This article does not cover the upcoming season of All Creatures Great and Small. Content from UK-based press and social media posts linked in the article may contain spoilers.
The MASTERPIECE family recently lost Dame Maggie Smith, drawing tributes from thousands of fans and entertainment industry members. However, fewer American fans have heard that Cleo Sylvestre — who most recently had a recurring role in All Creatures Great and Small — also recently passed away. A few years ago GBH Drama covered the introduction of Sylvestre’s character on All Creatures, and it feels right in this time of mourning to revisit and reflect on her long career.
Sylvestre was the first Black actress to play a lead role in a National Theatre production. Her trailblazing is responsible for the careers of many of Black British actors today. Her last production was Alleujah in 2018 which was recorded and may still be in the National Theatre Live rotation. Her last film or TV role, according to IMDB, was in the short Beautiful Things where she plays the older version of the main character Bambi. Unfortunately, the short film is not currently available on US streaming services but the trailer is on YouTube. The film may be still on the festival circuit or due to premiere in the US in 2025.
Sylvestre was known for voice acting as well as theater and television roles. She worked on a few Doctor Who Big Finish audio dramas and podcasts, as well as the first Paddington movie. As a bonus for the Doctor Who fans, look for Sylvestre playing a concubine in the First Doctor serial “The Crusade” in Episode 4 “The Warlords”. Sylvestre, along with several other supporting actors and extras, was not included in the official credits, but Doctor Who fans have worked hard to honor everyone who has contributed to the legacy of the series.
Her prolific career in UK film and TV also led to guest star and supporting roles on Silent Witness, The Bill, Casualty, and several other miniseries and series.
Sylvestre’s debut as Anne Chapman during the All Creatures Great and Small Season 1 Christmas special is at first unassuming: she and her husband Bert are introduced as concerned dog owners. Their border collie Suzie is heavily pregnant and James tells them the pups are due any day now. During the Skeldale Christmas party, Bert calls James to come as Suzie’s labor is beginning. Helen ends up tagging along due to pre-wedding jitters. Looking back on these scenes, it’s clear the writers are setting up Anne and Bert as recurring characters. Anne mentions that they got Suzie 6 years ago after their daughter moved away to fill their now empty nest. James realizes there’s a big puppy blocking the birth canal. Anne and Bert start talking about Helen eventually giving birth and how similar dog labor is to human labor. James gets the stuck puppy out, but unfortunately, heavy fog blocks James and Helen from returning to Darrowby. While waiting out the fog, Anne reveals more of her story and transitions from just a client to serving as a surrogate aunt or mother figure, and a cheerleader for James and Helen’s eventual relationship. She also reveals that many of the racist Yorkshire residents refused to celebrate Bert and Anne’s love story. The couple met 40 years earlier while Anne was working as a servant in the big farmhouse, and Bert was a farm hand. Bert was shut out of society for being with Anne, which was a hard adjustment for his life. Anne also tells James that it’s clear that Helen has some feelings for him despite the wedding. By the end of the episode, Suzie and all of her puppies were doing well, but the road for James and Helen would still present some challenges.
Anne’s story was shaped by on Sylvestre’s own family history. Her mother, Laureen Sylvestre, was born in 1911 in a Yorkshire orphanage. Laureen, like Anne, worked in service, and like her daughter, also had a stint as a variety show performer. Historians are working hard to expand research into Black British history beyond London and the other major cities, and that’s the core reason why Anne and Bert Chapman’s story is so important to All Creatures Great and Small.
Anne returns in Season 2, Episode 2 bringing Suzie to the clinic hours. Helen is dressed up for the Daffodil Ball while James is still in his work clothes, and Anne advises James that he has to do more than smile at Helen if he wants to start dating her. While they wait for James to tidy up, Anne tells Helen she did the right thing calling off her wedding, before leaving to get Bert out of the Drovers before he gets too drunk. Later on in Season 2, the series introduces Anne’s grandson Tom as a farmhand and one of the players in the annual Darrowby cricket game. This shows that the earlier prejudices Anne and Bert faced have softened to the point that the Chapman family is clearly now part of the community.
Tom was featured in Season 3 but then joined many of the younger men in Yorkshire by volunteering for military service. This plot line highlights the fact that the British Army during World War II had Black British members as well as Black soldiers from the African and Caribbean colonies. Anne’s last appearance was in Season 4, Episode 3 alongside her daughter Grace who moved back home to help with the farm work. They call Siegfried to check on Tom’s horse Diesel who has breathing problems. He diagnoses Diesel with heaves, or pulmonary emphysema. Siegfried promises to do his best to heal the horse because of his sentimental value. Unfortunately, Diesel ends up accidentally impaling himself because the soldiers at the nearby training camp left one of the paddock gates open. Siegfried, James and Carmody work hard to stop the bleeding so that Diesel can live to see Tom’s return.
In all three episodes, the bond between pet and owner drives the historical and social storytelling underneath. Anne Chapman was more than a plot device, she was a member of the greater Skeldale family. Her story expanded the world James Herriot captured in his memoirs, and represents hundreds more that historians and archeologists are working to uncover.
It’s up to us MASTERPIECE fans to honor Cleo Sylvestre and her contributions to British TV, film, and theater by rewatching or discovering her new-to-us projects. May she rest in peace.
