The Dales are alive with the sound of what seems like hundreds of cast and crew, all hard at work when I visit the huge studio in the north Yorkshire village of Grassington, home of . Walking onto the set of Skeldale House offers a step back in time to a striking moment in history that actor Nicholas Ralph (who plays James Herriot) reflects on when I sit down with him in the vets’ beautifully brown drawing room.

“It’s spring 1946,” he begins. “The sun has started to burst through, there is hope and, post-war, a future that people can plan for. We’re diving into the era, which should be happy days, but food rationing actually continued into the 1950s. I’m learning things all the time.”

Producers are tight-lipped about specific events in this seventh series of Channel 5’s hit reboot, but word has it there’s a new local vet in Darrowby to disrupt the status quo. And Herriot is also on the move, it seems.

“At the start of the series both James and Helen are in London,” reveals Ralph. “James is giving a speech at the Royal Veterinary College. That speech gives him the chance to reminisce about his first foray into the Dales and his introduction to farmers. It’s very sweet and shows how far James has come.”

Sitting next to Ralph is Rachel Shenton, who plays his wife Helen. “She’s in London to visit her sister Jenny [Imogen Clawson] at nursing college,” Shenton explains. “Jenny’s flown the nest, so Helen is full of pride in that, but also missing her. Our characters’ relationship keeps evolving.”

For both actors, their pride in the drama’s continuing success is palpable. “There were nerves going in, thinking, ‘Don’t muck it up’,” Ralph remembers. “But the enthusiasm and love we’ve received is incredible. Filming around here, we bump into people from America and Japan, all wanting the Dales experience off the back of the show.”

Shenton agrees: “People seem to like telling me who they watch it with, whether it’s their gran or their children. It’s a rare show that different generations can enjoy.” For that, both credit the world that Alf Wight created in his original books. “They were about community,” says Ralph, “looking out for your corner of the world and each other. Love and kindness is at the heart of the books and also the show.”

The success of and its ensuing long run has been a particular pleasure for actor Samuel West, who plays Siegfried Farnon. I find him in the vast prop room adjoining the set. “I’ve never had the pleasure of playing someone for this long,” he says. “He’s a man who knows his own mind but not always his own feelings, so the audience is often slightly ahead of him; we have to let him work it out in his own time.”

One of those challenges comes in the form of housekeeper Mrs Hall (Anna Madeley), with many fans hoping her dynamic with Siegfried will take a romantic turn. West, it would appear,
is as torn as the rest of us. “I think we’re in no doubt he sees her as wise, funny and a true friend. But she’s also the housekeeper. What would happen if she turned him down, was offended and left the job? Skeldale House would fall apart. There are many reasons why they shouldn’t be together, and only one reason they should...”

Another evolving relationship in the new series is that between Siegfried and his younger brother Tristan (Callum Woodhouse), who has returned from wartime service carrying personal burdens that Siegfried, used to being older and bossier, is powerless to relieve.

The pain that Tristan brings with him from the war reminds Siegfried of his own,” explains West. “So he has more respect and understanding of his brother than before. The hard thing for him to do as a control freak is to let Tristan make his own mistakes. But he has to, because nothing teaches you more than that.”

With series seven in the can and the eighth already commissioned, how long will West want to reside at Skeldale House? “I always say I’m happy to continue, as long as the story arc makes sense. I’m having the time of my life with this ensemble, but we all care about the show enough to know when we’ve done enough.

“If it becomes the role I’m defined by, I’ll have no complaints. I love being part of something bigger than the sum of its parts. Also, we get to spend four months of the year in the Yorkshire Dales. What’s not to love?”