Wensleydale sheep wool used for Siegfried’s Santa beard on All Creatures Great and Small Christmas special

Don't worry, it's not the effects of the sherry – it was in fact provided by Wensleydale sheep.

Lisa Parkinson, a make-up designer on the show, said: "In our Christmas episode, Siegfried appears as Santa.

"Our lead vet is a man who does not follow convention so a traditional green Santa outfit was chosen for him.

"Being thrifty and using local resources we figured he would look to his patients for inspiration.

"Local Wensleydale sheep have an amazing fleece of long curls so we shopped locally and purchased some locks and a felted piece of fleece.

"We wove the locks into small beards for our nativity children and fashioned the felted piece into a homemade Santa beard."

Set in the 1930s, young vet James Herriot (Nicholas Ralph) is now settled at Skeldale House with boss Siegfried (Samuel West) and his errant younger brother, Tristan (Callum Woodhouse) and, of course, housekeeper Mrs Hall (Anna Madeley). But James is downcast because Helen (Rachel Shenton), the farmer’s daughter he loves, is engaged to local landowner Hugh Hulton (Matthew Lewis).

A party takes place on Christmas Eve, the day before Helen and Hugh’s wedding.

The series, which is made in the Yorkshire Dales, has recently been recommissioned for a second series after becoming Channel 5's highest-rated drama commission ever.

The Christmas special aired on Tuesday but is repeated on Boxing Day at 7.45pm.