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Crispin Layfield is a stunt coordinator and was responsible for bringing together the dramatic car chase sequences featured in The Driver. He has worked on numerous films including the Alan Partridge movie, Alpha Papa and television shows including Doctor Who, Happy Valley and Life on Mars.

A 'pod' car was used to control the stunts

There is no margin for error on a television show

Crispin Layfield

Here he writes about his approach in bringing those driving sequences to the small screen.

We wanted a car chase sequence that rivalled the movies.

One of the first things that the director (Jamie Payne) and producer (Jolyon Symonds) mentioned to me was that they wanted a car chase sequence – like the kind seen in a feature film - where the audience is inside the car as Vince tells his story, and sees everything from his perspective.

The stunts were controlled from a cage on the roof of the car.

Since we were producing for television (and had a limited budget) we came up with the idea of using a ‘pod’ car, which allows the actor to be in the driving seat - moving at speed - while a stunt driver actually drives the car from a cage on the roof. The hydraulics, pipes, and steering wheel are all controlled from this cage. This enables the camera to be inside the car with a 360 degree view of the actor and surroundings, while driving at fast speeds.

We needed three identical cars for the sequence.

The ‘hero’ car driven normally by the actor, a ‘stunt’ car driven by the stunt driver, and a ‘pod’ car for all of the exterior shots. The stunt car was fitted with a hydraulic handbrake which allowed us to achieve all of the shots of the car sliding around corners without wrecking it.

David's movements had to be in sync with the stunt driver at all times.

I had to make sure that David (Morrissey) looked convincing driving at speed on normal, busy roads, so we used radio communications to enable the stunt driver to tell David exactly what he was doing - and when he was doing it - so that he could imitate his movements.

A key challenge was to present the chase on real-life busy, city streets.

We didn’t want to use an old, disused industrial estate so we came up with three main pieces involving roundabouts, narrow streets and main junctions. The action car was densely placed in between several vehicles, all of which were driven at a normal pace by stunt drivers. We had several rehearsals with just the stunt team and only used the pod car once I was confident that the sequence would be well executed. Other cars were added to the background in order to fill up the streets.

There is no margin for error on a television show.

Unlike with a feature film, we had neither the luxury of rehearsal time, nor a bottomless fleet of vehicles to damage. I had to get it right first time, so selecting the stunt team was paramount. The main stunt driver, Andy Smart, has worked for me many times in the past so I had full trust in his driving experience. Not only did he have to drive at speed with other moving vehicles close by, he was also responsible for ensuring the safety of the main actor, David Morrissey. David and Andy worked closely together to build a trusting relationship.

We filmed the car chase in Manchester with members of the public all around us.

This meant that we had to be especially careful when filming the chase scenes. Thanks to the professionalism and skill of the whole crew, we managed to achieve a great sequence without a hitch. I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.

The experience was unforgettable.

In twenty years of stunts I can honestly say that The Driver is one of, if not, the most enjoyable project I’ve worked on. I’m thankful to the director and producers for trusting me and allowing me the opportunity to work on the show.