Exclusive: Mad Dog 2020 Casting, a 25-year-old British agency that supplies background actors to major productions, is facing legal action after failing to pay scores of clients.

Equity and Bectu, two of the most prominent UK creative industry unions, are pursuing legal claims on behalf of members who are owed thousands of pounds from jobs they completed in 2023.

Below-the-line actors who worked on shows including Doctor Who and Call The Midwife have been caught up in the debacle, which has rumbled on for months.

Mad Dog promised to process all outstanding payments by the end of January, but a month on, countless extras remain impacted.

Equity said 24 of its members have claims against Mad Dog. It is unclear how many Bectu members are embroiled in the issue.

A poll of nearly 12,000 background actors on private Facebook group Heavy Pencil showed that at least 88 people were still chasing payment as of last month.