The York Mystery Plays, more properly called the York Corpus Christi Plays, are a Middle English cycle of forty-eight mystery plays, or pageants, which cover sacred history from the creation to the Last Judgement. These were traditionally presented on the feast day of Corpus Christi (a movable feast occurring the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, between May 23 and June 24). They were performed in the city of York, from the middle of the fourteenth century until 1569. It is one of only four virtually complete surviving English mystery play cycles, with the others known as the Chester Mystery Plays, the Towneley/Wakefield plays and N-Town plays. In addition to these, two long, composite, and late mystery pageants have survived from the Coventry cycle, and there are records and fragments from other similar productions which took place elsewhere. A manuscript of the York plays, probably dating from some time between 1463 and 1477, survives at the British Library.

There is no record of the first performance of the York Mystery Plays, but they are first recorded celebrating the festival of Corpus Christi, in York in 1376, by which time the use of pageant wagons has already been established. The plays were organised, financed (and often performed) by the York Craft Guilds ("Mystery" is a play on words, representing both a religious truth, or rite, and, in its Middle English meaning of a trade, or craft). The wagons would be paraded through the streets of York, stopping at each of 12 playing stations, designated by the City banners.

York (local ⁱ/ˈjɔːk/) is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence. The city offers a wealth of historic attractions, of which York Minster is the most prominent, and a variety of cultural and sporting activities.

The city was founded by the Romans in 71 AD, under the name of Eboracum. It became in turn the capital of the Roman province of Britannia Inferior, and of the kingdoms of Northumbria and Jorvik. In the Middle Ages, York grew as a major wool trading centre and became the capital of the northern ecclesiastical province of the Church of England, a role it has retained.

In the 19th century York became a hub of the railway network and a confectionery manufacturing centre. In recent decades, the economy of York has moved from being dominated by its confectionery and railway-related industries to one that provides services. The University of York and health services have become major employers, whilst tourism has become an important element of the local economy.

Mystery plays and miracle plays (sometimes distinguished as two different forms, although the terms are often used interchangeably) are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song. They developed from the 10th to the 16th century, reaching the height of their popularity in the 15th century before being rendered obsolete by the rise of professional theatre. The name derives from mystery used in its sense of miracle, but an occasionally quoted derivation is from misterium, meaning craft, a play performed by the craft guilds.

The plays originated as simple tropes, verbal embellishments of liturgical texts, and slowly became more elaborate. As these liturgical dramas increased in popularity, vernacular forms emerged, as travelling companies of actors and theatrical productions organized by local communities became more common in the later Middle Ages.

Christopher Timothy (born 14 October 1940) is a Welsh actor, television director and writer. Timothy is possibly best known today for his role as James Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small; more recently he has starred as Dr. Brendan 'Mac' McGuire in the British television drama Doctors. In 2011, he played himself in the audio drama We are not the BBC written by Susan Casanove and produced by the Wireless Theatre Company.

He was born in Bala, Merionethshire, Wales, and lived in the town up to the age of five, when his parents moved to London. He attended the Priory Grammar School in Shrewsbury in the 1950s, appearing in a number of school plays. On leaving school he worked at Frank Newton's Gentleman's Outfitters in Shrewsbury - now the location of Marks & Spencers in the town.

In the 1960s Timothy was part of Laurence Olivier's National Theatre company and appeared in such productions as The Master Builder, Juno and the Paycock and Olivier's Othello.

After appearing in the film Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush, Timothy's television career started with the 1969 series Take Three Girls. He went on to appear in Doctor at Large in 1971, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em in 1973 and Murder Most English: A Flaxborough Chronicle in 1977 before winning the role of Herriot. He played the role from 1978 until 1980 and again between 1988 and 1990.

Harry Gration (born 22 October 1950, Bradford) is a television presenter based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. He is one of the main presenters for the BBC Yorkshire regional magazine programme Look North.

In his early years, he lived on Toller Lane in Bradford, where his father was the manager of Boots on Darley Street, then his family moved to Leeds and York. He went to the independent St Peter's School, York, where he enjoyed playing cricket. He trained to be a teacher at St John's College (now York St John University), becoming a history teacher at the Rothwell Grammar School (which later became Rodillian High School) in Lofthouse.

He started out doing sports commentaries from Radio Leeds and Radio Humberside, whilst still a history teacher. He moved full-time to the BBC to present Look North with Judith Stamper, then became spokesman for the Rugby Football League in 1994, and spent some time in the late 1990s as a host of South Today, based in Southampton. In the meantime, Look North was managing with Sophie Raworth. He rejoined Look North in January 1999, co-hosting with Clare Frisby, when Mike McCarthy left. Since Christa Ackroyd left ITV Yorkshire to join Look North, he has been teamed with her and their weather man Paul Hudson and together they have won many awards.