Ordinary people become Legends in Netflix’s new true crime drama

A group of agents goes undercover to infiltrate a criminal undertaking and put a stop to their illegal activities. Not an unusual premise for a TV series. But the difference is that in Legends, Netflix’s new British drama, the undercover agents aren’t highly trained battle-hardened types with the skills to see off any ne’er-do-well who takes exception to them. They’re ordinary men and women working for the customs service. And, even more intriguingly, it’s based on a true story…

That’s right – in the 1990s, sick of losing the battle with the drug smugglers, HM Customs & Excise took the extraordinary step of creating new identities (the “legends” of the title) for some of its employees and sending them into the field, with the aim of bringing down the operations from the inside. Neil Forsyth, the writer behind The Gold, which dramatised the events of the 1983 Brink’s-Mat robbery, has turned this fascinating story into a six-part drama that explores the reasons these people took on this assignment, the dangers they faced, and the threat it posed to their own identities.

Steve Coogan, Tom Burke and Charlotte Ritchie are the stars of this explosive new British drama. Check out the trailer here.

Forsyth describes the undercover operatives, who became known as the Legends, as being “from working-class backgrounds without any kind of financial support – they’re trapped. They can see how the next 30 years are going to play out for them, and they don’t really fancy it, but they’re not in a position to go down a different route. And suddenly, they have this opportunity to do something different that satisfies a lot of their personal motivations and hopes and dreams, but with it comes an enormous danger.”

Burke (Strike) is Guy, an agent based on a real-life Legend named Guy Stanton, and says Guy’s motivation was about more than doing the right thing. “He simply needs to do something like this because it’s meaningful and purposeful but also because it’s dangerous, and he craves that. There’s an adrenaline junkie in there.” In the series, Guy is married to fellow agent Sophie (You star Ritchie), and we see the effect of the undercover work on their relationship.

For Coogan (Saipan), who plays recruiter Don, the most interesting aspect is the new identities that the Legends take on. “If you spend most of your time being someone else, then how do you know who you are any more and who you’re supposed to be?” he asks. “I think probably a lot of people would love to reinvent themselves as somebody else, just even as a sort of fantasy. That stuff is examined in Legends in a really thought-provoking way. But that’s all gravy because the important thing is it’s a really entertaining, engaging yarn.”

Legends also stars Hayley Squires (The Night Manager), Aml Ameen (A Man In Full), Douglas Hodge (The Great) and Jasmine Blackborow (The Gentlemen). All episodes will be available in Apps > Netflix from Thursday 7 May.

If you love true crime series like Legends, keep reading to find out where you can watch more terrifying true crime dramas on Virgin TV now.

Stream it now in Apps > Disney+ + Apps > ITVX + Apps > Netflix

Episodes: 3

Starring: David Tennant, Daniel Mays

Based on: The arrest and conviction of Scottish serial killer Dennis Nilsen, who murdered at least 12 young men and boys between 1978 and 1983 in London. 

Why true crime fans should watch it: Tennant gives a chilling performance as the notorious killer Nilsen that was applauded by critics and audiences alike.

Stream it now in Apps > Channel 4 + Apps > Disney+

Episodes: 3

Starring: MyAnna Buring, Neil Bishop

Based on: The attempted murder of skydiver Victoria Cilliers, who miraculously survived a 4,000ft drop with a broken parachute that’d been tampered with by her husband, Emile.

Why true crime fans should watch it: The series uses a clever combination of dramatic reconstructions and interviews with the investigating police officers to unravel a barely believable story of affairs, debt, sex clubs, escorts and murderous intent.

Stream it now Apps > BBC iPlayer

Episodes: 3

Starring: Sheridan Smith, Stephen Merchant

Based on: The families of four murdered young gay men and their fight to bring serial killer Stephen Port to justice.

Why true crime fans should watch it: Four Lives delivers a fresh take on the genre by telling its story through the eyes of the victim’s grieving families instead of through the killer or detectives assigned to the case.

Stream it now in Apps > ITVX

Episodes: 7

Starring: Toby Jones, David Morrissey, Katherine Kelly, Mark Stobbart

Based on: The five-year manhunt for serial killer Peter Sutcliffe AKA the Yorkshire Ripper. 

Why true crime fans should watch it: As one of British history’s most famous serial killer cases, The Long Shadow not only captures the cat-and-mouse element of hunting Sutcliffe – one of Britain’s most notorious serial killers – but also the reign of terror he caused for the residents of West Yorkshire and beyond.

Stream it now in Apps > Netflix

Episodes: 9

Starring: Nicholas Chavez, Cooper Koch, Chloë Sevigny, Javier Bardem, Nathan Lane

Based on: Two brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez, who fatally shot their parents in their Beverly Hills home in 1989 to seize their family fortune.

Why true crime fans should watch it: Kevin Murphy’s Monster anthology series has proven to be a smash hit with true crime fans everywhere, earning a total of six Golden Globe nominations and one win. You can also watch the Jeffrey Dahmer edition in Apps > Netflix now.

Stream it now in Apps > Netflix

Episodes: 8

Starring: Tahar Rahim, Jenna Coleman

Based on: Charles Sobhraj, a French criminal who preyed on Western tourists travelling on the hippie trail in South Asia throughout the 1970s.

Why true crime fans should watch it: The Serpent is a must watch for any true crime fan who wants to learn more about how this charming yet incredibly dangerous mass murderer recruited his followers and remained undetected for so long. 

Stream it now in Apps > BBC iPlayer

Episodes: 4

Starring: Timothy Spall, Anne Reid, Éanna Hardwicke

Based on: Ben Field, who was charged with the murder of author and retired teacher Peter Farquhar. 

Why true crime fans should watch it: The BAFTA-winning series was penned by screenwriter Sarah Phelps, who’d already made a splash in the crime genre with Dublin Murders and Agatha Christie’s Ordeal By Innocence and The Pale Horse under her belt.

Stream it now in Apps > BBC iPlayer

Episodes: 4

Starring: Philip Glenister, Steffan Rhodri, Aneurin Barnard

Based on: The 30-year cold cases of Geraldine Hughes, Pauline Floyd and Sandra Newton who were murdered in Wales. 

Why true crime fans should watch it: The drama gives viewers a first-hand reconstruction of how scientists came up with a trailblazing way of bringing Wales’ first known serial killer to posthumous justice, by developing an investigative tool now known as familial DNA.

Stream it now in Apps > ITVX

Episodes: 4

Starring: Anna Maxwell Martin, Shaun Evans

Based on: The story of Delia Balmer, who evaded death at the hands of her former partner and serial killer John Sweeney and later gave a vital testimony against him. 

Why true crime fans should watch it: This astonishing true story shines a necessary light on the ordeal that Balmer survived at the hands of Sweeney and the institutions that failed her. Don’t miss companion documentary Until I Kill You: The Real Story that’s also narrated by Maxwell Martin in Apps > ITVX now.

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1. Use your voice
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