians and he goes to Turkey.

“I got a shock but thankfully the Turkish was very little and I had a Russian teacher at drama school. For the Danish, my friend is Scandinavian so he recorded all the lines for me. I played that in the booth and was working with that.”

The actor admitted winning the role opened a lot of doors but it was broadcaster Sally Magnusson who helped him secure a movie debut. The Reporting Scotland presenter’s husband, Norman Stone, wrote and directed the The Most Reluctant Convert: The Untold Story Of CS Lewis, which came out last year, and he was searching for someone to play The Chronicles Of Narnia author as a young man in the biopic. “The director’s wife saw me in All Creatures,” said Ralph. “He was struggling to cast it and she mentioned me.”

As well as starring in the third series of All Creatures Great And Small, Ralph has a new film out on October 28 – a horror thriller – in time for Hallowe’en. Prey For The Devil was shot two years ago but the release was delayed due to the pandemic.

“It’s night and day compared to All Creatures,” laughed Ralph, who plays Father Raymond. “It’s about exorcisms and people who are possessed. It was filmed in Bulgaria, after the first lockdown in 2020.”

All Creatures has been commissioned for a fourth series and filming begins in March. It is Channel 5’s most watched programme in five years, achieving record viewing figures of five million at its peak.

It is the first TV role for Ralph, who had worked in theatre after graduating from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2017.

“I pinch myself all the time,” he said. “It’s an incredible part and I get to work with wonderful actors like Samuel West and Anna Madeley, who I learn off all the time. I’m surrounded by multi award-winning people. So, there’s just no better way.”

But while Ralph, who now resides in London, is well known in his Highlands home town, he manages to remain incognito elsewhere.

“Playing James Herriot certainly gets your face out there and people know you a bit more, which is lovely,” he said. “The odd time you do get recognised. But in London you kind of get lost among everyone, which is great. And I look quite different from James, with his slicked-back hair.”

There have been occasions when co-stars are recognised, but not Ralph. “I was walking down a street in London with Rachel Shenton, who plays Helen,” he explained. “A couple stopped Rachel, and said: ‘Oh, you’re in All Creatures Great And Small! Can we get a picture?’ I offered to take the photo and the couple said: ‘Yes, please, if you don’t mind.’ It was at that point that Rachel said: ‘Do you not know who that is? It’s Nick, he plays James.’ Only then did they do a double take.

“The same thing happened when I was in a bar in Harrogate with Callum Woodhouse, who plays Tristan Farnon. I remember Cal laughing and saying to them: ‘Do you not want him in it?’ But it’s quite good being incognito.”

Ralph, who starred in National Theatre of Scotland’s Interference alongside Shyvonne Ahmmad, was grateful for the support from people in the community where he grew up.

“My dad says every day someone stops him in the street and tells him they love the show. Months after season one aired, I remember him saying: ‘It’s still all going on here, Nicholas. It’s crazy!’ But that probably meant one person had spoken to him in the golf club or something like that,” he joked.

“My folks are incredibly proud of what I’m doing. I was very fortunate. When I said I wanted to be an actor, I think they thought perhaps that I was a bit mental. But at the same time, they were really supportive, which I am incredibly grateful for.

“Now they absolutely love the show. They’ve been down to the set a couple of times. They’ve met all the other actors. They are absolutely loving it. They are over the moon.”

Ralph was inspired by fellow Scots actors James McAvoy, David Tennant and Alan Cumming but also admired Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy and Daniel Day-Lewis.

“James McAvoy went to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and graduated a few years before me. He’s someone to look towards,” said Ralph.

“I love David Tennant – and Alan Cumming, who is a fantastic actor. I study what they do. I watch them talk about acting. I watch interviews with them, and I watch the behind the scenes of their films. All of that stuff is just so useful and then of course I watch them actually do their thing. And it’s funny how much you pick up just watching someone’s performance because a lot of actors have little things they might do.”

There are lots of roles he’d like to play, including humanoid Vecna in sci-fi fantasy series Stranger Things. He said: “I watch things quite regularly and think I’d like to do it, but a lot of the time I’m not right for the part.”

Fans of All Creatures Great And Small were delighted when his character married at the start of series three and was made a partner in the veterinary practice.

“James seems to fill out his vet’s coat a little more. He’s trying to progress and modernise the practice,” explained Ralph.

Series four is on the horizon but the cast is not giving away any spoilers. “I have no idea what’s planned. The only thing I can go on are the books, and this is an adaptation, so we aren’t following them chapter by chapter,” said Ralph.

“But my hope for James is that he solidifies his place professionally within the practice. I know that during this time, when people got married, family wasn’t too far on the horizon. So, if something like that was to happen, then it would be wonderful, really cool, to be a young father.”

Ralph, a keen golfer, has treated himself to new clubs. “That was one thing I wanted to do. So, I’ve got really nice golf clubs now,” he said.

He’s unsure if there are plans for an All Creatures film – there were two movies made prior to the original BBC series which ran from 1978 to 1990. “I have no idea, but I’ll definitely put it out there,” he said with a laugh.

All Creatures Great And Small, Channel 5, Thursdays, 9pm, and available to stream on My5