This script has been lightly edited for clarity.

 

Jace Lacob: I’m Jace Lacob, and you’re listening to MASTERPIECE Studio.

Life at Skeldale House always keeps its residents on their toes, whether it’s an emergency farm call out, goats running wild, or just Siegfried being Siegfried. But today, the excitement revolves around the arrival of James’s newest veterinary student, Richard Carmody. 

 

CLIP

Siegfried: Mr. Carmody, I presume?

Richard: You presume right. 

Siegfried: Final year, RVC?

Richard: Yes, specializing in equine science.

Siegfried: Standards must be slipping.

Richard: I’m not sure I understand.

Siegfried: You were late.

Richard: I was not. I arrived in Darrowby an hour ahead of schedule only to discover the street signs had been removed to discourage enemy invaders. It took a little extra time to locate Skeldale House through no fault of my own, and yet I arrived at three sharp as arranged with Mr. Herriot.

Siegfried: I stand corrected. Farnon, Siegfried. Don’t ask.

Richard: It’s a pleasure, sir.

 

It becomes very apparent very soon that while Richard has exceptional academic knowledge, his interpersonal skills are lacking. 

 

CLIP

James: Keep mother and calf quarantined. Disinfect regularly, top to bottom. Your best chances to stop the spread.

Sid Crabtree: Well, how did it start in the first place?

James: Was the new calf a recent addition?

Elsie Crabtree: No, we bought her in calf a few weeks back.

James: She was probably already infected. She hasn’t grazed with the others?

Sid Crabtree: Aye, of course.

Richard: Schoolboy error.

Sid Crabtree: I beg your pardon?

Richard: Any farmer worth his salt knows to keep a new beast separate.

Sid Crabtree: Excuse me!

James: I’m sorry, Mr. Carmody is rather new to this. He doesn’t mean to be rude.

(slips in manure)

 

With Tristan gone and James leaving for training, the veterinary practice needs Richard to succeed. But his greatest challenge yet isn’t the animals or even the owners.

 

CLIP

Mrs. Pumphrey: You told Mr. Farnon that you couldn’t get behind the wheel again. This won’t do at all.

Richard: Yes, but—

Mrs. Pumphrey: With Mr. Herriot gone, you need to pull your weight. So I’m going to give you a driving lesson.

Richard: I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I can’t drive a Rolls Royce!

Mrs. Pumphrey: You’re in at the deep end dear boy. That’s the only thing for it!

 

Will Richard rise to the occasion? Actor James Anthony-Rose joins us to share how he approached playing the smart and particular Richard Carmody, and what he shares with his character both on and off the set.

 

Jace Lacob: And this week we are joined by All Creatures Great and Small star James Anthony Rose. Welcome.

James Anthony-Rose: Thank you very much, Jace.

Jace Lacob: So you’re coming into an established production in its fourth series, which can be daunting even for a veteran actor. What was the atmosphere like on set on your first day, and how did the cast of All Creatures welcome you?

James Anthony-Rose: With open arms, I can quite genuinely say. It’s a real family unit that exists in the world of All Creatures, both on and off screen. I know that sounds perhaps a bit corny to say, but it is genuinely true in this instance. And so, I was incredibly lucky to find myself being very, very quickly osmosed into this group. It’s such a team effort. The costume and makeup people are the first people you usually meet, and they were incredibly welcoming and very encouraging. And then that continued into the cast and the producers and the writers, everyone involved. So, it was an incredibly warm atmosphere to be welcomed into. And yeah, I felt very supported by everybody.

Jace Lacob: Most television shows are shot entirely out of order, leading actors to have to keep track of their character arcs and emotional beats. But I am curious here, what was the first scene you shot for All Creatures Great and Small, and what went through your mind when Stewart yelled, action?

James Anthony-Rose: I believe that my first scene, if I remember it correctly, was with Sam and Anna as Siegfried and Mrs. Hall in the kitchen, sat around the kitchen table. I was sort of thrown in at the deep end and my whole start in this series was a baptism of fire really, because for various scheduling reasons, we had to shoot it out of chronological order.

So, it wasn’t the first scene that you see me in, it was actually a bit further along into Carmody’s storyline. But something about sitting at that table with the lovely faces of Sam and Anna, it was strange because I had to be sort of settled in by that point, because Carmody had been a little bit established. So, I did have to jump ahead. But I felt completely safe taking that jump, that leap of faith. You sort of have to take that leap as an actor and hope that it lands. But that adrenaline rush, that’s what you feel, I think, when you hear the word action, and you just go for it.

Jace Lacob: Yeah, but my God, what a first day. I mean, that’s amazing. Richard, despite being a very knowledgeable vet, is still rather unsure around actual animals and there’s a discomfort or unease to him in those scenes at times. What sort of hands-on research did you receive ahead of time? And did it help at all to walk that fine line of knowledge without experience when playing Richard?

James Anthony-Rose: Yeah, the production put me in touch with Andy Barrett, who’s the on set vet consultant, and who actually worked with Alf Wight and Donald Sinclair as well, the character that Siegfried is based on. So, Andy took me around a farm and I met a couple of horses and a cow and some calves, and we listened to their heartbeat. So yeah, in that sense, I was getting the basics in so far as what a vet needs to know with regards to how to use a stethoscope and things like that.

But I thought it was important as well, that I sort of learned that and then unlearned it almost for playing Carmody, as he’s practically not very good. He doesn’t really hold his stethoscope in the right way, and he has to look a bit clumsy at first. But I was also conscious of making sure that I didn’t make the animals feel uncomfortable around me because it was important that we work within safe parameters and that they didn’t feel uneasy around this strange person who clearly didn’t know what they were doing.

Jace Lacob: I love that notion of learning and then unlearning.

James Anthony-Rose: Yeah.

Jace Lacob: Richard Carmody brings an entirely different energy to Skeldale House, especially in the wake of the departure of Tristan. He’s literal, he’s serious, he’s entirely out of his element at times in the real world, often in a world of his own. What’s your take on Richard Carmody as a character? What makes him tick?

James Anthony-Rose: Hmm. I’d say he’s very driven and very determined. When we first meet him, he is keen to impress, I think. He’s grown up being top of the class, I think, and has really only thrived in education contexts, being at a boarding school. He’s kind of like a precision tool in that sense. But it’s all very learned. And so he sticks to that lane and he’s set on this one track of, I am going to know everything I need to know about this field, veterinary practice specifically, he specializes in equine science. So, horses are his main thing, he would have you believe anyway.

So, it’s this thing of at first, maybe seeming like there isn’t much to teach him and is very self-assured. But as we know, people who perhaps come across that way on the surface actually are a little insecure or incredibly perhaps insecure in themselves. And it’s a kind of armor that he wears, I think, to protect himself from the things that I think he feels not so sure about, like his interpersonal skills and making a connection with people.

And part of his journey in this series is him beginning to let that mask, that front of being very academic and that seems to be all there is to him, but actually knowing that he does have a heart and that there is a person under all of that to warm to and to get to know. So, it was lovely, a really nice thing as an actor to play both of those things. You’re always thinking about subtext and what’s really going on underneath.

Jace Lacob: There’s a lot of humor in All Creatures, but a lot of that humor often goes straight over Richard’s head. He’s often unsure how to act or interact with people such as in episode four’s egg scene. I’m wondering how you approached that aspect of his character. Did you see Carmody as being at all what we might today call being on the spectrum or neurodivergent?

James Anthony-Rose: Yeah, I think there probably is. Yeah, it could be said that he may be on the spectrum and if people who are, watch it and identify with Carmody, then that is, I think, really good. Because he faces these things that he finds challenging, and he doesn’t let them define him and they’re just part of his character. He does find things difficult, but through people’s support, he gets through it and builds relationships through that without really intending to or realizing that he has. So that’s really a touching thing to see.

Jace Lacob: James offers Richard a piece of advice on his first day.

 

CLIP

James: The animals are the easy part, of course. It’s the people that cause all the bother.

 

Jace Lacob: And Richard looks rather dubiously at James. What does he make of James initially, or indeed of anyone who believes that they have something to teach him?

James Anthony-Rose: I think he sees in James something that he greatly admires but knows that he can’t really adopt because James has got this way with talking to people. And I think Carmody is probably a little bit bemused at first by that ability and maybe doesn’t see it as relevant to his work. But I think there’s a great respect there that I don’t think he really quite knows how to deal with. Maybe not being threatened by it, but I think someone like James kind of fascinates him.

Jace Lacob: Upon his arrival, Richard comes face to face with Mrs. Pumphrey at Skeldale House. She’s intimidating, but he’s not intimidated by her at all. In fact, he’s rather brusque with her, rather blunt.

 

CLIP

Mrs. Pumphrey: My community tea party is just around the corner. The aim is to raise everyone’s spirits, not bombard them with noxious gas.

Richard: Perhaps one could keep the dog outside?

Mrs. Pumphrey: Banish him from the bosom of his foster family? Oh, I couldn’t countenance such cruelty.

Richard: Do you always treat your animals like people?

 

Jace Lacob: Does he view Mrs. Pumphrey as ridiculous or even outrightly absurd in her treatment of Cedric or Tricki?

James Anthony-Rose: Yeah, I think again, it’s something that he wasn’t expecting to find. I don’t think he’s ever really come across someone like Mrs. Pumphrey. Something that Stewart, the director, and I discussed early on was that he’s not emoting things when he’s delivering those lines of questioning Mrs. Pumphrey about, “Do you always treat your animals like people?”

He’s not trying to be rude, he genuinely is just curious, almost. But he doesn’t realize that he’s coming across as a bit blunt. So, it’s that funny thing of him just sort of going into every situation without putting any sort of angle on it, almost, that ‘it just is’, was the thing that we’d say about Carmody a lot of the time, it just is.

Jace Lacob: It just is. We’re only given little teases of Richard’s home life before now. His parents, we learn, are often abroad. He says he was sent to boarding school and then college. What sort of home life do you think he had? And is his lack of connection to people perhaps based around a lack of parental or familial warmth?

James Anthony-Rose: Yeah, absolutely. I think that he doesn’t really know any other world except the world of school. And I think his family life, yeah, there’s an absence there. You know, if he’s been off to boarding school for that length of time, he won’t have been around his family and so there is something lacking there. There isn’t that connection with his parents. I don’t think that he grew up in the most warm family home. But that’s all he knows. So, he’s just sort of accepted it. And only now that he’s being able to compare his family life with this newfound family, suddenly, all of that, I think, starts to come to the surface a lot more.

Jace Lacob: I love Richard and Siegfried’s rapport, and to me it’s the scene in the car after the Chapman’s farm visit that clinches that dynamic.

 

CLIP

Richard: Our new PM believes suffering lies ahead. And that suffering will be greater if we cannot feed the country.

Siegfried: True.

Richard: I intend to serve by doing my duty to our farmers. We’re a reserved occupation for a reason.

Siegfried: Indeed we are.

 

Jace Lacob: Is that Richard’s entire raison d’etre?

James Anthony-Rose: Yeah, like I say, he’s committed to this idea. And once he’s decided that is the way forward, it’s very hard to move him from that. It’s a very touching moment, because I think he kind of knows probably that he wouldn’t last five minutes in the army. He’s not soldier material. And so I think in that sense, he knows his limitations to some extent, he knows that he is just going to best serve as a vet and to support the farmers and make sure that the country is fed. And he sees that as his responsibility.

 

MIDROLL

 

Jace Lacob: One of the elements of this series that I love most is one that you keep bringing up, and it’s the fact that Skeldale House is very much a found family. Richard begins on the outside, but over the course of these five episodes, he does find his place within this family. And he allows himself to be taught and to be humbled, sometimes quite literally dumped in the muck. And Richard might be a swot, but he’s a lovable swot. Is it a case of Richard just having to be put through his paces?

James Anthony-Rose: Largely, I think his trajectory early on, is having to be sort of taught these lessons, because I think that’s how he best learns. And I could definitely connect with that. It’s that thing of learning on the job and the practical approach, and learning through experience. Yeah, so it’s definitely, I think, a case of him knowing that he’s confronted those challenges, and learning from his mistakes.

Jace Lacob: His mannerisms, especially the bow tie, mark him as an interloper. Where did the idea for the bow tie come from and how does it help to signify Richard’s identity as an outsider in the Dales?

James Anthony-Rose: Yeah, I love that he wears a bow tie. It really encompasses his slight quirkiness and eccentricity. And it was actually at the costume fitting, at my costume fitting, Ros, the costume designer, Ros Little, suggested it and thought, I don’t know if it’s too much. And I said, no, it’s not too much. He’s going to wear a bow tie. And from that point on, it was decided that that was going to be one of his trademarks.

I wanted him to have that slight oddness about him, but sort of oblivious oddness. And there’s something about a bow tie amongst everybody else that, yeah, he does stick out like a bit of a sore thumb. He just sort of carries on regardless, that naivety is a really nice thing to play as well. And I think the best kind of comedy I think comes from people who don’t realize that they’re coming across as funny.

Jace Lacob: But I think it’s also rooted in this very sort of human foible of his that he shows up to a farm in flannels and a smart hat, he’s wearing these spotless clothes and there is this sense that pride goeth before the fall and all that. It’s almost part and parcel of who Richard Carmody is, that he needs to be polished and perfect at all times. And I think it’s very fitting that he would show up, given his naivete, in a bow tie, in a smart hat, in spotless clothes, no protective gear.

James Anthony-Rose: Yeah. It’s almost like he’s, I don’t know, kind of compensating for something. It is that, I think it’s sort of that thing of all the gear, no idea, a little bit. He’s got the best Wellington boots that are spotless and that comes from the books, I think. And James asks, haven’t you got any protective clothing? We’re going to be on the farms. And Carmody says, Oh no, no, I’m sure I’ll be alright. We’re not going to be here long. So, all of that plays into his character.

Jace Lacob: But he does get divine punishment in that scene in the form of a cow pat. And his pristine suit is just destroyed. What was filming this scene like and what was that muck made up of?

James Anthony-Rose: It was, I think, largely made up of Weetabix, I was told. And maybe some chocolate was thrown in there as well either. It was definitely, I think, sort of edible stuff. Maybe some sort of oats. And it was funny because over the course of filming the stuff at the Crabtree’s in that field, there was a herd of cows over on the other side of the field. And I think they got a whiff of these oats and things that had been mixed up on the other side of the field. And gradually over the course of the day, they would sort of edge ever closer towards this patch. And then they would have to be shooed away. And then, of course, once it got on me, I became a walking target. So, I could happily sort of throw my face in it without fear of getting any sort of nasty infection.

Jace Lacob: You could eat it for breakfast, I guess.

James Anthony-Rose: Well, exactly. Yeah.

Jace Lacob: And I love Siegfried’s dressing down of Richard, “Our role is to support, not scold, and also to refrain from throwing oneself in manure if at all possible.” But he’s not sacked. “We just need you to gin up on people for a change.” What lesson does Richard learn here, do you think?

James Anthony-Rose: His whole approach up until that point has been about facts and delivering those facts and it’s something that doesn’t come naturally to him to be able to just talk to people face to face and be reassuring. But it pays dividends by the end. He, again, realizes that if he looks to the owner, the answers will come.

And it’s a self-confidence thing to be able to not have to refer to his books, but to be able to just talk face to face with the owner. And through that dialogue, he will find the cause of the problem, which is, as people will see in the series, something that becomes apparent.

Jace Lacob: It’s Richard’s textbook knowledge that serves to connect the Crabtree’s Brucellosis case with a risk to Helen’s pregnancy. And he offers up a pretty elegant solution to testing. Does Richard feel somewhat vindicated by the power of knowledge after putting his foot in it earlier with his bluntness?

James Anthony-Rose: Oh, yes, absolutely. Yeah, there definitely is an, “I was right, big tick for me” sort of feeling when he brings that knowledge and his newfound research that he brings into the mix, and his sort of very academic obsession with studies, with different case studies, but that can’t be the whole. Again, it’s a balancing act that he has to realize that, yes, that plays a part, but it can’t just be the all.

The part that he plays in the family unit, of the working family at least, is to bring that side of him. But it is only just a side and to make him a fully formed vet, you know, he has to have everything else that James has, which is the human connection.

Jace Lacob: James also has another skill that Richard doesn’t have, which is the fact that Richard can’t drive, a skill he’s going to need if he’s going to be a veterinarian in the Dales. And episode five opens with James trying to teach him only to be overtaken on the road by the tractor. “The books made it sound so simple”, which is the most Carmody thing ever said. And later he nearly crashes Siegfried’s car. Is it true that you can’t drive in real life either?

James Anthony-Rose: It is true. Yes, that was very much art imitating life to have that thrown in. I don’t know if the writers knew that I couldn’t drive and worked that into the storyline. It probably made their lives harder by adding in that because of course, I’m seen to be driving, but of course it’s all done on low loaders. And all of the other shots where I seem to be driving is with a driving double. So I had no prior experience of being behind the wheel or driving a car. I’d always maintained that I couldn’t trust myself in a car. But having said that I have since tried my hand at it and I’m currently getting lessons.

Jace Lacob: Oh, okay.

James Anthony-Rose: Yeah, so it hasn’t forced me, but I thought, well, I’ll give it a go, because I think it’s probably just a good skill to have as an actor.

Jace Lacob: But it’s almost like Richard’s struggle has maybe given you drive to learn.

James Anthony-Rose: Oh yes.

Jace Lacob: James takes Richard to Mrs. Pumphrey, where he examines Tricki Woo, and he tries to win Mrs. P over, but it doesn’t go according to plan. And Richard realizes that James is nervous about going to war, but James says he’s nervous about what he’s leaving behind. He needs this arrangement to work. What does this admission mean to Richard about what’s riding on this?

James Anthony-Rose: I think he recognizes that he needs to step up, that he can’t be just the neat little assistant that is advising on the facts and so on. He’s really got to get fully involved and be very hands on. And that puts a sort of fire under him and, I think he really does throw himself into that role of taking that responsibility. And I don’t think he wants to let James down either. He sees the great work that James has done. And so I think he just wants to try and carry that on and for James to be proud.

I think it’s a very touching thing to see Carmody really trying. It’s a different kind of wanting to impress. It’s not about showing off. It’s about genuinely doing a good job of carrying on the work that James has been doing. He’s greatly inspired by seeing James and Siegfried. They’re the real deal, I think, in his eyes. And yeah, he comes to realize that what they have is definitely required of you if you want to be a good vet. And he desperately wants to be a good vet. So he listens and he learns and so he takes up that baton.

Jace Lacob: And then he does show Mrs. P some deference. He shows Tricki some affection. He realizes it’s Tricki’s new shampoo that’s causing his skin irritation. And he turns over this new leaf but having said that I love that it’s not Siegfried, it’s not James, but it’s Mrs. Pumphrey who ends up teaching Richard how to drive after he’s exhausted the others’ patience. And these two are not on the best of terms before this. She can’t even seem to get his name right half the time. But the scenes in the Rolls Royce here end up being some of my favorite of the entire series. How fun were these scenes to film?

James Anthony-Rose: They were great. I mean, to be sat behind the wheel of a Rolls Royce with Tricki to my left, it was just such a wonderful set piece and having Francois in the back as well. It’s such a motley crew that you see gathered. And like I say, the rabbit in the headlights-ness of me sat behind the wheel not really knowing, I didn’t really have to act some of that because I genuinely thought, well, you know, if they ask me to drive this thing even just out of the courtyard, I just would have been sweating buckets.

So, there’s something very funny about seeing someone who’s quite flustered. And I think that is something that I found appealing to play as Carmody, as someone who’s a little bit uptight and cross, and irritable because they’ve been very uncomfortable and they’ve been put in the hot seat, literally. But the way that Mrs. Pumphrey is just so kind of, now, now, come on, just keep it together. That was a really fun thing to film, and we were all looking forward to doing it.

Jace Lacob: Mrs. Pumphrey also has a lot at stake with Richard. She needs him to work out as a vet while James is away. But unlike Siegfried and James, she teaches Richard to drive by using a kinder, softer approach, and Tricki, of course. Do you see this scene as a metaphor for what will ultimately help Richard rise to the occasion, that there is value in the kinder approach and that animals and their owners can teach the vets a thing or two?

James Anthony-Rose: That’s a very nice way of putting it. Yeah, I think that’s a lovely metaphor, that if he carries on in this way that he will see that it does work. And ultimately, I think he’s probably happier for it as well, that he’s able to sort of let go a bit more and to know that he doesn’t have to have all the answers, that it’s not a test, that he is there to do good work. And if he does that with the right approach of a kindness and I think a patience with himself as well, then that will be very rewarding and fulfilling. And I don’t think he was expecting to discover any of that.

Jace Lacob: You end up in scenes this series alongside cows, horses, tortoises, dogs, and cats, among many other creatures, great and small. Which animal co-star was your favorite?

James Anthony-Rose: Hmm. The tortoise, Bernard, was the first animal that I treated in the examination room.

Jace Lacob:  He may have given you fleas, but….

James Anthony-Rose: Yeah, exactly. He may have done, but yeah, something of him rubbed off on me, definitely. I felt a certain affinity with Bernard because I guess it was the tortoise coming out of its shell, and going at its own pace, I think Richard could relate to, and I certainly could, coming into this new working environment. So, I remember that scene very fondly. So, if I had to pick one, I’d go with Bernard the Tortoise.

Jace Lacob: I love that. So, there are two episodes left of All Creatures Great and Small. What can you tease about what’s coming up for Richard Carmody?

James Anthony-Rose: Hmm. Well, he now is settling into the new setup at Skeldale. So, he kind of is able to start to build up a bit more of a routine, the day to day goings on. And now that he’s established himself, I think he’s able to maybe take a bit more of a backseat, not in the car. But he does everything with such a serious determination and sort of quietly getting on with his tasks. But also, of course, he is starting to find that there is a place for him at the dinner table at Skeldale as well.

So, I think his development in the family dynamic and having little run-ins with Siegfried as well, of course, you know, to keep him on his toes. So yeah, many of the same things that he’s come to be known for in the goings on at Skeldale House.

Jace Lacob: Knowledge, fleas, and family, as Siegfried says. James Anthony-Rose, thank you so very much.

James Anthony-Rose: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

 

Next time, the action continues to escalate as we reach the end of Season Four of Miss Scarlet and The Duke.

 

CLIP

Fitzroy: Has Mr. Nash ever mentioned the name Eamonn before?

Phelps: Her boss is a suspect. Talk about conflict of interest.

Eliza: Patrick Nash is many things but he’s not a murderer.

Phelps: Maybe not. But he was looking for someone right before they were killed. And he was seen by their dead body, and then he disappeared.

Eliza: He hasn’t disappeared.

Phelps: He’s not at home, he’s not at work, or any of his usual haunts. So where is he then?

 

Join us next Sunday as we sit down with writers and spouses Rachael New and Ben Edwards as we discuss the season finale of Miss Scarlet and The Duke.