IT SHOULDN’T HAPPEN TO A VET

GB
1976
1hr 33mins
Dir: Eric Till
Starring: John Alderton and Colin Blakely

Adventures of the Yorkshire vet James Herriot before the Second World War

This was the sequel to All Creatures Great and Small (qv) and although having the same title as James Herriot’s second novel, the film is actually based on his third and fourth novels, Let Sleeping Vets Lie and Vet in Harness. These books were released in the US as a compilation volume titled All Things Bright and Beautiful, the film’s alternate US title. The film has some good scenes that were shot at Oakworth station on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway with ex-LMS Class 4F 0-6-0 No.43924 on a train (authentically appearing as LMS No.3924 in the film).

A train enters Oakworth station on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway hauled by ex-LMS Class 4F No.43924
This closer view shows the LMS number on the smokebox door, a number to which a ‘4’ was added by BR.
John Alderton framed between the tender of the 4F and the first coach, an LMS compartment third
Paul Shelley and John Alderton on the platform at Oakworth. The coach carries the number 16802 and is as yet unidentified. The number does not tally with anything currently preserved and may have been doctored (the ‘8’ looks darker than the other digits) so if any coaching buffs out there can help I would be most grateful.