On my sister blog, Wading Through the Cultural Stacks, I have extensively written about the archivy themes in Nakatani Nio’s manga, Bloom Into You, and the beautifully-illustrated and execute…

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The horror film ‘Backrooms’, directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons, has achieved significant commercial success since its May release, grossing $331 million from a $10 million budget. A24 has confirmed the release of Blu-ray and 4K editions of the film, set to ship in August, featuring nearly three hours of special features. These include bonus footage such as ‘Everything Must Go’, VFX deep dives, prop walkthroughs with Parsons, director commentary, a making-of documentary, additional VFX breakdowns, and six collectible postcards. The release follows the announcement of an extended cut titled ‘Backrooms: Everything Must Go Edition’ with 15 minutes of extra footage. Director Parsons addressed fan concerns on Discord, clarifying that the content is not behind-the-scenes material but a curated collection of supplementary features. The film, based on internet creepypasta stories and Parsons' web series, stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve. Critics have noted its unsettling vibes and memorable creation, though some may find the narrative explanation excessive. The soundtrack is also set for a vinyl release. This release underscores the film's cultural impact and its role in contemporary horror cinema.

Special Features · Che Guevara T-Shirt · Song · 2025

Special Features · Che Guevara T-Shirt · Song · 2025

You think you're Jo...but are you really? Find out and wa...

The son of author James Herriot shares stories from his childhood and reveals what the TV series All Creatures Great and Small gets right about his father.

<div class="article-wrapper"> <h1 class="entry-title"> James Herriot (Alf Wight)’s Real World War II Experience </h1> <figure aria-describedby="caption-attachment-24407" class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_24407" style="width: 1920px"><img alt="A split image on left: a black-and-white photo of author Alf Wight, smiling in a suit and tie. On right, All Creatures Great and Small character James Herriot solemnly standing in WWII RAF uniform in front of plane" class="wp-image-24407 size-full lazyload" data-sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" data-src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/acgas-s5-real-james-herriot-war-experience-icon-1920x1080-1.jpg" data-srcset="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/acgas-s5-real-james-herriot-war-experience-icon-1920x1080-1.jpg 1920w, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/acgas-s5-real-james-herriot-war-experience-icon-1920x1080-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/acgas-s5-real-james-herriot-war-experience-icon-1920x1080-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/acgas-s5-real-james-herriot-war-experience-icon-1920x1080-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/acgas-s5-real-james-herriot-war-experience-icon-1920x1080-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/acgas-s5-real-james-herriot-war-experience-icon-1920x1080-1-384x216.jpg 384w, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/acgas-s5-real-james-herriot-war-experience-icon-1920x1080-1-640x360.jpg 640w" height="1080" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" width="1920"/><noscript><img alt="A split image on left: a black-and-white photo of author Alf Wight, smiling in a suit and tie. On right, All Creatures Great and Small character James Herriot solemnly standing in WWII RAF uniform in front of plane" class="wp-image-24407 size-full" height="1080" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/acgas-s5-real-james-herriot-war-experience-icon-1920x1080-1.jpg" srcset="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/acgas-s5-real-james-herriot-war-experience-icon-1920x1080-1.jpg 1920w, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/acgas-s5-real-james-herriot-war-experience-icon-1920x1080-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/acgas-s5-real-james-herriot-war-experience-icon-1920x1080-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/acgas-s5-real-james-herriot-war-experience-icon-1920x1080-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/acgas-s5-real-james-herriot-war-experience-icon-1920x1080-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/acgas-s5-real-james-herriot-war-experience-icon-1920x1080-1-384x216.jpg 384w, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/acgas-s5-real-james-herriot-war-experience-icon-1920x1080-1-640x360.jpg 640w" width="1920"/></noscript><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-24407"></figcaption></figure> <em>Vet and author Alf Wight and actor Nicholas Ralph, playing James Herriot in Season 5 of All Creatures Great and Small</em> <p> </p> <p>What was the World War II experience of James Alfred (“Alf”) Wight, author and the real James Herriot? MASTERPIECE got the fascinating facts and sometimes surprising timeline from <em>All Creatures Great and Small</em>’s historical advisor, Dr. Mark Roodhouse of the History Department at the University of York. Find out where Wight actually went after graduating vet school, what really grounded the promising young RAF pilot, and much more about wartime living and vetting in Yorkshire.</p> <hr/><ol class="listicle nolist"><li><span class="number">1.</span><h3>Alf Wight Didn’t Go from Veterinary School to Yorkshire</h3><figure><img alt="A solemn James Herriot stands in front of the train, saying goodbye to his parents as he departs Glasgow." class="lazyload" data-src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/acgas-s1-james-herriot-leaving-glasgow-1024x576.jpg" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw=="/><noscript><img alt="A solemn James Herriot stands in front of the train, saying goodbye to his parents as he departs Glasgow." src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/acgas-s1-james-herriot-leaving-glasgow-1024x576.jpg"/></noscript><figcaption>Nicholas Ralph as James Herriot, departing Glasgow for his first veterinary job in All Creatures Great and Small</figcaption></figure><p>Alf Wight graduated as a vet in December, 1939, when the “phony war”—a period during which Britain and France took no major military action after declaring war against Germany, other than a few battles at sea— was already underway. It may surprise <em>All Creatures Great and Small</em> readers and viewers to learn not just that he didn’t join up until later in the war, but that he  didn’t become a rural vet right away.</p> <p>Unlike in the show and books, Wight didn’t go to a rural veterinary practice after graduation—he went back to his hometown, Sunderland, an industrial town on the coast of the North Sea. Roodhouse explained, “He was brought up in Glasgow, so he had a Scottish accent, but he was born in Sunderland, and his first vet practice was actually there. But it didn’t grow on him, really, and I can imagine it’s probably because there was not a lot of vetting to do in a town, not very interesting cases. And he was coming from Glasgow, one of the biggest cities in the UK, so it’s not as exciting, nor was it as interesting, from a veterinary perspective, as being in the countryside.”</p> </li><li><span class="number">2.</span><h3>Alf Wight Becomes a Rural Vet</h3><figure><img alt="Nicholas Ralph in All Creatures Great and Small" class="lazyload" data-src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/all-creatures-meet-nicholas-ralph-1920x1080-1-1024x576.jpg" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw=="/><noscript><img alt="Nicholas Ralph in All Creatures Great and Small" src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/all-creatures-meet-nicholas-ralph-1920x1080-1-1024x576.jpg"/></noscript><figcaption>Nicholas Ralph as James Herriot and Samuel West as Siegfried Farnon, the character inspired by Alf Wight's real-life veterinary partner, Donald Sinclair</figcaption></figure><p>Wight left Sunderland during the Battle of Britain, and in July 1940, he took up an offer to manage a practice in Thirsk where Donald Sinclair, the inspiration for Siegfried Farnon, was about to go into the RAF and needed someone to run his practice for him. Wight moved in to live above the veterinary practice at 23 Kirkgate in Thirsk. Sinclair was discharged from the RAF after four months. “I’m not entirely sure why,” said Roodhouse, “but when he returned, he didn’t chuck Alf Wight out on his ear. He said, ‘Well actually, why don’t you become a partner?’ And Wight became a partner in the business.”</p> </li><li><span class="number">3.</span><h3>Alf Wight Drives from the Dales to the Moors and Everywhere In Between</h3><figure><img alt="" class="lazyload" data-src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/all-creatures-great-and-small-preview-01-1920x1080-1-1024x576.jpg" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw=="/><noscript><img alt="" src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/all-creatures-great-and-small-preview-01-1920x1080-1-1024x576.jpg"/></noscript></figure><p>With the war requiring increased agricultural production in Britain, there was no shortage of veterinary work required of Sinclair and Wight, from looking after livestock to the horses that worked on the farms. Thirsk was not the bucolic setting portrayed by the fictional Darrowby (filmed in Grassington)—it was a small, typical English market town, not a village.</p> <p>Thirsk actually lies not in the Dales but in an area called the Vale of York—a large flat area between two national parks, the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Dales. Sinclair and Wight’s veterinary practice straddled both areas, from the edge of the Dales to the edge of the Moors and in between on the Vale, with most of the livestock located in the more hilly areas. Covering such a huge area required a lot of driving…and a lot of fuel. Roodhouse explained, “They were lucky because there was petrol rationing, and it was quite a privileged to be a civilian in 1941 driving around the Yorkshire Dales, because as vets, they got extra petrol rations. So they got to see a lot of Yorkshire.” Roodhouse explained that in his books, Wight deliberately obscured the geography in order to have privacy for himself and his clients.</p> </li><li><span class="number">4.</span><h3>Alf Wight Goes from Marriage to the RAF </h3><figure><img alt="" class="lazyload" data-src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/acgas-s5-james-herriot-raf-pilot-1024x576.jpg" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw=="/><noscript><img alt="" src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/acgas-s5-james-herriot-raf-pilot-1024x576.jpg"/></noscript><figcaption>NIcholas Ralph as James Herriot in Season 5 of All Creatures Great and Small</figcaption></figure><p>With a partnership in the veterinary practice under his belt, in 1941 at age 25, Wight married the woman he’d met and fallen in love with in Thirsk, Joan Danbury. Joan came to live with him in the flat above the vet’s surgery and they settled into married life. In November, 1942, Wight enlisted with the RAF, a decision Roodhouse described as, “not a sensible choice—it’s a brave choice,” as in November of 1942, bombers had a very low survival rate.</p> <p>In the RAF, Wight went through basic training, then learned the basics of radios, navigation, airplane recognition—everything that everyone in a plane would need to know. At that point, Wight was selected to begin his initial pilot training, where he was the first person in his group to fly solo—so he must, Roodhouse explained, have been clearly quite good at it. But the medical issue of an anal fistula arose and prevented him from being able to fly. “I don’t know specifically why they would say that’s something you need a medical discharge for—whether it was a concern that you might have a rupture because of the altitude, or whether you would just be uncomfortable sitting for prolonged periods of time,” Roodhouse said, “but they gave him a medical discharge.” He had surgery in July of 1943 and was discharge that November, then returned to Thirsk to practice alongside Sinclair and get to know his young son, James (or Jimmy), who was born early in 1943.</p> </li><li><span class="number">5.</span><h3>While Alf Wight Treated All Creatures Great and Small, the World Came to Thirsk</h3><figure><img alt="Veterinarian James Herriots home and practice at 23 Kirkgate in Thirsk, North Yorkshire" class="lazyload" data-src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/c_all-creatures-locations-yorkshire-dales-15-1920x1080-1-1024x576.jpg" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw=="/><noscript><img alt="Veterinarian James Herriots home and practice at 23 Kirkgate in Thirsk, North Yorkshire" src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/c_all-creatures-locations-yorkshire-dales-15-1920x1080-1-1024x576.jpg"/></noscript><figcaption>James Herriot’s real veterinary practice (‘Skeldale House’ in the books) was at 23 Kirkgate in Thirsk, North Yorkshire. It’s now a museum letting visitors travel back in time to when Herriot lived, worked, and wrote his stories.</figcaption></figure><p>As Alf’s career as a pilot came to an end and he served the remainder of the war effort as a civilian vet, Thirsk, which was situated on a railway line, was nowhere near as quiet and remote as it had been. From 1942-1944, about a million Canadians, free Polish, free French forces, and a huge number of Americans coming in through Glasgow and Liverpool were all passing through the UK.</p> <p>What’s more, the area around Thirsk, with its flat land and racecourses, became a huge site for the military to build prisoner of war camps, military garrisons, and air bases for bombing Germany. “One of my favorite little facts,” Roodhouse enthused, “is that good old Clark Gable spent part of his war in Yorkshire too at a place called RAF Marston, which is just to the west of York…though I doubt he and Wight ever bumped into one another when they were out drinking!” So the world came to and passed through Thirsk for a time during the war, while Alf Wight practiced veterinary medicine in the vast and beautiful region from the end of 1943 until his retirement.</p> </li></ol><hr/><div class="related-links"><ul class="related"><li><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/specialfeatures/all-creatures-great-and-small-s4-surprising-real-history/" target="_blank">The Surprising Real History in Season 4</a></li><li><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/specialfeatures/8-things-to-know-about-the-real-james-herriot/" target="_blank">8 Things to Know About the Real James Herriot</a></li><li><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/specialfeatures/all-creatures-great-and-small-s1-an-insiders-guide-to-the-yorkshire-dales/" target="_blank">Insider's Guide to Filming in the Yorkshire Dales</a></li></ul></div> <div class="social-share"> <button class="share-button"> <input id="socialcopy" name="copy" readonly="" type="text" value="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/specialfeatures/james-herriot-alf-wights-real-world-war-ii-experience/"/> <svg viewbox="0 0 73 86.5" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <path 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Much of what we know about Scotland Yard comes from British crime dramas or murder mysteries, but behind the name lies a remarkable story of police innovation. Scotland Yard’s Victorian history is a captivating tale of law enforcement evolution and forensic science breakthroughs. Simon Read, author of _Scotland Yard: A History of the London Police Force’s Most Infamous Murder Cases,_ highlights surprising facts and key milestones and challenges faced by the London Metropolitan Police—from Charles Dickens’s ride-alongs to the advent of fingerprinting and Jack the Ripper’s criminal profile. * * * 1. 1. ### Constables Were to Prevent Crime, Not Investigate It Scotland Yard, established in 1829, replaced a patchwork system of parish constables and night watchmen with the world’s first professional and centrally organized police force. Officers were responsible for community safety chiefly by raising the alarm if anything suspicious occurred; in effect, their job was to _preempt_ any lawbreaking. “The role was to be a crime prevention force [because] if you have to investigate a crime, the crime has already happened,” says Read. “But of course, just through the sheer circumstance of Scotland Yard’s work, they end up conducting investigations pretty early on.” 2. 2. ### Scotland Yard Police Worked 365 Days a Year There was a rule between 1874 and 1910 stating officers could not take rest days. “Back then, constables weren’t necessarily held in high regard. These were often uneducated men and almost seen as workhorses to be treated however you like,” says Read. “And the police are meant to be a constant presence on the streets. If you’re having days off, obviously that diminishes the police presence. “The powers that be at Scotland Yard also thought that if constables had a day off, they would just work another job that day to make money on the side. So why not keep having them work?” 3. 3. ### Scotland Yard Pioneered a Plainclothes Detective Branch Scotland Yard’s Detective Branch was the world’s first when it launched in 1842 with two detective inspectors, two senior officers, and six sergeants. “It becomes apparent that a plainclothes unit of officers specifically taxed with investigating crime is needed—especially after a series of five unrelated murders occur with four of them unsolved, which caused outrage in the press.” The first detectives reported to local London precincts, with less oversight from Scotland Yard headquarters. When a few of these officers participated in an 1877 betting scandal, the new Criminal Investigations Department (CID) took shape. “It’s more professional, more structured, and is centrally operated out of Scotland Yard,” says Read. “Beginning in 1878, detectives all reported into headquarters with this more streamlined command structure. CID men were considered more skilled; they’re paid more money. They really are promoted as the elite, and they start benefiting from advances in crime fighting techniques that the original Detective Branch didn’t necessarily have at its disposal.” 4. 4. ### Charles Dickens Accompanied Officers on Patrols The Victorian author did much to further a distinguished profile for Scotland Yard detectives. “Crime and the plight of the working class are major themes in Dickens’s novels, so he develops a natural interest in police work and what they do,” says Read. “He’s editor of a weekly journal called _Household Words,_ and he invites members of the Detective Branch to his office. They sit around, they have brandy, they smoke cigars, and he ends up publishing a series of [anonymous] profiles on them. … Dickens becomes good friends with a detective named Charles Frederick Fields, accompanies him on patrol, and proceeds to base _Bleak House_ ’s Inspector Bucket on him.” In his writing, “Dickens portrays the detective as a creative intellectual, like an art connoisseur who can look at a painting and _know_ it must’ve been painted by Monet. But he ends up doing them a disservice because the Detective Branch can’t meet the standards Dickens has.” 5. 5. ### Scotland Yard was Financially Liable for Riot Damage A time of high unemployment and great hardship among London’s working class led to the 1886 West End Riots, where masses of people took to the streets, smashing storefronts and destroying property. “The police response is found utterly lacking by the media,” says Read. “The _Pall Mall Gazette_ writes, ‘ _We’re not surprised at the inability of the police to cope with a mob. We have had too much experience of their aptitude and impotence.’_ _“_ And of course, the whole purpose of Scotland Yard is to prevent crime and maintain law and order. A riot is the exact opposite of that. So, a law is passed called the 1886 Riot Damages Act, which says if damage to property or injuries to persons occur, then reparations will come out of funding for the police.” Surprisingly, that law stayed on the books until 2016. 6. 6. ### Forensic Innovations During the Victorian Era Scotland Yard capitalized on forensic advances that blended science with detective work in previously unimaginable ways. “You see Scotland Yard playing a major role in either pioneering things or advancing techniques developed elsewhere,” says Read. “It dabbles in ballistics, the study of bullets and firearms. … You see bloodstain analysis as early as 1866. (Forensic pathologists in the home office couldn’t yet tell if blood stains were human or animal but _could_ tell if they were recent.) … Poisonings were of great public interest and toxicology became a crucial science detecting the use of arsenic, cyanide and strychnine—all household items at the time. “Scotland Yard is the first English-speaking force to use fingerprints. It establishes a Fingerprint Bureau at the tail end of the Victorian era in 1901,” says Read. “Fingerprints are complex. … CID head Edward Henry develops a system for sorting them based on their [physiological characteristics]. The ‘Henry Classification System’ was used internationally up until the 1990s.” 7. 7. ### Jack the Ripper’s Effect on Policing In a series of horrific crimes between 1888 and 1891, five female sex workers in London’s East End were raped, murdered, and mutilated. “Crime scene photography comes into its own during this investigation,” says Read. “You also have Scotland Yard experimenting with blood hounds; they’re put through exercises in Hyde and Regents Park and show they can track human scent, but the police commissioner couldn’t make up his mind whether to pay to have the dogs employed. “You also see the first attempt made at a criminal profile. The police don’t know what kind of guy Jack the Ripper is, so it’s difficult to develop suspects.” Scotland Yard asks a doctor to review autopsy reports and develop a personality sketch. “It’s a really interesting document,” says Read. The killer “attacks in the open, so he must move with speed. He’s physically strong based on the nature of the mutilations. The point to his killing _is_ the mutilations. He’s probably normal looking as the final victim brings him back to her room. Probably wears dark clothing as he’d be covered in blood walking away.” While this forward-thinking profiling became a useful tool, particularly with serial offenders, Jack the Ripper was never apprehended. Simon Read is the author of ten works of narrative nonfiction. His most recent book is _Scotland Yard: A History of the London Police Force’s Most Infamous Murder Cases._ His work has been featured on the top-rated true crime podcasts _Criminal_ and _Morbid_. Visit him at simonreadwriting.com. * * * * Meet History’s Trailblazing Female Detectives * Real Victorian History as Seen in Miss Scarlet * Modern UK Police Ranks, Explained share * Share Link * Share on Facebook * Share on Facebook