Daniel Mays launches six-part Ronnie Biggs podcast on 7 May 2026
Daniel Mays will front ronnie biggs in a six-part audio documentary arriving on Thursday 7 May 2026, with Sounds and Radio 5 Live set to make Gangster Presents: The Story of Ronnie Biggs available as a full boxset. The series leans on unheard recordings Biggs made during his years on the run, giving the launch more weight than a standard true-crime release.
Daniel Mays and Ronnie Biggs
Mays presents and narrates the series after playing Biggs earlier in his career, and he described the project as a return to material that has stayed with him for years. “The story of Ronnie Biggs has fascinated me for years. Having had the chance to play him earlier in my career, it feels like a full-circle moment to return to his story and discover new material. What makes this series truly special is hearing Biggs in his own words — reflecting, joking, confessing, and myth‑making. These recordings pull you right into the heart of his extraordinary life, and I’m thrilled to help bring them to a whole new audience.”
Unheard recordings from Brazil
The series draws on exclusive and previously unheard archive recordings made by Biggs during his decades on the run in Brazil, along with rare photographs, video clips and written material that had never been shared publicly before. That package gives the project a wider release footprint than audio alone, with visual exclusives set to appear online alongside the episodes.
Biggs became notorious for his role in the 1963 Great Train Robbery, escaped from Wandsworth prison, and spent 36 years as a fugitive in Australia and Brazil. Louise Kattenhorn said: “This podcast is bringing fresh perspective to a divisive figure who has nonetheless captured the public imagination for decades.”
25th anniversary return
The launch also marks the 25th anniversary of Biggs’ return to the UK, a detail that gives the release a clear editorial hook beyond the archive material. Christopher Pickard, his close companion and official biographer, appears in the project, alongside musician and sculptor Nick Reynolds, the son of Bruce Reynolds, who masterminded the robbery.
For listeners, the practical value is simple: the full boxset lands on Sounds on 7 May 2026, with the added online material designed to run with the audio rather than sit apart from it. For a story this long lived, the draw is not the legend itself but Biggs in his own words, finally packaged with material that has not been public before.
