Leaving school at sixteen, Gideon qualified as an optical technician before joining the London Fire Brigade, and some years later, moved on into the probation service and finally the police. He filled the spaces between regular employment with stop gap jobs, including the blood, ambulance, funeral and education services, and Leavesden and Pinewood film studios. He has held a long fascination with the history, philosophies, and cultural significance of different religious beliefs, and in what it means to be human.