Bradford-born actor Adrian Edmondson returned to his roots last night for the first in a 12-part television series on the Yorkshire Dales.

The ITV series, called The Dales, will follow some of the 60,000 people who live in the national park’s remote communities.

Last night’s episode saw Mr Edmondson – who starred in cult comedies The Young Ones, Comic Strip and Bottom as well as medical drama Holby City – meet Carol Mellin and her 16-year-old son Philip, who own Moor Lodge Farm in Oldfield near Keighley.

Philip, a former pupil at Oakbank School in Keighley, started working on the farm full time after completing his GCSEs.

The teenager and his mother have had to work hard to keep the business going following the death of his father Albert.

“I think my dad thought it was great I wanted to carry on in his footsteps,” Philip, a talented sheep dog trainer, told viewers.

The programme also featured Neil Roberts, a farm animal vet based in Settle and Amanda and Clive Owen, who live at a 2,000 acre farm in Swaledale with their five children.

Mr Edmondson, 54, who visited the Dales with his family as a child, said: “This landscape challenges the people who live and work here but it’s the warm spirit of the Yorkshire people that keeps the heart of the Dales beating.”

The programme, backed by tourism board Welcome to Yorkshire, follows successful ITV series The Lakes which pulled in 4.3 million viewers.

  • Read the full story in Tuesday's T&A