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To find out more about Alf Wight or James Herriot as he was known to his fans, Ellie meets Rosie, his daughter, at the top of Sutton Bank, a large limestone escarpment overlooking North Yorkshire. Alf always said it was the ‘finest view in England’ and his ashes were spread here by his children. Ellie learns from Rosie about the real vet behind the books and explains how Alf saw himself as 99% vet and only 1% author. He was a gentleman, a modest man, who showed her and her brother the best things in life. 

Adam Henson is in Yorkshire looking at animal breeds that originated in the county,  including pigs, sheep and even dogs. In the Yorkshire Dales National Park he meets shepherd Roy Nelson, who has been farming Swaledale sheep all his working life. And in the outskirts of Tadcaster he meets father and son team Ron and David Fieldhouse and their herd of Large White pigs. At its height, the breed was exported to many countries, and became known as the world’s favourite pig. Adam also comes face to face with one of the smallest county breeds – the Yorkshire terrier. 

The building that was once Alf’s surgery and the family home still stands. It’s been lovingly restored to show what it was like to live and work there. Jim, Alf Wight's son, takes Ellie on a tour including the room where Alf would have met with local Farmers needing his help. They explore the unusual remedies and instruments, once widely used and now left in the past, pushed aside by modern veterinary science.

Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week the East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service is on call. Joe Crowley visits the hub of the operation, the Casualty Centre, where he meets a poorly hedgehog with a rather bunged up nose. But it’s not long before Joe hits the road with founding member, Trevor Weeks. Their mission is to rescue a much bigger and potentially more dangerous animal which has got itself into bit of a mess.

James Herriot's books sold in their millions, and were so well loved they were turned into a weekly TV show that ran for 13 years. It became one of Britain’s best loved programmes and made a star of the Actor who played James Herriot. Ellie joins Christopher Timothy on a local farm to hear about making the show and the vet training he had to do. She also learns about the influence the programme had on thousands of viewers and how it inspired their decision to work with animals.

Winter can be a tricky time for British wildlife and for hedgehogs the festive season is particularly tough. Hedgehog numbers are thought to have declined by a third since the start of the millennium. John Craven visits two determined hedgehog helpers to find out what we can all do to help our prickly friends through the Christmas season.

Have you ever wanted to know how horses work? Then watch Ellie as she grabs a brush and helps to paint bones and muscles on the side of a horse.  It’s a technique developed by Equine physical therapist Gillian Higgins to teach people how horse’s bones and muscles flex and stretch when they are being ridden. Ellie joins Gillian at Nottingham Trent University’s Equine Studies Centre and sees for herself how Gillian’s techniques are helping horse riders gain a better understanding. Ellie gets in the saddle herself for a close up look during a series of simple riding exercises.

Skeldale Surgery is still going strong and is now run by a team of vets headed up by Peter Wright and Julian Norton. Ellie joins them on the rounds to find out more about how being a vet in a rural community has changed since Alf’s time, particularly in Yorkshire. Together they visit local Farmer John Swales to pregnancy test some of his pride herd of Limousine Cattle and hear his memories of Alf.