Buy your ticket for ‘The Ronnie Biggs Experience’. For fifty dollars you will be entitled to Brazilian barbecue, a few beers, and an intimate audience with an international celebrity fugitive. Branded T-Shirts are available upon request. Live music may be provided by the Sex Pistols or, otherwise, a pop band of adorable children. Warning: the risk of a kidnap attempt occurring within the duration of this event is high. Snakes are also a known hazard. This episode has been edited since publicatio...
Jun 04, 2026•30 min•Season 9Ep. 15
Welcome to Rio in 1970. Home to the most beautiful football team the world has ever known. Home to a brutal military dictatorship. And, now, home of the last Great Train Robber at large. The Ronnie Biggs rollercoaster is about to crank up for another wild ride that takes in a Scotland Yard sting, samba, teenage pregnancy, the tabloid scoop of the decade, and an accidental legal loophole that defies the British government. Credits: Presenter - Daniel Mays Producers - Phoebe McIndoe & Jude Sha...
May 28, 2026•35 min•Season 9Ep. 14
What price freedom? And why should you never wear crocodile shoes when you’re on the run?! While the rest of the Great Train Robbery gang are serving thirty-year sentences, the runaways are enjoying the delights of mid-sixties Paris and Las Vegas. But the life of an outlaw is not all about cabaret clubs, Frank Sinatra residencies, and sweet freedom … painful plastic surgery and familial misery is part of the package too. Credits: Presenter - Daniel Mays Producers - Phoebe McIndoe & Jude Shap...
May 21, 2026•32 min•Season 9Ep. 13
This episode contains reference to self harm. We’re in Wandsworth Prison, where the lights never go out. And where freedom for Ronnie Biggs might only be a chess game or a rope climb away … Meanwhile - outside the jail walls - the British establishment is shaking under the weight of working-class anger, the Profumo affair, the Swinging Sixties, and a media frenzy at the severe sentences handed down to the Great Train Robbers. If you or someone you know has been affected by any of the issues rais...
May 14, 2026•34 min•Season 9Ep. 12
In 1963, a small-time South London carpenter joins the biggest robbery in British history for one reason - he knows a retired train driver who is semi-competent. And yet Ronnie Biggs will, for the next fifty years, be far more famous than the man who planned it, the rest of the gang who pulled it off, the train driver who was so brutally attacked, or the Scotland Yard detectives who solved the case. How exactly is a criminal ‘legend’ born? Actor Daniel Mays delves into unheard Ronnie Biggs tapes...
May 07, 2026•30 min•Season 9Ep. 11
How did a small-time carpenter with a minor and fumbled role in a 1963 violent heist become Britain’s most famous fugitive and - for many - an unlikely folk hero? From gangland tea boy to Brazilian playboy, this series recounts the controversial rollercoaster life of Ronnie Biggs in his own words, through previously unheard recordings. Actor Daniel Mays, who portrayed the Great Train Robber in a major ITV drama, hosts the podcast, marking the 25th anniversary of Biggs’ return to Britain to face ...
May 04, 2026•2 min•Season 9Ep. 10
It’s the 1990s and Wo Shing Wo gangsters think they’re untouchable. Georgie Pai is fighting yet another deportation order after being caught in the UK again. He’s granted bail on the condition that he reports weekly to a local police station. Meanwhile, a team of television journalists set up a sting in Manchester, aiming to expose how the Triads operate. The broadcast is devastating, a huge ‘loss of face’, which in the eyes of many in the Chinese community turns Georgie Pai from a feared villai...
Apr 09, 2026•28 min•Season 12Ep. 7
A video war is raging across Britain’s Chinatowns, fuelled by a booming market for Hong Kong films and soaps, copied and rented out for huge profit. In Manchester, Wo Shing Wo quickly seizes control, establishing a near-monopoly on the lucrative video rental trade. But where money flows, so does violence. In Glasgow, restaurant owner Philip Wong is brutally murdered by contract killers wielding machetes. Police suspect his death came after he refused to cooperate with Wo Shing Wo, who demanded a...
Apr 02, 2026•31 min•Season 12Ep. 6
By the 1980s, Georgie Pai has been arrested in Glastonbury for overstaying a tourist visa, found guilty of terrorising Chinese communities in Southampton, and deported back to Hong Kong. But borders are no barrier for a man with the right connections. He slips back into Britain and continues to expand his empire. Manchester becomes his nerve centre as police begin building a database of suspected Triad gangsters. But with Wo Shing Wo’s growing power comes a rising tide of violence. One of Georgi...
Mar 27, 2026•31 min•Season 12Ep. 5
Two Hong Kong nationals are arrested in Southampton after guns are found in a vehicle. One of them speaks to police, revealing that a flourishing protection racket is operating right under their noses. He also provides the name of their gang leader – Georgie Pai. Hampshire Constabulary sets up a Triad squad but quickly encounters a wall of silence. The terrified community fears not only for themselves but also for their relatives back in Hong Kong. Four hundred miles away in Glasgow, detectives ...
Mar 20, 2026•27 min•Season 12Ep. 4
From the neon-lit Chinatowns of Britain to the back streets of Hong Kong, we learn why the Triads were feared by so many. The secret societies were formed hundreds of years ago as resistance movements but morphed into organised crime. Triad membership has long been outlawed in Hong Kong, but for decades they were a powerful and insidious force. Their influence stretched across continents, with the groups involved in drugs, extortion, prostitution, armed robbery, kidnappings and loan sharking. We...
Mar 13, 2026•30 min•Season 12Ep. 3
In 1970s Britain, Chinese-heritage migrants worked long hours in restaurants and takeaways to build their new lives. But as the diaspora established itself, the gangs they thought they’d left behind in Hong Kong began to follow, quietly feeding off the very people they claimed to protect. Back in Hong Kong, Georgie Pai was already a senior member of Wo Shing Wo, one of the most feared Triad societies operating in the region's underworld. Triads are known for their rigid hierarchy, blood-sworn lo...
Mar 06, 2026•28 min•Season 9Ep. 9
From the back alleys of Hong Kong to the neon-lit Chinatowns of Britain, Georgie Pai built a nationwide criminal empire through his Triad gang Wo Shing Wo. With a network of protection rackets, gambling dens and an army of loyal followers, he controlled his turf with threats, violence and machetes. Gangster steps inside the world of the Triads. A brotherhood bound by secret handshakes and elaborate rituals, where loyalty is sworn in blood. For decades, Georgie Pai’s name alone caused absolute te...
Mar 04, 2026•3 min•Season 12Ep. 1
Amy and Joe had been planning a future together, outside — but now they’re stuck behind bars, facing the consequences of their actions. In this final episode, host Amber Haque unpicks how their story ends - and finds there’s still love, but also loss. And for Amy, the question that lingers - was any of it ever real? Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Ivor Manley Story and music consultant: Emma Weatherill Development by: Rob Byrne, Rhiannon Nevada and Emma Shaw Produc...
Dec 19, 2025•40 min•Season 11Ep. 7
Amy knows this is the final run - just one more package of drugs to smuggle in, one more drop-off before Joe walks free and maybe they can leave crime behind. But this time, someone is watching. Will the couple stay loyal to each other, as a wider conspiracy begins to unravel? Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Ivor Manley Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live Details of information and support with addiction is avai...
Dec 12, 2025•34 min•Season 11Ep. 6
Highly-addictive, relatively cheap and easy to smuggle, Spice is running rampage through Britain’s prisons. And Spice is the reason Amy finds Joe zombie-like in his cell, eyes rolled back in his head. The reason, he’s in debt with other prisoners. The reason he’s asking her to smuggle something in for him. Again. Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Andy Fell Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live Details of information...
Dec 05, 2025•35 min•Season 11Ep. 5
Smuggle one package of drugs into prison for her boyfriend Joe and he’ll be able to pay off his debts. That’s what Amy needs to do and then she can concentrate on planning their future together, or so she thinks. It’s not long till he’ll be released and then they can have the proper relationship she dreams of. Joe insists the smuggling is just a one-off, but will Amy do what he's asking? Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Ivor Manley Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC...
Nov 28, 2025•33 min•Season 11Ep. 4
Amy is risking it all for a relationship with career criminal Joe - but who is the boy from Bradford she’s falling in love with. Host Amber Haque delves deep into his past and jumps down the rabbit hole of #prisontok as she attempts to make sense of the illicit affair and who’s really in control. Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Andy Fell Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live Details of information and support with...
Nov 21, 2025•35 min•Season 11Ep. 3
The last thing mental health nurse Amy expected to encounter when she took a job at Lindholme prison was someone offering romance. Then she met Joe - cheeky, brimming with charisma and a career criminal. But surely she knows better than to listen to his relentless attempts to charm her…. Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Ivor Manley Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live
Nov 14, 2025•33 min•Season 11Ep. 2
The story of the biggest prison smuggling plot ever busted in the UK - and the love story at the heart of it. Journalist Amber Haque untangles what happens when mental health nurse Amy Hatfield meets convicted criminal Joe Whittingham. Her investigation leads into a world of blackmail and manipulation, where you never quite know who to trust or who's watching. Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Ivor Manley and Andy Fell Story and music consultant: Emma Weatherill Deve...
Nov 10, 2025•12 min•Season 11Ep. 1
Linda spends the next 18 years behind bars with some of the UK's most notorious female killers. She shares stories of a life inside, a shock prison wedding and returning back to reality and a life on the straight and narrow. With her criminal past behind her, Linda reflects on the effect of her crimes both on the victims, and on her two children left to grow up without their parents. Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journalis...
Sep 12, 2025•29 min•Season 10Ep. 7
After being released from prison, Linda's living the quiet life catching up on lost time with her two kids. Trouble soon finds her again as Ronnie Cook's sentence also comes to an end. When Linda brings Ronnie home for a visit, the couple are confronted by a hitman and Linda's small kitchen is turned into a brutal murder scene. But as police begin to question Linda, they discover that the 'The Black Widow' could have her boyfriend's blood on her hands in more ways than one. Credits Presenter: Li...
Sep 05, 2025•31 min•Season 10Ep. 6
A partial fingerprint at the scene of a violent robbery puts the flying squad on Linda's trail. While they watch, she continues to live the high life funding by a spate of terrifying armed raids. A team of officers recall the day they caught Linda red handed at yet another Post Office heist, and when Linda finds herself at the wrong end of the barrel of a gun, she knows her time is up. But her time inside takes an unexpected turn, as she finds a life for herself inside Holloway. Credits Presente...
Aug 29, 2025•28 min•Season 10Ep. 5
Linda discovers Ronnie's dark side as he lets slip a shocking secret about the day Mickey died. She can't leave Ronnie, because he's too dangerous. But luckily for Linda, the police solve that problem for her - catching Ronnie red handed trying to pull off a million pound heist. With Ronnie out of the way, Linda begins her mission to become an armed robber in an underworld ruled by men. Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journa...
Aug 22, 2025•30 min•Season 10Ep. 4
Linda, Mickey and the kids are living the high life when he agrees to take on a job with a new gang - a raid on a cash collection at a London supermarket just before Christmas. As Linda waits at home, armed police are lying in wait outside the supermarket. When the police rush towards them, the rest of Mickey's team flee, leaving him alone on the crowded street clutching his weapon. He is shot dead. When Linda hears of her husband's death something inside her snaps and at his graveside she makes...
Aug 15, 2025•29 min•Season 10Ep. 3
Linda Welford was raised in London's East End in the 1960s; a tight and tough community with a reputation for a thriving criminal underworld, ruled with an iron fist by gangsters like the Kray twins. One of nine children, Linda lived a sheltered life with her family in Stepney until she met armed robber Mickey Calvey. This was the so-called golden age of armed robbery and Mickey was making a fortune sticking up banks and Post Offices with a sawn-off shotgun. When Mickey and Linda got married, sh...
Aug 08, 2025•31 min•Season 10Ep. 2
Livvy Haydock explores the extraordinary life of Linda Calvey, the woman they call "the Black Widow." She rose through the ranks of London’s criminal underworld to become the UK’s most notorious female gangster. We follow her journey from humble beginnings in East London to time served in the infamous H Wing, alongside killers like Myra Hindley and Rose West. It’s a story of love, loyalty, betrayal and murder, of a woman who fell for a bank robber and ended up leading a gang of her own. Linda wa...
Aug 01, 2025•3 min•Season 10Ep. 1
Livvy Haydock examines the recent deaths of Eddie Lyons Jr. and Ross Monaghan, who were shot dead outside Monaghan’s Bar in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol, on 31 May 2025. Spanish police believe the killing was a targeted gangland hit linked to the decades-long conflict between the Daniels and Lyons crime families in Glasgow. Livvy tracks down eyewitnesses to the double shooting, retraces the getaway route used by the killer and speaks to detectives who give their expert insight into how the mu...
Jul 25, 2025•37 min•Season 9Ep. 8
After months of undercover work, the police in London start moving in their targets and claim their first victory against the hooligan mobs. But the celebrations are short lived. A new piece of science raises doubts over the evidence gathered as part of the police operations. Trials begin to collapse. The police and prosecutors are rattled and start scrutinising other cases yet to go to court. Dozens of cases are eventually dropped and fans previously jailed, have their convictions quashed. Afte...
Apr 11, 2025•29 min•Season 9Ep. 7
With the police under pressure to get a grip on the hooligan epidemic, an ambitious young copper comes up with a plan. To infiltrate the firms and go undercover. Covert police operations in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds soon get underway. Michael Layton is a former detective with West Midlands Police. In the mid-80s, he set up an undercover unit which infiltrated the Zulu Warriors, a firm who followed Birmingham City FC. Michael describes how Operation Red Card gathered evidence again...
Apr 04, 2025•25 min•Season 9Ep. 6
