All Creatures Great and Small Star shares health update with fans after hospital dash ahead of Channel 5 show’s return
ALL Creatures Great and Small star Rachel Shenton has shared a candid health update with fans ahead of series 5.
The actor, who plays Helen Herriot, revealed she was hospitalised as a result of a hamstring injury.
On Sunday (15 September) Rachel, 36, took to Instagram to share details of her injury with her 88,000 fans.
The Hollyoaks alum posted a number of images collated into a video of herself in hospital and on crutches on her Instagram story as she revealed she’s been experiencing a hamstring injury.
However, the photos she posted reveal that she seems to be on the mend. In one shot, Rachel is all smiles posing in her hospital room, while in another she is smiling and moving around her living room wearing a knee brace and crutches.
In the video, she also shares pictures of her friends and family offering their steadfast support at her bedside.
Thanking them for their support, she wrote: “Wholesome month of R&R after a hamstring injury… thanks so much for the pit crew for keeping me sane. Wish I had pictures of all of you – I love you very much.”
In her next story, Rachel shared an image of the All Creatures Great and Small cast and wrote “3 days to season 5.”
Rachel, who had finished filming all the scenes for the upcoming series before her injury, will return as Helen Herriot alongside Nicholas Ralph as vet James Herriot, Samuel West as Siegfried Farnon, Anna Madeley as Mrs Hall, Patricia Hodge as Mrs Pumphrey, Callum Woodhouse as Tristan Farnon and series 4 newcomer James Anthony Rose as Richard Carmody.
Picking up from the event of the dramatic 2023 Christmas Special – where James sadly missed the birth of his son – All Creatures Great and Small takes viewers back to Yorkshire for more dales drama on Thursday 19th September.
The latest series is set in Spring 1941 in Darrowby, where young baby Jimmy keeps our favourite Skeldale House family on their toes.
According to the official synopsis: “Helen is getting the hang of motherhood with James away at RAF Abingdon.”
Meanwhile, “Mrs Hall and Siegfried are enjoying having a little one around, and Carmody is now part of the furniture.”
“With World War II now fully underway, Siegfried is taking up the slack at the surgery. Mrs Hall and Helen are considering their contribution within the community, and Carmody is eager to step up.”
Episode 1 of series 5 will air at 9pm on Channel 5 and My5.
It’s set to be a dramatic one as the effects of World War II are felt by the Darrowby community.
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- All Creatures Great and Small – Based on the best-selling novels by real-life vet Alf Wright, the show revolves around a trio of vets working in the Yorkshire Dales in the late 1930s. Eccentric Siegfried Farnon (Samuel West) hires James Herriot (Nicholas Ralph) for his veterinary practice at Skeldale House alongside himself and his younger brother Tristan (Callum Woodhouse). There James settles into his new life and even finds love with local farmer’s daughter Helen (Rachel Shenton).
- The Ex-Wife – New parents Tasha (Céline Buckens) and Jack (Tom Misson) seem to have the perfect life, but the constant presence of Jack’s overly friendly but suspicious ex-wife Jen (Janet Montgomery) puts pressure on the couple. But as the series progresses it becomes less clear who the bad guy really is and how far everyone will go to get the life they think they deserve.
- Heat – EastEnders alum Danny Dyer leads this four-part action thriller, set in Australia, which sees two families holidaying together during bushfire season. But instead of rest and relaxation, secrets and lies start to unravel — and not everyone will make it out alive…
- Lie With Me – Another soap legend jets off to Australia, this time its EastEnders alum Charlie Brooks who takes as a married woman trying to saving her marriage by moving halfway around the world after her husband had an affair. However it’s far from plain sailing, as a young and attractive live-in nanny comes to work with the Fallmont family, and tensions soon build and eventually, someone ends up dead.
- The Drowning – Jill Halfpenny plays Jodie, a woman whose life is shattered following the disappearance of her beloved four-year-old son, Daniel. However, ten years later, the grieving mother thinks she’s finally found her missing child, and embarks on a journey to discover the truth about him. But has she really just found the son she has been missing for so long?
In episode one, “Mrs Hall and Helen attend a community meeting about the local war effort. Siegfried is under pressure to keep the surgery going in James and Tristan’s absence and leans on Carmody for more help.”
Meanwhile, James is still away at RAF Abingdon preparing for an important flight training with his crew – but he is unexpectedly grounded and sent to work on a farm where he reconnects with his veterinary roots.
Of course, while James and Helen are separated at the beginning of the show, viewers should expect that to be the case for the entirety of series 5.
They’ve been spotted filming together, along with Callum who plays Tristan.
Channel 5 previously confirmed Tristan will make an “unexpected return later in the series,” but it won’t be without some drama.
“Siegfried is keen to have everyone back, but Tristan’s surprise return won’t be quite as straightforward as he hoped,” the synopsis teases.
Once Rachel has healed up from her hamstring injury viewers can expect her to be straight back to work though as Channel 5 has already renewed All Creatures Great and Small for a sixth series.
Speaking about the renewal, Rachel told Radio Times: “We absolutely love making it. We’re having a good time.”
She credits the “simplicity” of the show’s “rich” scripts for grabbing audience’s attention.
“People say what they mean, and they really care about each other.
“That’s radical these days. The show is about community and people caring about each other, and I believe that’s why people love it,” she explained.