Patricia Hodge has joined the cast of the hit Channel 5 / PBS Masterpiece series All Creatures Great and Small.

The Miranda actress will portray Mrs. Pumphrey, the character played in season one of the 1930s-set drama by Dame Diana Rigg. Rigg passed away in September at the age of 82.

Based on James Herriot's beloved novel of the same, All Creatures Great and Small centers on a trio of country vets working in the picturesque Yorkshire Dales shortly before World War II. Season one debuted on Channel 5 in September and on PBS in January.

Sir Colin Callender, the show's executive producer, 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.”

Other new cast members for season two include Dorothy Atkinson (Call the Midwife) as Diana Brompton, and James

Fleet (The Vicar of Dibley) as Colonel Merrick. They join returning cast members Nicholas Ralph, Samuel West, Anna Madeley, Callum Woodhouse, Rachel Shenton, Matthew Lewis, Cleo Sylvestre, and Kriss Dosanjh.

As well as playing Penny, the "such fun" mother of Miranda Hart's title character in Miranda, Hodge's recent credits include the Russell T Davies miniseries A Very English Scandal, David Hare's miniseries Roadkill, and Hulu's TV adaptation of Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Do you think Patricia Hodge will make a fitting successor to the late, great Dame Diana Rigg?