CALSTOCK hit the screens over the festive period with the much-anticipated Sky 1 mini-series Delicious, which aired its first episode on December 30.

The village was thrown into the spotlight as the location for the drama written by Dan Sefton (Mr Selfridge, Secret Diary of a Call Girl) and starring some of the country’s finest actors, including comedienne Dawn French, Game of Thrones actor Iain Glen, Silent Witness actress Emilia Fox and stage and screen star Sheila Hancock.

As filming took place in September, a number of village locals got their five minutes of fame starring as extras in the story of love, heartbreak, food and female friendship as filming took place in Calstock itself, as well as Pentillie Castle, Port Eliot and St Germans.

Calstock resident Beth Hill, 21, who worked as an extra on set, said: ‘I really enjoyed working as an extra in the summer. It was a one-off experience that was like nothing I had ever done before.

‘I hope Delicious will bring a positive influx of business to Calstock, as it’s such a lovely village. I’m also so glad that the weather was good on the days that they filmed — as Calstock looked amazing on the telly.’

‘I’ll look forward to seeing myself on the TV!’

Ben Williams, 27, manager of the Tamar Inn in Calstock, said: ‘Having Delicious filmed in the village is fantastic! It means that the rest of the country get to see this part of the world and how much of a hidden gem it really is. Local businesses have had people coming in and asking about it, which is great and also having people from the village as extras makes it more exciting!’

Dawn French, who plays Gina in the show, said it was ‘fantastic’ to film in Cornwall, allowing her to sleep in her bed at night and see her family.

She said: ‘We filmed in all sorts of beautiful areas like the Port Eliot estate and Pentillie Castle. One day we filmed in my brother’s village, Calstock, which was nice. But the minute they told me they were filming there I thought “Uh oh, how are they going to get trucks through there?” because it’s tiny.

‘It’s one road in and one road out, built for horse and carts, not big trucks. But the crew were fabulous and they had vans that were three quarters of the size of the usual ones. And we tried to get there in the early morning before the village woke up.

‘Cornwall gets to be the other character in the piece, so it all came together. Originally it was set by the sea, but that’s been done by Poldark and Doc Martin, so we did it inland. I love the sea, I live by the sea, and it’s so beautiful. But we are showing another side of the place.’

Iain Glen, who plays Leo, said he enjoyed filming in Cornwall very much: ‘I filmed there before, doing Bad Education with Jack Whitehall, and I love the undulating countryside and beautiful coastlines. The people who live there are very proud of their county.

‘I stayed in a lovely house and the journey into work through gorgeous winding roads was quite special.’

Sheila Hancock plays Mimi, Leo’s mother. She said: ‘It was nice [filming in Cornwall] because I’m into walking and there were so many lovely walks to do when I wasn’t working, where I could just feast on the scenery. And Cornish teas have a lot to recommend them! I’m all for those.

‘Because we were working long hours, I didn’t really get to meet many of the locals, which was always a regret for me, because when I go to a place I do like to meet the people that live there. You can get a tourist view of it if you’re not careful and you don’t feel a part of the community.

‘In fact, you feel a bit of a nuisance because you’re disrupting these lovely quiet places! They have an amazing coastline and their own flag, which I didn’t realise until it was explained to me.’

Tanya Reynolds plays Teresa in the show. She said: ‘Cornwall is so, so beautiful. Every location was idyllic and every one seemed more beautiful than the last. It made me not want to go back to London. I went to a lovely little cove with Emilia and her daughter one day and we swam in the sea.

‘The weather was crazy, though. One minute I was getting sunburned, the next I had heat pads under my costume.’