Tom and Barbara Good kept the nation entertained for decades with their efforts to be eco-friendly.

Now a Malvern family is doing it for real in a new BBC TV programme.

The Strawbridge family - parents Dick and Brigit and children James, 21, and Charlotte, 19 - moved out of their comfortable home in West Malvern into a derelict farmhouse in Cornwall to be greener.

Their aim is to live a 21st Century lifestyle but to be self-sufficient in energy and food, ideally producing little or no waste and removing their dependence on fossil fuels.

During the seven-part series, the family build a water wheel, wind turbine, compost loos, use solar power and turn chip-fat into bio-diesel for the car. They also rescue battery hens, fatten pigs and create a permaculture (balanced eco-system) garden.

The series, It's Not Easy Being Green, starts on BBC2 on Tuesday (March 28), at 8pm.

Retired Lieutenant-Colonel Dick Strawbridge, who has presented Crafty Tricks of War and Geronimo!, explained: "We're definitely not eco-warriors.

"We aren't prepared to give up our creature comforts for long. We want our coffee machine, dishwasher and washing machine."

He describes the programme as "The Good Life meets Scrap Heap Challenge", which he also appeared on, and said it was not about the personalities in front of the camera but the subject - how everyone can be greener.

Mr Strawbridge said the hardest thing about the project was the research, as so many sources conflicted. But the results and working alongside his family and "extended family" - the team that made the project possible - made it worthwhile.

Many Malvern residents play a role in the series, including teachers and ex-students from Malvern College, QinetiQ employee Jim Millner and organic gardener Anda Phillips, not to mention a few local musicians who have entertained the workforce.

Son James also recruited an effective workforce from his university friends who, according to Mrs Strawbridge, nearly ate them out of house home but also did a lot of hard graft.