Samuel West is a household name for his leading role in All Creatures Great and Small.
But it seems the classic car he drives on the show should share top billing.
For the actor has escaped a driving ban after claiming the green Rover 12 Tourer is a ‘well-loved character’ – and viewers shouldn’t be deprived of the joy of watching him behind the wheel.
West, 58, told a court that stopping him from driving would unfairly remove the popular convertible from the show because he couldn’t shoot vital scenes.
The performer – son of Timothy West, 90, and Prunella Scales, 92 – is understood to have already had nine points on his licence when he exceeded a 20mph limit in Islington, north London.
One man and his motor: Samuel West in the role of Siegfried Farnon with the Rover 12 Tourer
The actor behind the wheel in scenes for All Creatures Great and Small
The cast from left to right: – Mrs Hall (Anna Madeley), Siegfried Farnon (Samuel West), James Herriott (Nicholas Ralph), Helen Alderson (played by Rachel Shenton) and Tristan Farnon (Callum Woodhouse)
But at the end of October he managed to avoid a driving disqualification – despite pleading guilty – after Willesden Magistrates’ Court was told of ‘mitigating circumstances’.
West is understood to have said it was important for him to be filmed driving the 1935 Rover convertible, which he said in itself was a popular character.
The actor pointed out if he was given a driving ban it would last until the end of April, when filming for the drama takes place between the end of February and the end of June.
He said the show had a crew of 120 people and that none of the scenes of him driving could be shot during the period he was banned.
West, who lives in Islington, was fined £500 for the offence which happened in March.
There are also understood to have been costs of £110 and a £200 surcharge, when the case was dealt with on October 29.
According to court records, he was given three penalty points for the offence but there was no disqualification.
Samuel West next to the Rover 12 Tourer for All Creatures Great and Small
West plays the cantankerous vet Siegfried Farnon in the Channel 5 drama based around the James Herriot books
A recent episode of All Creatures Great and Small was watched by 3.2 million viewers across seven days, putting it in the top 30 shows in that period.
The programme is based around the James Herriot books about a group of vets in the Yorkshire Dales in the 1930s.
The fifth season of the show ended recently, while a sixth series has already been announced.
When approached directly by the Mail at his home in Islington, West said he had no comment to make about the driving offence.