Name: Patricia Hodge interview: Mrs Pumphrey has a new dog in 'All Creatures' Season 4!
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Patricia Hodge interview: Mrs Pumphrey has a new dog in 'All Creatures' Season 4!

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Skip to contentAll Creatures Great and Small is back this autumn!Based on the much-loved collection of stories by author James Herriot, Channel 5’s hit period drama follows the heartwarming and humorous adventures of a young country vet in the Yorkshire Dales.As we return to Skeldale House in the spring of 1940, there’s change on the horizon for everyone.Watch the trailer here:Season 4 premieres in the UK at 9pm&nbsp;on&nbsp;Thursday 5 October on Channel 5, with six brand new episodes airing weekly.All Creatures Great and Small returns in the US early next year&nbsp;on PBS Masterpiece.American viewers can catch up on the first three seasons with&nbsp;this free 7-day trial of the PBS Masterpiece channel on Amazon Prime!Here, Miranda actress Patricia Hodge chats about what’s coming up for her character Mrs Pumphrey, and reveals her favourite tea rooms in Yorkshire:&nbsp;How does Mrs Pumphrey cope with the military presence in the Dales this season?“Well, she’s all about community, we have to remember that. She loves community. She takes her position as being a matriarchal figure and a benefactor to the community very seriously in all respects.“And it was great to have the army guys around, to have all these young men in their uniforms, and in the training camp. Initially, she has a garden party that she invites them all to and it gives her a great sense of purpose.”&nbsp;What does the season have in store for Mrs Pumphrey?“She has this garden party arranged so she actually comes into the surgery because for the war, she’s taking in one or two other animals. And she’s adopted a dog called Cedric who has a somewhat anti-social problem.“This storyline has quite a humorous element which was fun to film, it’s quite amusing from that point of view that she takes him in and we see her discomfort.“And, of course, there’s the new vet there, Carmody (James Anthony-Rose), who she doesn’t really want to have to deal with, because she likes Uncle Herriot.“And he rubs her up the wrong way, Richard Carmody, and so there’s a bit of a dance that goes on for the rest of the series about whether she’ll accept the new status quo. It’s a question of how they adjust to each other over the episodes.“Carmody’s an interloper, if you like, in all respects. And like with all these things, you have to get your head around the community you’ve landed in, and he takes a while to attune to it.“His style with patients and people is not great, and they will have to educate him into it. And similarly, they have to be educated into what it is that he is bringing.“He’s very knowledgeable, and he’s very serious about what he’s doing, and that puts up a lovely new tone into the whole thing.”&nbsp;And how does Tricki feel about having a new dog in the house?“Tricki is okay, but the trouble is that Cedric is so bouncy and so unsettled that Tricki can’t form a relationship with him. So that obviously affects her. This is the story of how they settle Cedric’s problem.”&nbsp;What was it like working with a new, bouncy dog?“Well, he’s unbelievably strong, the dog we had. Really, really strong to the extent I almost got pulled over by him.“But anyway, I managed it with good dog training. The dog handlers are amazing. So that was a different experience!”&nbsp;What’s it like filming on location at Broughton Hall in Skipton as Pumphrey Manor?“Well, it’s beautiful, it really is, but it makes for very long days for me because we do tend to have rather a lot of scenes on the days we film there.“An amusing detail that I discovered…when we film at Broughton Hall, of course, they have to tape every single one of the windows in wartime fashion.“Windows had to be cross taped, each pane, so that they would withstand any blast that happened and stop them from shattering and becoming dangerous.“Well, you can imagine the number of windows that they have to tape up at Broughton Hall. And they do every single one immaculately. I always stare up at them and think, ‘Someone has got to get up and remove every single one of those tapes when we’ve finished filming.’“So I’m always very admiring of people who do that. It’s laborious.”&nbsp;Do you have a favourite place in Yorkshire?“Well, I love being based in Harrogate, which I think is a really lovely city, and a visit to Bettys Tea Rooms, if I can squeeze it in, it’s the best treat in the world.“It’s the most beautiful business, so beautifully run. You feel like it’s the way life used to be.”&nbsp;Any favourite moments from filming?“One of the nice things this series is a relationship that suddenly gets forged between Mrs P and Helen who’s having a difficult time, and Mrs Pumphrey engages with her and is able to give her some advice.“And we learn a little bit more about Mrs Pumphrey’s past. The scene with Helen was nice to be able to do. Anything which develops a relationship – that isn’t just serving the plot but goes a little deeper.”&nbsp;Next, you’re heading to the West End with Nigel Havers in Private Lives?“I’ve always tried to do that throughout my career. I like to go from one medium to the other. It keeps you on your toes.“It’s a different kind of discipline, and I think it makes you fresher at each thing you do. So it’s ideal really to be able to go from one to another, so this year, I started with a regional tour of the play.“I then did a feature film, and then I’ve done All Creatures. And now I’m doing theatre again.”&nbsp;All Creatures Great and Small&nbsp;is&nbsp;available to watch on PBS Masterpiece via Amazon Prime with a free 7-day trial.

Skip to contentAll Creatures Great and Small is back this autumn!Based on the much-loved collection of stories by author James Herriot, Channel 5’s hit period drama follows the heartwarming and humorous adventures of a young country vet in the Yorkshire Dales.As we return to Skeldale House in the spring of 1940, there’s change on the horizon for everyone.Watch the trailer here:Season 4 premieres in the UK at 9pm&nbsp;on&nbsp;Thursday 5 October on Channel 5, with six brand new episodes airing weekly.All Creatures Great and Small returns in the US early next year&nbsp;on PBS...

Patricia Hodge interview: Mrs Pumphrey has a new dog in 'All Creatures' Season 4!

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