What do you think?
Rate this book
All Memories Great & Small
Paperback
Published December 6, 2016
4 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Oliver Crocker
4 books13 followersOliver Crocker is a ghostwriter and TV historian. He is the author of the bestselling All Memories Great & Small, endorsed by the James Herriot estate, and two Witness Statements: Making The Bill guidebooks, featuring memories from 100 cast and crew. In 2023, Oliver ghostwrote actor Larry Dann’s acclaimed autobiography Oh, What A Lovely Memoir. As a television researcher, his credits include ITV’s This Morning and BBC’s Something for the Weekend. Since 2017, he has interviewed hundreds of special guests as producer of The Bill Podcast, played over 500,000 times in 50 countries. He also writes articles for Best of British magazine. Oliver lives near Cambridge with his wife Tessa and their ginger cat Fawkes.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 8, 2021
Thank you Oliver Cocker for the signed copy of your brilliant book! It arrived about 3 weeks ago here in Austria and I started immediately a routine of reading one chapter and then watching the corresponding episode. What a highly enjoyable way to revisit All Creatures with all these in depth insights! Just wonderful! A must read for all James Herriot fans!
October 3, 2021
All Creatures Great and Small remains one of the most loved and fondly remembered programmes from what was a golden era of quality British television. Oliver Crocker uniquely manages to combine a scholarly study packed with enough facts and stats to satisfy any historian, researcher or classic tv nerd, with a warm, human account of supremely talented and committed people working hard to make some very special and timeless programming.
We get a complete understanding of the production and acting challenges, and dangers, thanks to Oliver’s commitment in talking not only to the principal on-camera talent, but taking the time and effort to seek out guest artists and the crew behind the scenes. Oliver is a courteous, meticulously prepared, well-informed and highly trusted interviewer, as evidenced by his popular podcast series, DVD extras documentaries and his other major work on British television history, Witness Statements: Making The Bill Series 1-3. As a result, the interviewees are candid and fascinating. A filmmaker himself, and having worked in television production, he knows all the right questions to ask, then steps back and allows the anecdotes and memories to flow naturally. You really do feel that you are getting to know the contributors personally as they share their unfiltered recollections.
Through his growing body of work in print, on DVD and in podcast, Oliver must already be considered one of the preeminent chroniclers of classic British television. Luckily for us, and for the talented actors and artists for whom he holds so much affection and whose achievements he is so accurately and enjoyably documenting for posterity, he has a long way to run yet.
But perhaps the most telling praise for All Memories Great and Small can be found in the foreword by Rosie Page, daughter of Alf Wight, the author of the James Herriot books; the ‘real James Herriot’, in actual fact. “I enjoyed this book enormously,” she wrote. “I know Alf Wight would have loved it too.”
We get a complete understanding of the production and acting challenges, and dangers, thanks to Oliver’s commitment in talking not only to the principal on-camera talent, but taking the time and effort to seek out guest artists and the crew behind the scenes. Oliver is a courteous, meticulously prepared, well-informed and highly trusted interviewer, as evidenced by his popular podcast series, DVD extras documentaries and his other major work on British television history, Witness Statements: Making The Bill Series 1-3. As a result, the interviewees are candid and fascinating. A filmmaker himself, and having worked in television production, he knows all the right questions to ask, then steps back and allows the anecdotes and memories to flow naturally. You really do feel that you are getting to know the contributors personally as they share their unfiltered recollections.
Through his growing body of work in print, on DVD and in podcast, Oliver must already be considered one of the preeminent chroniclers of classic British television. Luckily for us, and for the talented actors and artists for whom he holds so much affection and whose achievements he is so accurately and enjoyably documenting for posterity, he has a long way to run yet.
But perhaps the most telling praise for All Memories Great and Small can be found in the foreword by Rosie Page, daughter of Alf Wight, the author of the James Herriot books; the ‘real James Herriot’, in actual fact. “I enjoyed this book enormously,” she wrote. “I know Alf Wight would have loved it too.”
September 3, 2017
This was a really interesting read and records some good interviews with cast and crew. As it is organised around episodes and seasons it is very easy to dip in and out of. Hearing from the writers and directors, many long since retired, were the sections I found the most fascinating.
September 9, 2021
Two things became apparent to me reading this book. The first is the importance of team work. The second, try as I might, I could not watch one episode then read the corresponding entry, then so on. I quickly became engrossed and just read the whole thing. But I digress. Teamwork.
Anyone who has ever participated in a team sport knows that no matter how good a single player is, if the rest of the team is lacking, they are not going to win many games. The notion, perpetuated in Hollywood, that a single person can take on an entire army is bollocks. And, in work, if only one employee shines, well, we all know what happens then. So, it was very refreshing to see Oliver Crocker focus on that aspect in his recounting the making of All Creatures Great and Small. We hear from everybody. We learn something about their backgrounds, how they became involved with the show, various anecdotes regarding the filming and, unanimously, just how special this program was. The fact that it preservers to this day is a testament to the team that put in the grueling hours and bore the elements in order to put this series together. Sure, we have lots of input from the major characters, except for those sadly now passed on, but we also get the skinny from assistants and grips, and sound recorders, and first time cameramen, and more. This approach really drove home the fact that it takes a combined and concentrated effort to make magic and this book demonstrates that incredibly well.
The book could have stood a little additional editing, but I will put that down to charm. There were also some inconsistencies in approach as the level of detail varies from episode to episode. I imagine that was down to limitations on surviving documentation. The fact the author could recover as much as he did is actually quite surprising. In fact, when I finished reading I thought what else could Oliver have put into this book? And I could not think of a thing.
If, like so many, you have worn out your DVDs and read the original books numerous times and are looking for an additional fix, this is well worth while. You get to see inside how the sausage is made, and while not as glamorous as you might imagine, it is pleasing nonetheless.
Anyone who has ever participated in a team sport knows that no matter how good a single player is, if the rest of the team is lacking, they are not going to win many games. The notion, perpetuated in Hollywood, that a single person can take on an entire army is bollocks. And, in work, if only one employee shines, well, we all know what happens then. So, it was very refreshing to see Oliver Crocker focus on that aspect in his recounting the making of All Creatures Great and Small. We hear from everybody. We learn something about their backgrounds, how they became involved with the show, various anecdotes regarding the filming and, unanimously, just how special this program was. The fact that it preservers to this day is a testament to the team that put in the grueling hours and bore the elements in order to put this series together. Sure, we have lots of input from the major characters, except for those sadly now passed on, but we also get the skinny from assistants and grips, and sound recorders, and first time cameramen, and more. This approach really drove home the fact that it takes a combined and concentrated effort to make magic and this book demonstrates that incredibly well.
The book could have stood a little additional editing, but I will put that down to charm. There were also some inconsistencies in approach as the level of detail varies from episode to episode. I imagine that was down to limitations on surviving documentation. The fact the author could recover as much as he did is actually quite surprising. In fact, when I finished reading I thought what else could Oliver have put into this book? And I could not think of a thing.
If, like so many, you have worn out your DVDs and read the original books numerous times and are looking for an additional fix, this is well worth while. You get to see inside how the sausage is made, and while not as glamorous as you might imagine, it is pleasing nonetheless.
November 10, 2021
What a wonderful addition to my shelves filled with books by "James Herriot", Carol Drinkwater and others about "All Creatures Great and Small".
This book has so many behind the scenes stories that really give the reader the feeling of what it was like to be on the set of ACG&S. Lots of comments and memories from cast members, the directors, wardrobe people, all kinds of crew members, etc. who all add so much to this book. The photos are really good, so many I never saw before.
This book would be the perfect gift for any fan of the TV series and the books!
Well done, Mr. Crocker!!
This book has so many behind the scenes stories that really give the reader the feeling of what it was like to be on the set of ACG&S. Lots of comments and memories from cast members, the directors, wardrobe people, all kinds of crew members, etc. who all add so much to this book. The photos are really good, so many I never saw before.
This book would be the perfect gift for any fan of the TV series and the books!
Well done, Mr. Crocker!!
January 12, 2025
Not really what I expected. A lot about how different episodes was filmed, and memories from cameramen of different trouble or light-setting. I had thought it would be some more comprehensive storytelling about the series.
I would have liked a picture of every actor, with name. I had trouble placing them.
Probably rather nice if you have the book while watching the episodes. You do understand how much work and how many people was involved!
I would have liked a picture of every actor, with name. I had trouble placing them.
Probably rather nice if you have the book while watching the episodes. You do understand how much work and how many people was involved!
September 23, 2021
I very much enjoy reading the book. It is nice to read the interviews of cast and crew about the series. I do have an urge to watch them again. Thank you Oliver for writing this book.
June 8, 2022
Enjoyable and informative read for this fan of the BBC series.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews