Carol Drinkwater, the original Helen Herriot in the BBC's All Creatures Great and Small, has spoken of her regret over leaving the role in 1985, admitting she would do things differently if she could.
A career-defining role
Drinkwater, 78, played Helen for the first three seasons of the original BBC adaptation, which aired from 1978 to 1990. Lynda Bellingham took over the part for the following four seasons.
In 2017, writing in the Daily Express, Drinkwater recalled being warned before filming began that she would soon become a household name, a prediction she dismissed as ridiculous at the time.
Departure and fallout
The actress said she left the role because she felt she had given everything she could and could not see where else to take the character, as there was no more material. She made the comments on the Alan Titchmarsh Show in 2024.
She added that the BBC was so angry about her departure that they put a ban on using her, and the role was recast. She said she was terribly upset because it was a wonderful role and would have been very good for her, and looking back, it is one of the few things in her life she would do differently.
Life after the show
Following her exit, Drinkwater moved to Australia, where she wrote her first children's book, The Haunted School, which was later adapted into a television miniseries.
Her film credits include Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange and An Awfully Big Adventure alongside Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman. Her television work includes Casualty, Peak Practice, Captain James Cook, Bouquet of Barbed Wire, and Golden Pennies.
Earlier this year, she appeared on ITV's Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh, and in October 2021 she featured in the Channel 5 documentary series A Year In Provence With Carol Drinkwater. The current reboot of All Creatures Great and Small airs Thursdays at 9pm on Channel 5.
