MUSICIANS from Huddersfield got more than they bargained for when they appeared in BBC drama Life on Mars.
They expected to be marching and playing when they were filmed.
But it didn't work out exactly like that.
The players from Lindley Band did the marching - but had to learn a special kind used by the Army.
And they had to be careful not to make a sound with their instruments, as the music was to be added later.
Band member Andrew Webb said: "We thought it was going to be easy peasey."
The band's musicians went back in time for their role in the TV series about a present-day detective who wakes up in 1973 after a car crash.
Lindley Band took on the role of extras in a day's filming at Bolton in the drama starring John Simm and Philip Glenister, which began its second series on BBC1 last night.
The band will appear in an episode later in the series.
Mr Webb, who lives at Mount, said: "Local brass bands can do left turns, right turns and stops.
"But they wanted a bit more, counter- marching.
"That's something that Guards and Marines do. We had to learn it in the car park of the Bolton Territorial Army centre on the morning of filming."
There was a further surprise to come.
Mr Webb said: "The production assistant told us to keep counter-marching up and down between the lines in the road until we were told to stop.
"Then he added: 'Oh, can you do it without making a sound, as we need to hear the actors. We'll put in the brass band sound later'.
"It's the first example we've come across of a brass band in counter-march without making a sound."
Mr Webb said the whole day had been fun.
"They got us dressed up and applied make-up to look like a 70s-style brass band.
"We think the producer had been looking at pictures from the sleeve of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."
