Well filming of the sixth series of the hit ITV comedy "Benidorm" is on the home straight - with just 3 weeks left - last scheduled day is 27th June. The cast and crew have certainly bought some life and excitement to the resort, with groupies following the Primoti vans around! One of the thrills for many of the locals living here is the chance of becoming an extra, as was apparent when hundreds turned out for the auditions back in March at the Melia hotel.

Helena and Javier

I met up with Helena recently, who works for "Mediterranea Audicion" - the company responsible for supplying all the extras, at the production office which is located in the "pink house" to find out what her job entails.

Her official title is the "extra´s co-ordinator" and this year she is fortunate to have Javier to assist her - in previous years she has had to handle all the work load herself... and boy, is she kept busy! It´s a very intense time but Helena loves it and tends to excel under pressure - which is just as well. Many people think that she just sits around on set  all day and makes a few phone calls - if only...

For this series they have over 300 extras on their books who have to date made 822 appearances - by the end of filming that figure will be around the 1000 mark. Helena´s is job is to provide all the extra´s required for the background in any scene being shot. This year they have 21 children - the youngest is 5 and oldest is 12 years old but by law, the maximum that they can work is 6 hours per day unlike the adults who employed to do a 12 hour day.

Javier making calls for following days list

Most times she is asked to provide a cross section of extras but there are times when they have specific requirements - hair colour, moustache, people with a good reactions and around 10% are for special appearances from local actors. The hardest age group to find are the 35-45 year olds as most are working during the day - they can do 1 or 2 days by taking time off but often they are needed for longer due to continuity. A lot of her and Javiers time is spent on the phone - if they need 20 extras then  on average they have to make 60 calls!

Helena counting the extras into Morgans

This is Helena´s second year of working on the Benidorm series and despite the long journey - she lives in Alicante, she loves her job which enables her to meet so many different people. They both agree that it´s the extras that give them the energy to carry on every day. When they are filming at Neptunes she is up at 5am....

Extras Stuart & Nicky outside Luckys in May for casino scene

She has worked on many productions over her 8 years in the industry - one of her most notable, apart from Benidorm obviously, was Dr Who when it was filmed down in Almeria. One thing which she wanted to mention was how well the British companies pay for their extras in comparison to Spanish companies -  they only pay 30 euros per day and given a sandwich. When she started on the Benidorm series she couldn´t believe that everyone - cast, crew and extras all ate the same food and together, something that would never happen in a Spanish production - there all the extras are kept well away.

It´s not always sunny on set - taking cover from the rain!

Before going home every night they have to complete the list for the following days extra´s and submit it to the Social Security office to notify them who is working. This is why only those who have an NIE and social security numbers can work as an extra as it also affects the insurance cover - this wasn´t the case in the first few series when another company was in charge. Only recently one of the extras slipped by the pool and needed to be taken to hospital - fortunately nothing serious happened, but with so many cables and equipment everywhere it´s easy for an accident to occur.

On set at the Sol Pelicanos

There is so much paperwork involved it is probably the worse part of the job - something on which they both agree. It is the one aspect that no-one ever really sees or appreciates either but they love the job and all the personalities which they come across. Javier is a bit in awe of Helena as she knows everyones name - hopefully if there is a next time (Im not saying there is or there isn´t) Javier will be as on the ball with names as she is... women are so much better at multi tasking though so it may take a little longer Javier!