Rachel Shenton Spoke About Being Pregnant While Filming 'All Creatures Great and Small'

British actor and writer Rachel Shenton has appeared in at least 41 episodes of the show All Creatures Great and Small. She plays Helen, the resilient and principled wife of James, the veterinarian.

Rachel has said that she relates to her character in that she's principled, likes simplicity and animals, and enjoys a great wardrobe, according to PBS Masterpiece. When Helen became pregnant in Season 6 of All Creatures Great and Small, many viewers wondered whether Rachel was also pregnant in real life.

While Helen was pregnant on the show, Rachel was becoming a first-time mother in real life. Rachel filmed as much as possible before giving birth, and then returned with her newborn in tow for the Christmas special.

Rachel and her husband, Chris Overton, welcomed their son, Orson, in April 2025.

Baby Orson arrived earlier than expected, so Rachel and Chris had to stay in the hospital for a while to make sure everything was OK. On an Instagram post celebrating their baby's birth, Rachel wrote, "On the 09.04.2025 my dream came true….Welcome to the world Orson Wilde Overton….Our hearts are yours."

She thanked the midwives and doctors at the Royal Stoke Maternity Unit, and said, "We couldn't have wished for better care and support."

Rachel said that filming while pregnant was a "wonderful experience."

"They were so generous ... I was filming pretty much right up until having him," she said.

"And then I snuck back at the end with Orson to do the Christmas special, so I managed to do it before and after, which was lovely," Rachel added.

In a behind-the-scenes video shared on Instagram at the time, Rachel gushed about how happy she was to have filmed Season 6 in the way that she did.

She wrote, "That's a wrap on Season 6. … A very special (and very different) one for me, with the arrival of my baby boy. So glad I could sneak back at the end and introduce him to everyone…shout out to the loveliest production, crew & cast for making it easier."

She said that Helen's pregnancy in Season 4 is the first time the character needs to rely on other characters for help, per PBS. The character, who is usually independent and self-sufficient, needs James and Mrs. Hall to help her when she's not very mobile.

She's "really good at being busy, being there for everybody, and coping — that's very much her identity," Rachel explained. She said that the pregnancy was difficult for her character emotionally since she's a farmer and her husband is going to war.

Rachel said that Helen was more panicked than she'd ever been when she was worried that something was wrong with her pregnancy while James was away at war.

"I've never played that [panic] before, because she doesn't get there. I think she usually doesn't get there because, one, she's very measured, and two, James is always there. It was a marker that actually, she's on the verge of not being OK." Rachel told PBS Masterpiece.