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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, and he started being requested by directors.
Eagle-eyed viewers might have noticed that, for a short while, there was only one GP working across Britain’s soaps: me, simultaneously treating the residents of Emmerdale, Hollyoaks and Coronation Street. There was a group of us who always played detectives on four different cop shows, too. We joked it was a wonder any cases ever got solved, given our vast workload.
TV work led to films: I’ve appeared in Sherlock Holmes 2, as an assassin, and The Woman in Black, as Daniel Radcliffe’s butler. Most extra roles don’t include any lines, but sometimes you get the odd sentence or two.
My friends are always spotting me on telly, but I’ve only been recognised by a stranger once. A lady stopped me and asked if I was the man racing in a child’s go-kart in a Pontins advert. I was more excited to be recognised than she was to spot me.
The best day I ever had on set was meeting my wife, fellow background artist Neilum. We were cast as a married couple on the soap Doctors. I fell head over heels for her immediately, and told her I’d marry her for real one day. She told me afterwards she thought I was quite strange, but I must have grown on her as we tied the knot in 2013.
We’ve appeared on hundreds of shows together since. People can see we have genuine chemistry, which helped us get roles. In 2015, our daughter India was born. We were offered extra work for her straight away. She loved it when she was little, but doesn’t want to do as much now she is 10.
I still wanted to live out my dreams of directing, so I put some money into making my own film, which I am proud of and is now on Netflix, but it didn’t generate much revenue. Then a friend offered me a few days’ work as a runner on the set of Doctors. Most runners are in their early 20s, but I jumped at the chance to make tea and coffee aged 47.
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Just a couple of years later, I worked my way up to first assistant director on the show. I always make sure I’m nice to the background artists. Sadly, last year, Doctors was cancelled after a 24-year run. I was gutted – my family wouldn’t exist without that show. I did manage to leave my mark though – I made sure Neilum and India were in the background as a mother and daughter in the very last scene.
In the last few years, our extra work has taken a back seat. I’m busy directing, plus I’ve written several books about my experiences, and Neilum runs a chaperone agency. I’d never say never to appearing in a great show if the right opportunity came along, but for now I’m happy staying in the background.
As told to Heather Main
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