What it's like to... be a TV and film extra

And with more than 18 years of experience under his belt, it is fair to say he knows a thing or two about the industry.

Name a show and the 44-year-old will have no doubt appeared in the background. His repertoire ranges from soaps, including Emmerdale and Coronation Street and dramas such as DCI Banks and Foyles War to movies including Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Captain America: The First Avenger.

Roles can range from just a simple appearance in the background of a scene to having to recite a few lines of dialogue.

Other parts may involve more specific training which comes in handy for future work or being a stand-in or double for one of the main actors.

"On the last Sherlock Holmes movie I had to stand in for the assassin and I had to learn how to put together the weapon – a weapon that had been invented just for the film.

"It had to look like it was second nature for me to put it together and be a fluid action by the time they started shooting," he recalls.

The acting work all started for John when he spotted an advert to become an extra for a Doctor Who spin-off show for a video called Auton 2 in 1998.

After this first job, he was hooked, going on to become one of Britain's most prolific TV extras with more than 2,000 appearances in 200 shows.

It has seen him rub shoulders with stars including Billy Connolly, David Tennant, John Barrowman, Daniel Radcliffe and Tommy Lee Jones.

Patience is key when you're a television actor, according to John, who says it can involve a lot of waiting around before a few minutes of action. An ability to blend into the background is also important.

"You have got to be patient. Really we are just living, breathing props they need to keep warm and feed. The actors are the real stars. Some people have ideas above their stations.

"We are there just to be in the background. Our job is to help bring a scene to life. The audience's eyes may only be on the actors but the background has to look right.

"If you have two people talking in a street, it wouldn't look right if there was no one around. But put three people walking in the background and it makes it more realistic."

Depending on the production and location, John can earn between £60 and £260 a day.

John who has written a book on his work, enjoys the variety of the job and the unique opportunities it has provided him.

"Sometimes it can be hard to remember what happened on what day, they all blend into one. But when you are a TV extra, you find yourself telling someone how today you're going to be a Second World War soldier, tomorrow you're going to be a Roman and the day after a doctor.

"The other thing is, it can put you in places and situations that normal people would never have the chance to go or be in.

"One job I did was a mockumentary for Channel 4. I was on the top of a pyramid of paparazzi peering and taking photographs through a window of The Shard.

"So there I was up on a crane by the side of The Shard – it was just totally surreal. I was taking pictures of London in between takes because I just couldn't believe what I was doing," says John who has a day job working at Tesco.

But the job has come with its fair share of embarrassing moments. Recalling one of his appearances in Torchwood, he said: "I was a body so I had flesh coloured pants but as soon as John Barrowman saw me he shouted out 'naked man on set' which made me cringe."

"Another time I was in Ashes to Ashes and I was a man covered in concrete which was really grey paint. So the main actress walks into the make-up room and there's me standing in just flesh coloured pants with two women painting my feet," he says laughing.

More importantly being a television actor changed his life forever when he met his wife to be and fellow extra, Neilum, on the set of Doctors. The couple have acted together and had regular show characters – best known as a policing pair on Midsomer Murders, Scott and Bailey and DCI Banks.

They later married in November 2013 and live in Dudley with their 20-month daughter India. Neilum still does some background acting but has also set up a television chaperone agency.

"When we were engaged we were on Scott and Bailey and Suranne Jones was always on at me to pick a date, every single day she mentioned it. In the end I just picked one and said it was her fault we were getting married on that date," says John.

Although still acting, in recent years, John has turned his hand to directing and in 2014 produced a horror movie The Amityville Legacy.

It took inspiration from the 1979 classic The Amityville Horror and featured the man who voiced the Honey Monster, Gary Martin.

His second film is due to be released next year.

"It's all very exciting so watch this space," he says.

John's book called Extra Time: The Real Life Exploits of a Supporting Artist is available to buy on Amazon.

By Heather Large