The real-life woman who inspired Mrs Pumphrey from All Creatures Great and Small
All Creatures Great and Small is being added to Netflix's library on August 14 and the successful family drama set in the Yorkshire Dales features some colourful characters. Mrs Pumphrey is played by Diana Rigg in the show's debut season, then by Patricia Hodge following Diana's death shortly after the release of season one.
Mrs Pumphrey is one of Skeldale House owner Siegfried Farnon's (Samuel West) clients and she regularly entrusts him to look after her beloved dog. The character also regularly hosts community events at her huge manor house.
While many of the All Creatures characters are well-known for being inspired by real people, Mrs Pumphrey may not have been expected to be based on true life. However, it has been revealed that she was in fact based on someone real.
The series is inspired by Yorkshire vet Alf Wight's collection of books which he penned under the pseudonym James Herriot. Mrs Pumphrey was based on one of Alf's clients, called Marjorie Warner.
Marjorie, whose dog was called Bambi, lived at Thorpe House near Thirsk, and the house previously featured in the property section of the Yorkshire Post.
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Mrs Pumphrey with Tricki Woo in All Creatures Great and Small season 2 (Image: CHANNEL 5)The property piece read: "Well-to-do Mrs Pumphrey owned a Pekingese, Tricky Woo, who was treated like royalty and fed far too many treats.
"She bears a resemblance to a previous owner of Thorpe House, Miss Warner, who possessed a vibrant personality and who was also devoted to her pet dog.
"The property is still recognisable from the days when Alf Wight used to call on his rounds as a country vet in the 1950s and 60s."
In 1996 the house was bought by Trustees of the Centre for Health and Pastoral Care - a retreat and Christian therapeutic centre.
Fans of the James Herriot books would come by to look at the house regularly and it featured as part of a trail of locations used in the filming of the series.
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The show first hit screens on the BBC back in the late 70s, and it starred Margaretta Scott as the original Mrs Pumphrey.
According to jamesherriot.org, Marjorie Warner died in 1983. She was known throughout the village as butcher Ray Ballard revealed in the podcast Voices from Herriot Country that she was one of his customers.
PBS Masterpiece offered some insight, adding: "According to Jim Wight’s biography of his father, this character of a rich older woman was based on a Mrs. Marjorie Warner of Sowerby, a local socialite.
"She doted on her pet, a charming Pekingese dog she called Bambi. Warner did, in fact, dispatch hampers of gourmet delicacies— sent by Bambi —to the vets in Thirsk.
"She caught on that she was the model for Mrs Pumphrey, but apparently harboured no resentment about being included in the stories."
The real-life woman who inspired Mrs Pumphrey from All Creatures Great and Small
The real-life woman who inspired Mrs Pumphrey from All Creatures Great and Small
The real-life woman who inspired Mrs Pumphrey from All Creatures Great and Small
The real-life woman who inspired Mrs Pumphrey from All Creatures Great and Small
The real-life woman who inspired Mrs Pumphrey from All Creatures Great and Small
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