Summary
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 raised in this programme, details of organisations offering information and support can be found at bbc.co.uk/actionline
Credits: Presenter - Daniel Mays Producers - Phoebe McIndoe & Jude Shapiro Executive Producer - Jack Howson Associate Exec - Chris Pickard Mix Engineering - Will Fitzpatrick Additional Production Support - Ashley Clivery Commissioning Producer - Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor - Richard Maddock
Contributors include: Professor Dick Hobbs, criminologist Noel ‘Razor’ Smith, writer and former armed robber Brian Stone, cellmate of Biggs
A Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.3 | On BBC Sounds, there are podcasts to help you look after your body and your mind. |
| 0:12.7 | From increasing your immunity to feeling more confident. |
| 0:16.6 | Or tips on how to focus. |
| 0:18.5 | Sorry, what will you say? |
| 0:19.7 | If it matters to you, it matters to us. |
| 0:22.6 | Feel good inside of them. |
| 0:24.3 | With What's Up Docs. |
| 0:25.9 | And Complex with Kimberly Wilson. |
| 0:27.9 | Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:30.7 | Episodes of Gangster Presents, the story of Ronnie Biggs are released weekly wherever you get your BBC podcast. |
| 0:37.1 | But if you can't wait, |
| 0:38.8 | you can listen to more episodes a week earlier than anywhere else. Listen first on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:45.2 | A quick warning for you. This episode contains strong language and descriptions of violence. |
| 0:53.0 | Last time on Gangster Presents. |
| 0:56.3 | The biggest robbery Britain had ever seen. |
| 0:59.6 | 1963. |
| 1:01.7 | 2.6 million pounds, 30 minutes, 15 or 16 or 17 men. |
| 1:08.2 | This series hones in on just one. |
| 1:11.9 | Everybody was over the moon with the fact that we had got so much cash. |
| 1:16.5 | The small-time South London carpenter crook who talked his way into the crime of the century. |
| 1:23.0 | I'm Danny Mays and from BBC 5 Live, this Gangster Presents the story of Ronnie Biggs. |
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