She rang him at seven o’clock that evening and they talked for a full half-hour. Peter exaggerated a little about his recent work, and was officially invited to audition on Friday afternoon. Fighting to contain his excitement, he wrote down the address and agreed to be there. For the first time, he could feel the spotlight shifting toward him through the darkness.

As he entered the southern corner of the park, Peter spotted the other extras. They were standing huddled together in the gloom, like sheep preparing to be attacked. Instantly he wished he hadn’t accepted Jonathan’s proposal. In a few hour’s time he would be auditioning for a real film. He walked over to the nondescript group and stood a little way off. Actors, that is those performers with speaking parts, do not mix easily with extras, whom they consider to be little more than unskilled fans. He knew that they would be forced to speak to each other, though, as there seemed to be no one else around. In the distance bare elms stood on the brow of a hill, thrusting up blackened bones like the spine of some half-buried animal. A sour pink glow edged the sky, the first intimation of dawn.

‘Where is everyone?’ he asked, breath clouding around him.

‘The director’s gone with the first AD to sort out payment with the park-keeper,’ said a small man in a brown raincoat. Shooting on the heath cost two hundred pounds an hour, and had to be paid in advance. ‘They’ve already had us rehearsing. There’s a lot of mud about. I’ve already ruined a pair of trousers. Make sure you put in a dry-cleaning bill.’