A FORMER paratrooper from Witney auditioned thousands of young men who want to appear as extras in a new star-studded TV series.

More than 2,000 people turned up at the casting held by Paul Biddiss on August 18 and 19, in the hope of landing a role in scenes from the Battle of Waterloo in new series Vanity Fair.

Mr Biddiss has selected 300 of them for two days of filming in Reading in October.

The 48-year-old became a military advisor for the film industry following 24 years with the Parachute Regiment's 3rd Batallion, when he was stationed at RAF Brize Norton.

He said: "I was very impressed with the interest for the film and there were so many people keen to get involved, which was really great.

"I think that there was such a high interest in the casting because people knew they would be put through a fully paid five-day bootcamp by myself [if successful in the casting].

"This involves being trained on the Napoleonic Drill of 1815 and being shown how to use a musket and all of the formations, which is a great opportunity."

The series is set to be filmed in a variety of locations, including Oxfordshire, Reading and Swindon, from October 7 and 11.

The Northern Ireland and Kosovo veteran also worked on the hit BBC mini-series War and Peace where, with the help of a translator, he trained Lithuanians to act like French and Russian Soldiers.

He said: "I think we may open up another audition day because there was such a high a level of interest, with people ringing, emailing and 4,000 people sharing the page on Facebook because they couldn't make the audition days.

"We're still deciding on a date [for the next audition], but we're hoping for next Monday in a location that more people can actually get to.

"I would advise anyone who is interested in the opportunity to keep an eye on my Facebook page, where they can find out all of the details and also any more upcoming opportunities for projects I'm involved in."

Mr Biddiss was not able to confirm the finer details of the series but film website IMDB says stars Olivia Cooke and Claudia Jessie will star in the adaption of William Makepeace Thackeray's 1984 novel by the same name.

Ms Cooke has starred in popular series Bates Motel, while Ms Jessie has featured in BBC's Line of Duty and Call the Midwife.

Applicants need to be between the ages of 18 and 30, eligible for work in the UK, have photo ID and available to work all dates between October 7 and 11.

To find out more visit facebook.com/MilitaryFilmandTvadvisor/posts/667905226737857