A DIE-hard Downton Abbey fan is delighted to have landed a role in his favourite programme.

Harwood singer and actor James Edgington will appear on television screens tomorrow evening in Julian Fellowes' hit ITV period drama.

The 31-year-old, one half of 2010 Britain’s Got Talent finalists Father and Son with dad Graham, filmed the scene with former Coronation Street actress Joanne Froggatt in April.

Mr Edgington, who studied theatre and performance at Manchester Metropolitan University, said: “I was told I wouldn’t stand a chance because I was a Northerner and they wanted a Londoner, but they said, can we see you anyway?”

The former Bolton School pupil prepared extensively for the audition, including attending acting classes and working on his accent.

Mr Edgington, whose musical theatre show Voices and Lyrics is returning to Bolton’s Octagon Theatre in December, said: “I totally geeked out on it. Three weeks after my audition, I got it.”

He does not want to reveal the plot, but said he plays a porter of an apartment block in London.

“It’s the smallest role I have ever done, but for the biggest show. Because I was on location, I wasn’t at the ‘Downton’ house. I didn’t meet many of the cast, but my scene was with Joanne Froggatt who plays Anna. She is amazing, a lovely down-to-earth person.”

They spent a day filming at The Strand in London, which charts the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants during the reign of King George V.

The fifth series, which started last month, picked up in 1924 with the Earl of Grantham and co facing reform thanks to the country's very first Labour government.

Mr Edgington, who will appear in Aladdin in Macclesfield over Christ-mas, said: “I’ve watched it all. I love period dramas anyway. It has subjects that we probably feel comfort-able about now, but still happened in the 1920s yet no-one talked about.”

He says his dream role would be to star in a biopic, playing a music star such as the American singer-song writer Jeff Buckley, insp-ired by Sheridan Smith’s recent portrayal of Cilla Black.

n Downton Abbey is on ITV1 tomorrow at 9.15pm.