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All Creatures Great and Small’s Siegfried Farnon actor Samuel West has opened up about his role and feeling ‘slightly jealous’ of his co-star

The sixth series of All Creatures Great and Small is set to grace Channel 5 on Thursday 25 September at 9pm.

In anticipation of the new series, Samuel West, who portrays Siegfried Farnon, has shared insights into the upcoming season. The 59 year old actor has been bringing Siegfried to life since 2020.

Siegfried, the quirky proprietor of Skeldale House veterinary practice, shines in Channel 5’s rendition of All Creatures Great and Small.

This beloved family drama is inspired by the treasured writings of Yorkshire vet Alf Wight, who wrote about his experiences as a rural veterinarian under the pen name James Herriot.

The colourful personalities that inhabit the All Creatures books and their screen adaptations are drawn from real people, with Siegfried being based on Alf’s actual employer, Donald Sinclair, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Samuel, the actor behind Siegfried, has divulged details about series six and the animal escapades his character encounters.

He revealed: “We have our first Shire horse. That’s an amazing animal. I don’t know how it took us that long to get round to a Shire, but it was a beautiful, beautiful creature, and very well looked after. I had to get good at pulling up the hoof to look at it from the side.”

Samuel also confessed feeling ‘slightly jealous’ of his fellow cast member Callum Woodhouse, who plays Tristan Farnon.

He confessed: “I wish I had more to do with horses. When they said that Tristan was going to start looking at horses with me, it was the first time I felt slightly jealous.

“‘Let it be me! Siegfried is the one who’s good at horses! I’m the one who they asked for by name!’ But of course, you shouldn’t let me be comfortable in that – there are always new things to learn.”

He went on to say: “And there is such a thing as an aura around people. You meet it, and you can almost see it in people who are very calm or very disturbed – and animals certainly know it. Horses pick up on it immediately.

“So, working with them, I don’t know… I remember realising that our crew was so concentrated and so still and so talented that if I was doing a two-handed scene with a horse, and it was just me looking at the horse and waiting for a reaction, almost waiting for eye contact, or just sharing something that didn’t take words, I could probably wait there for a minute and nobody would say cut.

“And that’s an extraordinary feeling. It’s really good, because you’re filming something that’s invisible – something that’s happening between an animal that can’t speak and somebody else who is trying to read their thoughts, their feelings.

“But when we get it, we get it. We can see it. It’s like magnetism. It may not be visible, but we can sense that it’s there. I find that really exciting.

“It works with horses mostly, but you also get it with cows and obviously dogs and cats as well – but mostly with the larger animals.”

All Creatures Great and Small returns on Thursday 25 September at 9pm on Channel 5.

Aug. 28 (UPI) — The U.S. gross domestic product was revised slightly upward, according to the second estimate released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Thursday.

The GDP, which is a measure of all goods and services produced in the American economy, rose to an annualized rate of 3.3% from April to June instead of its earlier estimate of 3%, the BEA said.

The new estimate still shows a sharp rebound from the first quarter, which was down 0.5%.

Consumer spending was revised up to a 1.6% annualized rate in the latest estimate, up from the 1.4% previously reported. Spending is about two-thirds of the U.S. economy.

“With the initial brunt of the tariff shock behind us and the economy losing momentum, we expect to see sub-1% GDP growth in the second half of the year,” said Oren Klachkin, financial markets economist at Nationwide, in an analyst note Thursday, CNN reported. “A weakening labor market and modestly higher tariff-induced inflation will constrain activity through year-end.”

The change in real GDP mostly reflects upward revisions to investment and consumer spending that were partly offset by a downward revision to government spending and an upward revision to imports, the BEA said.

Real final sales to private domestic purchasers, which is the sum of consumer spending and gross private fixed investment, increased 1.9% in the second quarter, revised up 0.7% from the previous estimate.

The price index for gross domestic purchases rose 1.8% in the second quarter, revised down 0.1% from the previous estimate. The personal consumption expenditures price index increased 2%, revised down 0.1% from the earlier estimate. Excluding food and energy prices, the PCE price index rose 2.5%, the same as estimated.

Crowds watch Chinese performers take part in a traditional Qing Dynasty ceremony, in which emperors prayed for good harvests and fortune, during a week-long series of events to mark the Chinese new year on the grounds of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing in 2012. According to a new Pew survey, China is the world’s undisputed top economic power to many of the survey’s respondents. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

July 15 (UPI) — A new Pew survey is suggesting that global viewpoints on China may be trending in a slightly more positive direction for the communist nation.

The Pew Research Center poll of 25 surveyed countries released Tuesday indicated that a large segment of the global population views China as the world’s undisputed top economic power.

Pew officials say the results contrast from 2023, the last time the question was posed.

It noted that shares of people with a favorite view on China jumped in the last year in 15 of the 25 countries part of the Pew survey.

The new results from spring’s survey outlined how a median 41% of polled adults spread out in the 25 countries believe the Chinese economy is the world’s greatest, while nearly the same number of 39% say it’s the United States with the greatest economy.

Pew noted that it’s the first time since 2020 that opinions on Chinese influence turned in a more positive light following historic, or near historic, lows in recorded data dating nearly 20 years.

Notably, the survey said that confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping to do the right thing in diplomatic affairs also went up in many of the countries surveyed.

But despite the shift, Xi and overall view of China “remain broadly negative,” according to Pew Research.

It says a 36% median of surveyed adults had a favorable Chinese view, while 54% had an unfavorable view. The survey added that 25% of people had confidence in the Chinese leader versus 68% who had little or no faith in Xi.

The research center pointed out that while Xi’s numbers did improve, it spurred an opposite reaction on outlooks on the United States and President Donald Trump.

“Today, international views of the two superpowers and (Trump and Xi) are closer than they have been at any point since 2020,” the survey results read in part.

In 12 countries spanning regions and income levels, China is viewed as the top global economic powerhouse. Results showed that it was the most common opinion in most of surveyed Europe by majorities in Germany, Greece, Italy and Spain, and by roughly half of adults in France, Hungary and Poland.

By contrast, survey respondents in nine countries say the United States is the better economy. Including polled Americans in Pew’s survey, a majority of respondents in Israel, Japan and South Korea agree on U.S. economic might with split feelings in Brazil, Kenya, the Netherlands and Britain.

Pew’s survey results arrived the same day it was revealed that China ended up bucking second quarter’s economic expectations in the face of the U.S. president’s global tariffs despite a slowdown in the Chinese economy.

The S&P 500 was up 0.2% in early trading, though it’s been prone to huge swings not just day to day but also hour to hour. It is particularly the case nowadays, as markets struggle to keep up with President Donald Trump’s trade war, which economists warn could cause a global recession unless it’s scaled back.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 44 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% higher at the US opening.

The bond market was also showing more signs of calm after its sudden and sharp moves last week raised concerns that investors worldwide may no longer see US government bonds as a safe haven asset.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury was holding steady at 4.38%, where it eased to on Monday from 4.48% at the end of last week. It had been at just 4.01% a week earlier.

The value of the US dollar also steadied after its fall last week, raising more worries that Trump’s trade war was degrading its status as another safe-haven investment, like US Treasury bonds.

The dollar’s value ticked higher against the euro ($1.1323) and Swiss franc ($1.2220), but slipped against the British pound ($1.3224).

In energy trading, benchmark US crude traded at $61.64 a barrel, 0.2% up shortly after the US opening. At the same time, Brent crude, the international standard, was also slightly up, trading at $65 a barrel.

Previously, the International Energy Agency lowered its forecast for global oil demand this year, citing escalating trade tensions.

Gold futures traded a little above $3,233, up 0.2% at the opening of the US stock markets.

How corporate news moved trades

On Wall Street, Bank of America climbed 3.9% after the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank reported a 10% profit jump for the latest quarter, a stronger than expected result.

Most big US banks have been reporting strong results for the start of the year, boosted by their stock trading desks taking advantage of all the huge swings caused by Trump’s on-again-off-again tariff announcements. Citigroup also topped analysts’ expectations, and its stock rose 2.3%.

Boeing helped weigh on the market after Beijing ordered Chinese airlines not to take further deliveries of the US aerospace company’s planes and to halt purchases of aircraft equipment from US companies, according to a Bloomberg report. Boeing slid 1.3%.

Johnson & Johnson also reported strong sales and profit in its most recent quarter, however, its shares were down 0.7% shortly after the opening.

United Airlines reports after markets close.

The latest on tariffs

In contrast to the latest tariff pullback announcement, the Trump administration took steps toward imposing more tariffs, saying it was investigating the national security implications of imports of pharmaceuticals, computer chips and related products.

The US president also suggested that he might temporarily exempt the auto industry from tariffs he previously imposed on the sector, to give carmakers time to adjust their supply chains.

The news pushed up automaker’s shares across the world, the biggest German carmakers’ Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes all traded up by 2-3.1% by the opening of the US stock markets.

Indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia. Germany’s DAX returned 1.5%, and the FTSE 100 in London added 1.3%.

Automakers helped drive indexes higher in Asia, where Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.8% and South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.9%.

Chinese stocks wobbled, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rising 0.2% after fluctuating much of the day. Stocks in Shanghai added 0.1%.

Pope Francis’s health has slightly improved but he remains in a critical condition, the Vatican has said in a medical update.

On Sunday, the Pope’s condition was said to be critical with respiratory and kidney problems.

But the Vatican has now said that a “slight” kidney problem was not a cause for concern, more than a week after he was admitted to hospital.

“Even today there were no episodes of asthmatic respiratory attacks; some laboratory tests have improved,” said the Vatican in an evening bulletin on the 88-year-old’s health.

The pontiff resumed some work on Monday and called the Priest of the Parish of Gaza “to express his fatherly closeness”, the Vatican added.

The Pope is having oxygen therapy but doctors “are prudently not yet disclosing the prognosis”, a statement said.

This is certainly the most positive statement on the Pope’s health in a couple of days, but his condition is still described as critical. His doctors are not ready to give any kind of prognosis.

That said, Vatican sources this evening said that Francis has been eating “normally” and “can move”. He is not bedridden. He has no fever, and no apparent sign of sepsis. On Friday his doctors described such a development as the greatest risk, in his situation.

The work the Pope was said to be doing on Monday afternoon was “light”- reading and signing documents.

He has been calling a Catholic parish in Gaza most evenings throughout the war there. It’s thought this is the first call he has been able to make in recent days, although did keep up the practice when he was first hospitalised.

On Saturday, the Vatican said that the Pope had experienced a respiratory crisis and was in a “critical” condition, but later on Sunday released an update that he had “not presented any further respiratory crises”.

Earlier on Sunday, the Pope issued a statement asking Catholics to pray for him after he was unable to deliver the traditional Angelus prayer in person for the second week running.

And at 21:00 (20:00 GMT) on Monday, those cardinals who are in Rome gathered outside St Peter’s Basilica to lead prayers for the Pope, together with members of the Vatican curia and clergy from the Diocese of Rome.

They will continue to gather each evening, from now on, to recite the Rosary.

Monday evening’s prayer will be led by Cardinal Parolin, who is Vatican’s secretary of state.

The pontiff is particularly susceptible to pneumonia, an infection of the lungs that can be caused by bacteria, viruses or fungi, after he contracted pleurisy – an inflammation of the lungs – as a young man and underwent a partial lung removal.

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church has been admitted to hospital multiple times during his 12-year tenure, including being treated for bronchitis at the same hospital in March 2023.

From Argentina, Pope Francis is the first Latin American, and first Jesuit, to lead the Roman Catholic Church.