All Creatures Great and Small is set to welcome a new character in the upcoming Christmas special, which airs on Friday 23 December.
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A Jewish evacuee named Eva will stay at Skeldale House over the festive period as World War Two looms over Darrowby.
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Chatting to journalists about the festive episode, Nicholas Ralph, who plays James Herriot revealed that the war effort of recruitment is "even more apparent" before going on to detail Eva's arrival in the village.
"We have a group of evacuees arrive as well and one in particular called Eva comes to stay at Skeldale House... [She's] a Jewish evacuee, so there's obviously the different cultures coming together and different traditions around that time of year as well," he said.
"And also, she brings that complete innocence… The character is about eight or nine years old, so you see it through her eyes and just the huge changes in this little person's life."
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"She's been picked up out of her family home in the city, driven away on this bus with other children and dropped off in this house. And then you see how everyone tries their best to welcome her in and have her settle down."
Ella Bernstein plays Eva
Anna Madeley, who plays Mrs Hall said that the character "brings a lot of joy to the house because it gives everyone a bit of a purpose".
"I think everyone's sort of finding their role in the war and working out what they're going to be," she said, adding that having Eva there gives Mrs Hall "someone else to look after in the house" and is a "really lovely storyline".
Elsewhere in the festive instalment, Siegfried pays a visit to an injured River just before a big race and makes an important discover which Sebright Saunders uses as leverage to get the horse back on the racetrack.
"Siegfried risks compromising himself and everything he stands for but Tristan has other ideas," the synopsis continues. "When Mrs Hall runs into Gerald at the market and hears his news, she finds herself inviting him to a Skeldale Christmas party that hasn’t been organised. The rest of the house help her cobble together some guests and a spread - but will he come, and if he does, is Mrs Hall ready to tell him how she feels?"
All Creatures Great and Small Christmas Special airs on Friday 23 December on Channel 5 at 9pm.
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