Who gets the job as Father Christmas at Downton Abbey? Text Santa special (VIDEO)

There's a highly specialised job going at Downton Abbey – the position is upstairs and it will take a uniquely qualified individual to fill it...

Lord Grantham and Isobel Crawley have a job to fill the job of the year and are interviewing candidates from the world of celebrity and entertainment, including Vera star Brenda Blethyn and hot-tempered chef Gordon Ramsay, to be their Father Christmas.

Can it trump last year's Downton Text Santa effort when George Clooney popped in for refreshments and set the ladies swooning?

Watch a clip of ITV's ragged Northumberland detective Vera applying for the job (but who's interviewing whom?)

You can watch the full sketch in Text Santa Christmas Jumper Day on Friday December 18 at 8pm on ITV. Join ITV's biggest stars and do your bit in a Christmas knit.

To give £5 text SANTA5 to 70760; to give £10 text SANTA10 to 70760; to donate by phone call 0300 123 6060; or donate online at itv.com, stv.tv or u.tv.

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.