Happy Valley used Hollywood stuntman to set Tommy Lee Royce on fire

Happy Valley used a Hollywood stuntman to set Tommy Lee Royce on fire in the ultimate showdown with Sergeant Catherine Cawood.

7.5 million viewers tuned in on Sunday night as the murderous villain doused himself in petrol and set himself alight after coming face-to-face with the police officer for one final time. 

Producers were determined for the kitchen blaze to be as real as possible and so turned to British stuntman Leo Woodruff to act out the nail-biting scenes. 

Leo, who has performed stunts on Bond’s No Time To Die, Batman and Marvel films, had to set himself on fire twice so BBC show bosses could capture the perfect sequence. 

A TV insider said: ‘The Happy Valley producers wanted to deliver as sensational and realistic a final scene as possible and though the first moments when Tommy sets himself alight are done using computer generated imagery, the rest was real. 

‘The moment where he is seen standing up and writhing around in agony as the flames take hold is where Leo really was set alight,’ the source added to The Sun. 

‘He was wearing specialist protective clothing and gel on any areas of exposed skin, he then fell to the floor, as planned, and was immediately extinguished by fellow stunt coordinators.’ 

It comes as James Norton gave his take on his character Tommy’s fiery ending. 

The emotional villain realised what a life his son Ryan, 16, had led – a childhood worlds apart from his troubled upbringing – after rifling through photo albums of the teenager and his late ex Becky. 

As Catherine (Sarah Lancashire) arrived at her home, Tommy had already downed whisky and taken pills before pulling off the dramatic stunt as he declared he didn’t want to go back to prison – only to be extinguished by the Sergeant throwing a crochet blanket over him.

At the end of the show, at Catherine daughter’s Becky’s grave, she receives a text saying Tommy has died in hospital.  

Speaking to GQ, James praised writer Sally Wainwright for giving the finale a very ‘human’ feel.

He said: ‘The ending was sort of perfect, in a Sally Wainwright sort of way. It was fireworks but it wasn’t fireworks. It was sitting over a kitchen table and that is where ‘Happy Valley’ really thrived. 

Blaze: Millions of viewers tuned in on Sunday night as the murderous villain doused himself in petrol and set himself alight after coming face-to-face with the police officer for one final time

Brave: Producers were determined for the kitchen blaze to be as real as possible and so turned to British stuntman Leo Woodruff (pictured) to act out the nail-biting scenes

Fiery: Leo, who has performed stunts on Bond’s No Time To Die, Batman and Marvel films, had to set himself on fire twice so the BBC show bosses could capture the perfect sequence

Stuntman: Leo has also acted in Game Of Thrones (pictured) 

‘That’s the heart of the whole show. Cups of tea over kitchen tables in kitchens in Yorkshire. It’s not a big stunt set pieces on wires and jumping off cliffs, and guns and fireworks. It’s gentle, it’s domestic, it’s human.’

James also spoke about the ‘constant question’ of whether Tommy is a ‘psychopath’, saying he’s done evil things but that there is ‘humanity’ in the character.

He said: ‘I have talked about this with people in the production and Sally and Sarah. The hints were almost laid in the very first series, in episode five, when he’s just been stabbed and he’s facing his own mortality, his own death. 

Drama: As Catherine (Sarah Lancashire) arrived at her home, Tommy had already downed whisky and taken pills before pulling off the dramatic stunt

Showdown: Catherine  receives a text saying Tommy has died in hospital daughter’s Becky’s grave at the end of the show

‘And he’s sitting in that high rise and he bursts into tears. He thinks, “s***, I’ve wasted my life and if I had a different childhood maybe I could have been something in me.”

‘And if you think back to there, that was where Sally was already planning and carving out this ending I think, because there is humanity there.’      

Critics and fans have agreed with James, with many viewers hailing the episode as ‘a masterpiece’ and ‘one of the greatest television finales of all’.

Co-stars: James Norton reflected on the explosive finale with Sarah Lancashire: ‘The ending was sort of perfect, in a Sally Wainwright sort of way. It was fireworks but it wasn’t fireworks’