Happy Valley’s James Norton shares a behind-the-scenes glimpse into his dramatic fire scene

James Norton shared a behind-the-scenes clip from the final episode of Happy Valley on Thursday.

Warning fans who hadn’t finished the series yet that it would ruin the ending, the actor, 37, showed exactly how the team caught his character on fire.

Filming was done with the help of on-set stuntman Leo Woodruff, who was actually the one playing criminal Tommy Lee Royce when he caught fire on scene.

Filming from the side of the set, James captured the moment his brave stunt double was set on fire, with the crew on hand to cover it in a specially prepared flammable gel beforehand and then immediately extinguish it.

Fans of the drama were shocked to see that the stunt had actually taken place, with many rushing to the comments section to admit that they thought it was the work of CGI.

Up Goes: During the tense scene, Tommy douses himself with gasoline and pulls out his lighter to set himself on fire after finally giving in to his crimes.

The dramatic scene shows the show’s villain Tommy (James) finally relenting after running from his crimes for three seasons.

Defeated, he comes face to face with his enemy Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) and admits that he “doesn’t hate her anymore.”

Dousing himself with gasoline, the criminal decides he’d rather not be alive than go back to prison, pulling out his lighter to set himself on fire.

As viewers had to watch the character go up in flames excruciatingly, many assumed it was the practical work of CGI.

But this week, James shared exactly how the scene played out organically by posting a video that captured the moment on set.

James and Sarah had been swapped for their doppelgangers, with Leo, who looks a lot like James, taking a seat as Tommy.

He is believed to be wearing several layers of protective clothing, including fire-resistant materials such as asbestos, while the crew can be seen rubbing specially prepared flammable gel on Leo.

As it goes up in flames, the stuntman gets to his feet before falling to the ground, where Sarah’s stand-in comes to cover him with a crocheted blanket, scenes viewers will recognise.

Stand-in: Filming was done with the help of on-set stuntman Leo Woodruff, who was actually the one playing criminal Tommy Lee Royce when he caught fire on scene.

Dangerous: Sarah Lancashire also had a stunt double cover Tommy with the crocheted blanket, scenes viewers will recognise, before the crew go in and put out the fire off-camera.

Double act: James also added in a snapshot of himself and the double Leo, both dressed as Tommy, with the duo looking strikingly similar.

But what could not be seen on the screen are the two crew members who put out the fire seconds later with fire extinguishers.

Impressively, Leo then jumps to his feet and gives the crew a thumbs up, making sure they’re okay after being set on fire.

James then panned the camera to the rest of the set where a great crew gathered with the crew, while Sarah also sat nearby to watch.

The directors could be seen looking at the scene on cameras to make sure they got the right angle.

The actor also added in a snapshot of himself and the double Leo, both dressed as Tommy, with the duo looking strikingly similar.

“SPOILER ALERT, waited a while before posting in case people hadn’t noticed,” James wrote of the video.

While captioning: ‘HAPPY VALLEY BTS – final scene – Big respect to @leonardstunts my stunt double. The man literally goes up in flames #happyvalley #bts’.

Shocked fans couldn’t believe their eyes upon seeing the clip, as one wrote: ‘Damn. Hell. I thought it was CGI!’

“And here I am assuming it was CGI,” another agreed.

While a third party dubbed the video “better than the final episode”.

Shocked: Fans of the drama were shocked to see that the stunt had actually taken place, with many rushing to the comments section to admit that they thought it was the work of CGI