Paul Seed, Coronation Street star and BAFTA winner, dies aged 78

Former Coronation Street star and television drama director Paul Seed has died at the age of 78, it has been confirmed.

According to an obituary in The Guardian, the actor died on 7 March after being diagnosed with cancer.

The obituary, by his friend and colleague Sir Tom Courtenay, who Seed directed in A Rather English marriage (1998), pays tribute to the late star, noting that "his career was defined by intelligence, emotional precision and a rare instinct for performance".

Courtenay adds: "He loved what he did, and this love communicated itself to his actors. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who thought the world of him."

Seed was born in Bideford, Devon, and went on to study drama at the University of Manchester.

After graduating in 1970, he appeared in a handful of TV roles throughout the 1970s including Coronation Street, in which he played the priest Father Harris.

During his stint on the show, the character officiated the wedding of Gail Platt (Helen Worth) and Brian Tilsley (Christopher Quinten).

Seed also played the villainous Graff Vynda-K in the Doctor Who story The Ribos Operation (season 16).

Other acting credits included appearances in Pretenders, Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected and Z Cars.

Seed transitioned to directing in the 1980s and went on to help shape some of the biggest shows of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, including ITV’s A Touch of Frost, Doc Martin, and BBC’s House of Cards.

His directorial achievements earned him two BAFTA awards, the first for A Rather English Marriage (best single drama) and the second for Just William (best drama).

Seed also had a number of stage roles over the course of his acting career, appearing in productions of The Merchant of Venice, The Birthday Party, Love's Labour's Lost and Hamlet, among others.

He is survived by his wife Elizabeth Cassidy, whom he married in 2000, and by their two sons, Jack and Sean.