About the Character:  James Herriot is a newly qualified veterinarian. While determined to succeed at his profession, he’s not without his insecurities and longs for acceptance among the skeptical Yorkshire Dales folk. James has a thirst for life and embraces it with humility, humor, and great optimism.

Where You’ve Seen Him Before: You likely haven’t seen him before—at least not on TV! This role is Ralph’s first major acting role since graduating from the Royal Conservatory of Scotland in 2017. Since the MASTERPIECE job, he’s been cast in movies like The Most Reluctant Convert about the life of C.S. Lewis and the supernatural horror film, The Devil’s Light.

Fun Fact: Ralph grew up in the Scottish Highlands around farm animals himself. “When we were kids in the field, we would be playing football and the cows, they just periodically would come up and down. And then when they see you, that’s it, boof, they’d go for you! So, you had to grab the ball and run as fast as you could to get out of there,” Ralph told MASTERPIECE. “I never used ‘Kush!’ It was just scream and run!” And though his youth was spent in Scotland acquiring that lovely brogue, Ralph was born in Cape Town, South Africa.

Related Content: Ralph reveals how his relationship with the iconic vet James Herriot has deepened in this Season 2 interview. You can hear him and Rachel Shenton discuss how the feelings between James and Helen are also deepening in the video short, James & Helen: A Perfect Match. Finally, Ralph discusses feeling right at home in the Yorkshire Dales in a Season 2 conversation with the MASTERPIECE Studio podcast.