An ex-paratrooper from Oxfordshire has acted as military adviser on three of the biggest films of the year.

Paul Biddiss, who lives near Witney, spent 24 years in the British Army, ending his career at the Parachute Training School at RAF Brize Norton.

He then became a bodyguard, and a private investigator before falling into the film industry when he gave some cheeky advice while working as an extra on the film Monuments Men which was filmed around Oxfordshire in 2014.

"I gave some advice to director George Clooney that during an offensive, soldiers would never drive right up to a burning vehicle, because it might be an ambush. He said, 'let's do it like that' and then it all took off from there," he said.

Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal in a stunning fight scene in Gladiator II (Image: Paramount Pictures/PA)

Since then he has worked on most of the big Hollywood movies, including Mission Impossible, House of the Dragon, Napoleon and The Gentlemen.

READ MORE: Trainee teacher who shared baby-rape clips walks free

Most recently he advised on the fight scenes in Ridley Scott’s action epic Gladiator 2, sequel to the highly acclaimed Gladiator, which opens in cinemas tonight (November 15).

He said: "With my team of veterans we trained around 2,000 people over eight months in Morocco, Malta and the UK.

"Ridley is good friends with the King of Morocco so we were very fortunate to have the Moroccan army at my disposal which was good.

"They had the soldier’s mentality and the same sense of humour. They reacted to soldiers barking out orders which was perfect because conditions were very, very hot. And they all worked incredibly hard."

Mr Biddiss carries out a tough selection process first.

"I make sure I’ve got the fittest guys," he said. "They’ve got to earn a place at one of my boot camps.

"We taught formations, holding the sword and shield, how to march and understanding how to work as a team of men as Roman soldiers did.

Paul Biddiss has worked on most major Hollywood projects from Mission Impossible to Gladiator II (Image: Imdb) "We then go to more specialist weapons like archery and then we used artillery – the scorpio all the way down to using slingshots.

"I’d do 500 guys at a time and we’d put the best guys in one platoon – the one that’s going to be in front of camera."

There has been much discussion about lead actor Paul Mescal's muscles in the film.

"He had his own fitness trainer," said Mr Biddiss. "I mainly worked with Pedro [Pascal] as he is playing a Roman soldier."

This  year Mr Biddiss has also advised on Guy Ritchie's Second World War film The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare as well as hit Sky TV espionage thriller The Day of the Jackal.

READ MORE: Controversial bus lane in Oxford made permanent

The incredible sniper shot through a revolving door in episode one was choreographed by Mr Biddiss whose expertise was praised by lead actor Eddie Redmayne on the Graham Norton Show.

He also gave Mr Redmayne an exercise where he’d have to follow a target without being spotted or tracked down.

He said: "My wife Debbie was the target he had to follow in central London.

"I’ve done surveillance work and females are the hardest to follow because they are more threat aware than men," he said, adding: "When she goes into Zara, she just melts away and I can’t see her."