Rachel Shenton‘s Helen Alderson will be settling into family life on the farm in the highly anticipated sixth season of All Creatures Great and Small, which is set to premiere on PBS on Sunday, January 11, 2026.
Speaking to Hello! and other press ahead of the sixth season’s U.K. premiere, Shenton confirmed the popular period drama will be skipping ahead a few years, to May 1945, after the Second World War comes to an end; Season 5 was set during spring 1941.
“We’ve jumped forward in time, and when we pick up this year, Helen and the children are at Heston Grange, helping out [her father] Richard Alderson (Tony Pitts) and [her sister] Jenny (Imogen Clawson),” Shenton said.
“They’ve got a bit more space, rather than being cramped in a bedsit,” she added. “She’s happy, she’s content, she’s incredibly present and practical – and she gets on with it. So I think there’s nothing that she’s lacking from her life, which is nice.”
Helen married veterinary surgeon James Herriot (Nicholas Ralph) in the third season, and they went on to welcome two children, a son named Jimmy and a daughter named Rosie. With the Season 6 time skip, Jimmy and Rosie will be a little older when viewers see them next.
Shenton told the press she’s been having a great time filming with her young co-stars. “In real life, [child actor Thomas Riches] is seven and playing four – and he likes to tell you that he’s seven and playing four!” the Academy Award winner shared.
“He’s super confident and keeps me on my toes. If I do a take that’s slightly different each time, he’ll certainly tell me about that, so it keeps me on my toes,” she continued.
While Helen and James have settled into family life in the upcoming season, Shenton promised fans that the lighthearted moments that made their relationship such a hit with audiences will still be present.
“We do see pockets of that,” she shared. “Their relationship matures every season, which is gorgeous, but now they’re a family of four, so there’s a lot of like navigating life that comes with this season – ‘you take this child, I’ll take that one, let’s meet in the middle.’ And in that, there’s a lot of fun.”
She concluded, “It’s less about sneaking off together and more about making this unit work.”
All Creatures Great and Small, Season 6 Premiere, Sunday, January 11, 9/8c, PBS
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