Straight-talking Thirsk farmer Jean Green to play a ghost in The Yorkshire Vet's production of A Christmas Carol

The cast are performing their own version of A Christmas Carol, which was filmed at Newby Hall & Gardens near Ripon, for this year's festive episode.

Series narrator and former Dr Who star Pete Davison agreed to play Scrooge on the condition that he got to meet 68-year-old Mrs Green, who has been cast as the Ghost of Christmas Past.

Another farmer, Chris Jeffrey, appears as the Ghost of Christmas Present and Rob and Dave Nicholson will play the Ghost of Christmas Future.

Peter Wright, Julian Norton and the new vets at Donaldson's in Huddersfield will also feature, and former narrator Christopher Timothy has returned to provide the voiceover.

Jean Green and her husband Steve have been hugely popular with viewers of The Yorkshire Vet since they began regularly appearing on the show thanks to their relationship with Peter Wright, who has been their vet since 1982.

Steve, 91, is thought to be Britain's oldest working farmer, and the pair run a calf trading business from their farm near Thirsk. They were forced to sell their dairy herd when Steve required a hernia operation and their daughter Sarah damaged her spine.

Jean was born in a wooden hut near the Greens' land when her father was billeted in temporary army accommodation, and she met Steve through her brother, who worked for the family. Their first 'date' was spent working on the farm and they married three months later.

The couple have 18 cats, including one named Katie whom they claimed was 27 years old when they appeared in a special episode of The Yorkshire Vet last year in which they renewed their wedding vows.

They have never used the internet, flown or been abroad. They went to Whitby for their honeymoon, but had not travelled further than that until a tabloid newspaper arranged for them to visit London for the first time last year. They had not been on a train since the days of steam, and produce all of their own food from scratch.

When he agreed to play Scrooge, Mr Davison told series producer Mike Sinclair: “I’ll get the chance to meet Jean Green so why not."

Mr Sinclair added: “We decided to do something a bit different and give our viewers a real Christmas treat and we were delighted when Peter Davison agreed to play Scrooge. He loved meeting Jean Green, whom he had seen on screen."

Christmas with The Yorkshire Vets: A Christmas Carol in on Tuesday at 8pm on Channel 5.