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.
