Gordon Seed
He's shot James Bond, battled with Batman and flown on a broom with Harry Potter – when he wasn't driving a taxi around Liverpool. Now Scouse stuntman and stunt arranger Gordon Seed saved the universe as not one but two Doctors in the Day of the Doctor 50 anniversary special. Gordon, 43, from Huyton, has been standing in for first David Tennant and then Matt Smith on Doctor Who since 2005. An international trampolinist, his first thought of becoming a stuntman came out of the blue when Karl Magee called asking him to be a Chinese policeman in Peter Pan in Manchester in 1995.
Gordon took the role and met several stunt people who were working on the show, which led him to ask how he could follow in their footsteps. He said: “You had to master six disciplines to a really high standard, as well as getting the required amount of experience performing.
“I already had trampolining and gymnastics as my sports, and I added high diving to that, managing to win the British masters championship during my training. I also worked to master swimming, karate and fencing, while staying on stage in panto – I was in Peter Pan seven times.”
To develop the required skill in his chosen disciplines took Gordon between four and five years, meaning training was a massive undertaking. While he trained by day, Gordon paid his way by driving a taxi in Liverpool by night. “It was a huge commitment really and I saw some sights while I was on the cabs,” he said. “I went from being in panto to driving my cab, which were different walks of life, but it kept me grounded.
“I had a goal at the end of it and that light at the end of the tunnel kept me focused on my training and my taxi work, as they were both very important to me.” His hard work paid off when his application was approved by Equity's stunt committee and he got his first job a few weeks later, doubling for Ioan Gruffyd in Great Expectations. From then on he found himself in demand as his name spread through the industry.
He has appeared in all three Batman films, several Harry Potter movies, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Bourne Ultimatum, Sherlock Holmes and Die Another Day. On TV Gordon has performed in Life On Mars, Ashes to Ashes, Game of Thrones, Spooks, Casualty, Utopia and Shameless among many others.