I was interested to read about Jan Harvey, the Howards’ Way actress (Daily Echo, March 18) who is joining the cast of EastEnders.

I worked as an extra on the show when it was being made in Hamble and Bursledon in the 1980s. The actors and crew would meet at The Polygon Hotel and usually go by coach to where the day’s shoot was, but sometimes I would travel in the Rolls-Royce which was on hire to the production.

I remember one occasion when five of us men extras were dressed as navvies and all piled into the Rolls-Royce to head off to the day’s location. You can imagine the startled looks that came our way and there was even an explanation to a policeman who wanted to know what we were doing travelling in such style.

Being an extra meant long hours of doing nothing, waiting for the scene you’re in, but the upside was that you were spending time in the beautiful Hampshire countryside and being paid for it.

Paddy Maxwell, Southampton.