Experience: I've been on television more than 2,500 times (but you won't know my face)

"I have always been a television addict. As a young boy growing up in Bath, I'd devour programmes such as Doctor Who, desperate to know how they were created. At 16, I dared to tell a school careers adviser that I wanted to work in TV; she laughed and said a career in television was for people who went to university. She suggested I get a job in retail."

"Dejected, I reluctantly took on a job at a supermarket, but made my way up through the ranks. They had a budget for making corporate films, and I ended up directing and producing their training videos. Then, in 1998, I saw an advert in a sci-fi magazine for unpaid extras for Auton, a Doctor Who spin-off. I dashed off an application and was thrilled to get a call weeks later, offering me a role as a villager."

"Walking on set the first time, I was like a kid in a sweet shop; it was everything I'd dreamed it would be. I was desperate to do it again, and signed up to an extras agency. I hoped to get the odd role, but to my surprise the bookings started flooding in, and I realised I could make more money being a full-time extra or background actor than in my retail job."

"Over the years, I've made over 2,500 appearances on camera, making me one of the most prolific extras in the UK. My look at the time skinny, mid-30s and not too good-looking was in high demand to play doctors, gentry in period dramas, police officers and journalists. I was cast as a newsreader so often that I started signing off with the same name every time Peter Sommers has announced headlines in at least 30 films and TV shows."

A television addict from Bath pursued TV work despite being told at 16 that television was for university graduates. He started in retail, rose through supermarket ranks, and learned directing and producing through corporate training videos. An unpaid extras role in 1998 for a Doctor Who spin-off led to enthusiastic entry onto sets and registration with an extras agency. Bookings increased until full-time background acting paid better than retail. Over time he made over 2,500 on-camera appearances, often cast as doctors, gentry in period dramas, police officers and journalists. He became frequently cast as a newsreader, using the recurring name Peter Sommers, and appeared concurrently as a GP across multiple British soaps.

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