The man who's become Richard the Third's body double

Available for over a year

When archaeologists discovered the bones of Richard the Third - they found one piece of Tudor propaganda was no myth. The last plantagenet suffered from scoliosis - a curvature of the spine that would have made life for a warrior king extremely complicated. But just what could Richard have achieved in battle. Could he have ridden a horse? Taken the strain of heavy armour? Wielded a sword? Well perhaps the last thing researchers expected to find was another man with such a remarkable similar condition. Dominic Smee - himself a re-enactor at Bosworth battlefield - was diagnosed with scoliosis at the age of 17. A decade later he's become Richard the Third's body double, and his work with the University of Leicester featured recently on a Channel 4 documentary. BBC Radio Leicester's Mike McCarthy spoke to him about the experience.