Patricia Hodge has replaced the late Diana Rigg on All Creatures Great And Small.
The Miranda actress, 74, will take over the role of Mrs Pumphrey for series two of the Channel 5 show.
Game Of Thrones star Rigg, who had originally played the character, tragically passed away in September aged 82 following a short battle with cancer.
Replaced: Patricia Hodge, pictured in 2019, has replaced the late Diana Rigg on All Creatures Great And Small
Playground CEO, Sir Colin Callender, told Deadline: ‘We were deeply saddened by the passing of Dame Diana Rigg who will always be a treasured member of the All Creatures family.
‘Mrs. Pumphrey and her overly indulged Pekingese, Tricki Woo, are such iconic and cherished characters in Herriot’s world and we are delighted to welcome the wonderful Patricia Hodge.’
The publication reports that there will also be two new additions to the second season – Call The Midwife star Dorothy Atkinson, who will play Diana Brompton, and The Vicar Of Dibley star James Fleet, who will play Colonel Merrick.
Channel 5 renewed the All Creatures Great and Small reboot for a second series after its debut drew in a record five million viewers, with fans praising the series for its re-imagining of the Yorkshire vet Herriot.
Role: The Miranda actress, 74, will take over the role of Mrs Pumphrey for series two of the Channel 5 show (Diana Rigg pictured as Mrs Pumphrey)
Sad: Game Of Thrones star Rigg, who had originally played the character, tragically passed away in September aged 82 following a short battle with cancer (pictured in 2018)
The original BBC series, based on a series of books by former vet Alf Wight, who wrote under the pen name of Herriot, aired from 1978 to 1990, with Christopher as the Dales vet and Robert as his boss.
In September, Rigg’s agent confirmed the actress had died, saying that she had passed away ‘peacefully’ while ‘at home with her family who have asked for privacy at this difficult time’.
The British actress made her name in the cult 1961 TV series The Avengers, before going on to star as the cutthroat matriarch Lady Olenna Tyrell in HBO’s Game of Thrones, a show she later admitted she had never watched.
More recently, Rigg appeared as Queen Victoria’s Mistress of the Robes – The Duchess of Buccleuch – in ITV’s Victoria alongside Jenna Coleman.
Newcomers: The publication reports that there will also be two new additions to the second season – Call The Midwife star Dorothy Atkinson, who will play Diana Brompton, and The Vicar Of Dibley star James Fleet, who will play Colonel Merrick (L-R)
Back: Channel 5 renewed the All Creatures Great and Small reboot for a second series after its debut drew in a record five million viewers
She also starred as eccentric Mrs Pumphrey in the adaptation of All Creatures Great And Small.
The star, who won Bafta, Emmy and Tony awards, also earned worldwide acclaim for her turn as a Bond girl Tracy di Vicenzo in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1969, where she became only the second Bond girl to marry 007.
Hodge, who will take over the role of Mrs Pumphrey, has appeared in several shows such as Rumpole Of The Bailey, Miranda and, more recently, as Jeremy Thorpe’s mother in A Very English Scandal.
The actress previously bemoaned the lack of roles for older women in television and theatre at Cheltenham Literature Festival in 2012.
Career: Rigg made her name in the cult 1961 TV series The Avengers, before going on to star as the cutthroat matriarch Lady Olenna Tyrell in HBO’s Game of Thrones, a show she later admitted she had never watched (pictured)
‘It is very difficult for us who are in this age group to talk about it because it makes you sound like an embittered old woman,’ she said.
Hodge added: ‘Even if you asked every playwright in the country to write a play for older women it still wouldn’t be enough. I think it needs to grow, that realisation that there is a whole section of our community which is under represented.’
In All Creatures Great And Small, Rachel Shenton plays Helen Alderson, the love interest of lead character James Herriot, played by Nicholas Ralph, with Rachel’s role previously played by Carol Drinkwater and the late Lynda Bellingham.
Filming for All Creatures Great and Small’s second series was hit by delays due to the Covid pandemic, but production finally began earlier this year.
Amazing: Hodge, who will take over the role of Mrs Pumphrey, has appeared in several shows such as Rumpole Of The Bailey, Miranda and, more recently, as Jeremy Thorpe’s mother in A Very English Scandal (pictured in 2019)
The first series focused on young vet James Herriot (Nicholas Ralph) who moves to Yorkshire to land a job as a veterinary assistant to Siegfried Farnon, played by Samuel West.
Callum Woodhouse plays Siegfried’s errant brother Tristan, while Anna Madeley takes on the role of housekeeper Anna Madeley.
Meanwhile Rachel’s character Helen, was previously seen forming a blossoming romance with vet James, which even led to her to fleeing her wedding during a Christmas special.
December’s festive episode concluded with Helen and James still unable to reveal their true feelings for each other, even after she ended her romance with handsome landowner Hugh (Matthew Lewis).
Elsewhere widower Siegfried plucked up the courage to finally kiss Dorothy (Maimie McCoy) at the Christmas Eve party, while Anna was devastated when her estranged son Edward failed to turn up for the occasion as he’d promised.
Tristan remains in the dark about the fact that he failed one of his veterinary exams and isn’t fully qualified, and whether Siegfried will come clean about hiding the truth from his brother.
Romance: Academy Award winner Rachel Shenton plays Helen, the love interest of lead character James Herriot (Nicholas Ralph) in the adaptation of the books by author Alf Wight