YORKSHIRE DAY. And how better to celebrate it than by joining in the seemingly still ringing applause for what has just been voted Yorkshire’s best-ever television show. Yes, of course (and rarely can that phrase have been better merited), All Creatures Great and Small has topped a Dalesman magazine poll to find the favourite show set or made in the county. I remember well watching the very first Sunday night episode. “Smash hit all the way”, I judged. The journalist in me was stirred. I established the central location, Askrigg, went there to interview the occupants of the real Skeldale House, added background on the real James Herriot (Alf Wight), mixed in some production details and presented the package to Echo readers. It might well be my most-read piece.

Not even apparent in that opening episode was the series’ secret strength. Tributes invariably focus on the central quartet of Herriot, his wife Helen, Siegfried Farnon and his “little brother” Tristan. All were superbly played, including the two Helens – Carol Drinkwater and Lynda Bellingham. But, in my view, it was the depth of the other characters, appearing only now and then, that ensured viewers’ continuing interest.

You know them well. Biggins, the grumbling farmer, never paying his bills. Mrs Pumphrey and her over-pampered Peke Triki Woo, even Mallock, the knacker man, who believes he knows as much as the vets. And above all the bibulous dog specialist, Granville Bennet, a Darlington vet, unforgettably realised by James Grout. It is a marvellous gallery, unmatched in other series. There is talk of remaking All Creatures. Why bother? A couple of years back the Drama channel screened a run of All Creatures. I saw most and observed here that they would need no apology if re-shown in their original Sunday night slot. And the selected episodes didn’t even feature Tristan but his locum Calum, which contributed to the variety and freshness I have just indicated. That still leaves unmentioned one star crucial to the series – the Dales countryside, as bewitching as ever. Yes, bring it on. The BBC has failed to realise that with All Creatures Great and Small it has a hit as enduring as Dad’s Army.

SINCE it is Yorkshire Day let’s fill up with Yorkshire. Despite refusing to play long-form (county championship) cricket with his club, the Yorkshire spin bowler Adil Rashid has been included in England’s squad for the first Test against India, starting today. Two former cricket greats, Ian Botham and Michael Vaughan, disagree strongly about this – Botham in favour, Vaughan against. But they have one thing in common. Both refer to Rashid as “the kid.” He’s 30.

ALREADY Yorkshire’s self-proclaimed ‘Food Capital’, Malton now aims to be crowned Britain’s ‘most dog friendly town.’ It might care to re-consider. Keswick has so successfully marketed itself as ‘dog friendly’ that a de-odourising squad is now active. It sprays the foot of town-centre buildings and lamp-posts with a citronella-based liquid – to dispel the distinct whiff of dog pee that greets early morning visitors.