Nicholas Ralph has become a household name thanks to his role as James Herriot in the new adaption of the iconic series, All Creatures Great and Small.
But before joining the legendary period vet drama, which is based on the books by real-life vet Alf Wight and originally ran on the BBC from 1978 to 1990, Nicholas also appeared in films The Devil's Light, A Most Reluctant Convert and The Wife.
Nicholas is now back for All Creatures Great and Small season 5. The latest series sees his character James serving in the RAF and he told us: "I had to learn the RAF salute, and then teach it to our supporting artists! But I also went to RAF Hendon in North London, which has hangars full of planes starting from World War One right through to the modern day. It was great going back and seeing the Spitfires and Lancasters. I also went to the Churchill War Rooms, and the Imperial War Museum. And then when we filmed the scenes in Lincolnshire surrounded by all the supporting artists and the planes it was incredible and very exciting."
But what else is there to know about the actor behind the vet from the Yorkshire Dales?
Nicholas Ralph isn't actually Scottish
While Nicholas grew up in the Scottish Highlands, he was actually born in Cape Town. He not only spent his early life in South Africa, but he also had family in Georgia and Texas, meaning he spent much of his childhood visiting the US, too.
He gets on brilliantly with his co-star Rachel Shenton
When asked by PBS.org about his friendship with his All Creatures Great and Small co-star Rachel Shenton, Nicholas revealed they have a great bond: "We have so much fun. Before a take, if it’s something fun and James and Helen are having a laugh or really enjoying being in one another’s company, we always try and make each other laugh, either do a silly voice, or Rach sometimes will pull faces."
He's had some close shaves with the animals on set
The old adage has always warned TV stars against working with children and animals... and Nicholas can vouch for that! He told us: "So we had Jester the bull who was two tonnes and the size of a shed. This series we have Monty the bull who is younger and smaller but from the same lineage and the same breeders. He's still a big dude! I had to learn how to ring his nose. It’s sometimes quite intimidating around the bigger animals but luckily they are trained so well so it was all fine."
Talking about the animals in the fourth series, he says: "We have a boxer dog who's got a bit of an anti-social problem which is very funny. That's with lovely Mrs. Pumphrey so you can imagine there's a lot of fun to be had there. We have some goats that get loose in Skeldale and run amok. The animals are just trained so well it is absolutely brilliant. They never put a foot wrong, and I was asking the animal wrangler how do they do that? They did it with a buzzer and some food. So, they would press the buzzer and then the goats would know that that's where the food was. It was so impressive. That was a really good day. It was a lot of fun".
He doesn't have any pets of his own
Despite working with animals on set, Nicholas doesn't have any pets himself. He told Psb.org: "I live in a little flat in London and I'm hardly ever in it, so no, I don't have any pets. I used to have a guinea pig called Nip, because she nipped and nibbled the ends of your fingers, but that was when I was a kid."
He compares playing football to being an actor
Having grown up playing a lot of football, Nicholas says he can see a lot of similarities between the sport and working on the set of a TV show.
He told PBS.org: "More often than not, I was captain of the football team, as well, growing up, and I loved that and it’s something I really missed. And then being one of the main characters (in All Creatures Great and Small), I really felt that bit of responsibility again, like the captaincy role. I loved that, and trying to bringing everyone together, and I found something that I thought I’d never find again, since playing football."
He grew up surrounded by farm animals
The bond that Nicholas has with animals on screen as vet James Herriot isn't just for show, the actor actually grew up with livestock pretty much in his garden in the Scottish Highlands.
He told PBS.org: "When we were little kids, the farmer would lift us onto the back of one cow and take us the length of the garden. We named her Friendly because she wasn’t scared of us, which is quite sweet. Other times there were cows that actually broke out and they’d be in your garden, munching the flowers."
He had to do a 'vet bootcamp' for the role of James Herriot
Despite already knowing one end of a cow from the other before getting the role thanks to growing up in rural Scotland, Nicholas told Town and Country that he went on a vet bootcamp before filming started: "From the start I said, 'I want to do as much as possible that's still allowed,' because the rules for animals in entertainment have changed in the last 75 years, so now you can't do anything that one, the animal doesn't require, and two, you're not trained to do."
Nicholas Ralph's fact file
Answers to the most frequently asked questions about the actor....
How old is Nicholas Ralph?
Nicholas was born on April 13 in 1990 which makes him 34 years old.
Where was Nicholas Ralph born?
Nicholas Ralph was born in Cape Town, South Africa.
Is Nicholas Ralph married?
No, Nicholas isn't married.
Does Nicholas Ralph have any children?
No, Nicholas doesn't have any children.
Twitter: @NicholasRalph_
Instagram : @nicholasralph_
We work hard to ensure that all information is correct. Facts that change over time, such as age, will be correct, to the best of our knowledge, at the time of the last article update.
