The most exciting thing about joining EastEnders' is not only that I'll be back on the television, but I'll also be working with Maggie. I have admired her for a long time. She is one of my favorite actresses. Filming not just our first scenes but our first episode together will be like first night in the theatre - very exciting indeed.
Christopher Timothy
Alf Wight was first and foremost a great storyteller. From all the interesting people Alf had spoken to from all over the country, particularly vets, Alf wrote their stories down.
A lot of people went to posh universities, but I left at 17 to work for three years at Frank Newton's Gentleman's Outfitters in Shrewsbury, where I gained a professional qualification in how to measure a suit.
I get stopped in the street now and asked, What do I know you from?' My first reaction is to say All Creatures' and they say no. I say Doctors' and they say That's it' because they are so young. I have no complaints.
My first role was on Broadway from 1963-64 in Chips With Everything.' It was very well reviewed but not very well attended.
The minute I got the part of James Herriot, I asked to meet him.
You have to remember: I grew up in the 1950s, the era of cowboy movies and rock 'n' roll.
One time I had to file the teeth of a carthorse. They're such gentle creatures.
I spent a week in Wensleydale with a real vet called Jack Watkinson, living with him and going out on calls at 4 A. M. Sticking my hand up cows' bums became second nature. I got really good at it.
At the time I discovered that I had prostate cancer, it was not long after my first wife had died, so my children had lost their mum. I felt that to tell them that I had prostate cancer, while I knew that I had it and there was a threat of some sort, I felt that it would be wise not to make things worse for them.
I had just finished playing a doctor in Doctors' and I had had to tell somebody that they had cancer. In that moment I thought, He's doing what I did!' We sat down and he said, I'm sorry, Mr. Timothy, but I've got bad news.' I thought, Oh!' He told me that they had found cancerous cells, but not a lot.
I don't know whether having cancer has changed my attitude to life. I can't even say that now I live every day to the fullest I think I always have, really.
One of the reasons I didn't tell people I had cancer was I thought it might affect work.
When you get to a certain age any big change is hard to deal with.
My agent suggested me to EastEnders casting director, Julia Crampsie, who I already knew. I'm delighted that Julia said, He's not old enough is he?' My agent told her how old I really am and she said Oh'!
Because I am of a generation and slightly old-fashioned, my bottom line belief is what you do is you rehearse and you work and you own it. Of course, you hone it during the first few performances but once you have it honed, not that you must ever assume it is perfect, part of the craft is being able to repeat that.
When I didn't work on TV, that was OK because I was doing lots of theatre but I did begin to panic a bit.
I remember once going to see my agent and going up the stairs to his office to hear him screaming down the phone, He's not a vet, he's an actor!' and that confirmed all my worst fears.
I was very ambitious as a young actor, but I wasn't good at being ambitious.
I was never much of a networker.
Ideally, you have a company of actors who care more about the product than they do about themselves. In my experience, actors who believe the opposite - that they are the people who matter rather than the show - are rare in the extreme.
I saw the police thriller The Blue Lamp' and remember realizing the power that Dirk Bogarde as the gangster exerted over the audience simply by his expressions in the close-ups. I could see how the people around me reacted to him and realized that I wanted to have the same effect.
I learned to have a respect for animals and for the people who deal with them - vets and farmers.
I left drama school in the early '50s.
I thought I might get a part as a farmer. I knew about the books but I hadn't read them. A few weeks later, an actor whispered in my ear, 'It sounds like you're in line for James Herriot.' I read every book in about 48 hours.
He was a patient man, a kind man, a man who cared about animals and human beings, all qualities not to be devalued, but James Herriot was not a saint. I tried so hard to play against some of the scripts that implied that he was a saint, but I don't think I was always altogether successful.
Even after the first three series, I'm sure I would've been known all my life as James Herriot. I was concerned that I would dig the hole deeper, and I'm sure that's what I've done. I'm sure of it.
It was a tricky part to play, because Herriot is both a fictional character and a real person.
I've worked with a lot of animals and a lot of kids. I've never worked with an animal or a child who I wouldn't want to work with again.
Alf Wight was remarkable, and I keep in touch regularly with his children Rosie and Jim, I love them dearly and I owe them.
I'm delighted there's a younger audience discovering James Herriot.
The whole of Yorkshire has been known throughout the world for various reasons, not least because of Wuthering Heights, but it was James Herriot I think that put Yorkshire on the international map and we are part of that, which is a great honor really.
I was fascinated by puppets as a kid and one I had when I was eight or nine, a skeleton, is now hanging in my office.
Birmingham is my second home.
Pebble Mill was packed with a lot of talent and a lot of really, really good stuff came out of Birmingham. It was a tragedy that it closed. It was the most famous TV centre in the country.
I was born in Bala, North Wales, and was sent to a private tutor. I seem to remember walking to the tutor by myself at the age of four - and sometimes going into a church school on the way and being allowed to stay until someone noticed.
My dad was the original announcer on The Goon Show.'
I spent three years at Central School of Speech and Drama in London, which I enjoyed very much.
My son Simon had one of Elvis's favorite meals when we visited Graceland - a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Fried! Can you imagine the cholesterol?
Oddly, I'm not a huge fan of Brisbane in Australia. I can't quite put my finger on why - it just seemed to lack verve, and I don't have any great desire to go back.
I love walking down Beale Street, which is home to countless cafes, restaurants and bars. Every bar has a live band, and as you walk along the street in the evening you can hear raw blues and rock n' roll spilling out of them.
