Soap viewers tend to concentrate on the characters and the plots, rather than the props on screen.

So being curious as to what goes on behind the cameras probably makes me among the minority. I often wonder who puts things in their places on film and TV sets. Well, doesn't it intrigue you who sources and sites the teapots on the tables in Coronation Street's café, Roy's Rolls, or hangs the bottles in the optics behind the Rover's Return?

Steven Jones, of Ilkley, is a production buyer for TV shows such as The Royal and The Royal Today, ITV's medical dramas filmed at St Luke's Hospital in Bradford.

His role is to find authentic props bringing St Aidan's Royal Free Hospital to life, from the medical equipment to the magazines lying around in corridors and the medical advice posters on the walls, "My role is never advertised. It's almost like a secret job!" laughs Steven. "TV is very much about knowing people. Certainly in the buying area people ask you to do some of this and that and it begins to accrue naturally."

He had always wanted a creative career, and studied for degrees in media, drama, film and television and creative writing. His TV work tends to be contract work and being freelance, he says, gives him flexibility.

Some requests for TV props aren't always easy to come by. Matron's teapot on ITV's The Royal is a prime example.

The character, played by Wendy Craig, had the same orange teapot for eight years and when she fancied a change Steven was set the task of finding a replacement. Because the medical drama is set in the 1960s popping out to the local high street chain for a teapot reflecting that era wasn't an option.

"I did two series of The Royal and there are still a lot of things in it I bought, but this was a weird orange teapot and it had been on set for eight years. Matron is quite a sophisticated character, so I did spend a lot of time finding one for her," says Steven.

He says charity shops and jumble sales are perfect places for picking up quirky pieces. Trawling second-hand shops and popping into prop houses - places hiring and supplying props as a profession - is something Steven does on a regular basis when he's seeking items for his lists.

"I work to a deadline, so it has to be ready for the shoot," he says. "There is no leeway. When you're shooting you may do one to five episodes so all the props needed to be used, the action props have to be there," says Steven.

For Steven, the challenges of working behind the scenes are all part of the learning process. "The more of those experiences you have, the more you survive them and that's a key part of working in TV. You're working in all sorts of capacities in lots of different environments. The world is always changing in TV."

So what disasters has he encountered? He laughs about the time an ice cream van he'd booked for a shoot failed to turn up. It wasn't a laughing matter at the time but he has a Mr Fixer' he can call upon who managed to find a replacement at short notice!

Steven's Mr Fixer is among a network of contacts he has built up from his early days in the business as a runner on the set of ITV's This Morning, making tea and fetching scripts. "You're basically an errand boy but it's the traditional way in," he explains.

Does he ever get star-struck? Steven says it's bedazzling' at first, particularly for young people just finding their feet in the business. "On This Morning celebrities were coming in and it was interesting. A young person thinks Wow this is great' and you get nice perks.

"I was in the studio when Take That were huge (the first time round) and that was a laugh, but in the end you become blasé to that sort of thing because they're only people."

Following his season on This Morning, Steven was tape-viewing, compiling comical collections from home videos sent in to ITV's You've Been Framed.

He considered becoming a researcher and producer of television programmes before settling on a role which wasn't office-based. "I wanted to be out and about, which is why I was drawn to the design side."

Working on short shoots such as commercials gave him an insight into scene-setting.

For the past three years Steven has been a production buyer for ITV, mainly working on The Royal and spin-off series The Royal Today which started earlier this year.

The new series, starring Paul Nicholas, right, former Emmerdale actress Leah Bracknell and Shipley actor Steve Huison, is a contemporary version of The Royal, set in a modern-day St Aidan's.

"It is a very all-encompassing job," says Steve. "I have to find, source, buy, hire everything you see on the set."

Steven worked with the programme's designers, walking round the former staff canteen at St Luke's Hospital and envisaging how to transform it into a modern hospital.

"They take pictures of all the hospitals in the area for reference, so there are photographs of waiting rooms, theatres, X-ray machines. All these go on a huge list which is given to me. It may have 700 items on it and I have to make it real.

"Television is a fast-moving industry. As soon as I have the list I'm working as fast as I can.

"I use the internet a lot, but because I've done The Royal I know lots of medical contacts so I'm already pretty aware of people who have medical equipment or who know about that kind of thing.

"Because The Royal Today is a modern hospital it's a new challenge. It has to look real and functional, sleek and new. That was my challenge.

"There are all sorts of people out there supplying modern hospital equipment. There are people who buy and sell it, people who collect it, companies helping to do product placement on set.

"With The Royal Today there are all kinds of anxieties about the use of modern equipment in the concept of entertainment, it becomes more complex.

"From the outset it was important for us and the producers that it was accurate and realistic."

Steven and the production team liaise with medical experts, including surgeons, doctors and nurses to ensure the programme portrays an accurate picture of life in a modern hospital.

"We're not doing a panto, we're doing a serious drama about hospital life," he says. "There's a variety of departments, people I work with who are responsible for the design of the set.

"During the shoot there's an on-set team working behind the camera on The Royal Today. They set everything out. I'm on the road, but they're on set all the time and they rely on me to bring things to them. It's a team process."

I'm eager to find out the most unusual item he's had to source. "I once had to buy some teeth!" he laughs, adding that they were a prop to illustrate a character's teeth falling out!

Does he ever get chance to watch the shows he works on? Steve says working in TV changes the way you watch it. "Soap opera is about believing something is true so I'm looking at the props and the set. I can identify where props have come from. You can see how it has been put together.

"I've always thrived in a dynamic environment. I think that's why people are so drawn to it. They also see it can be a lot of fun. It's a bit like when you are a child and you pretend, except you're an adult!" he laughs.

  • The Royal Today is on ITV Monday to Friday at 3.30pm.