Legends Arrives On Netflix Soon – What It’s About
As the trailer above portrays, Legends tells one of those remarkable true crime stories that shines a well-deserved spotlight on such a heroic group of people who received very little recognition for their “legendary” efforts. The series begins with a very real-world national security threat facing the United Kingdom, in which Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise was failing to prevent widespread illegal drug smuggling across Britain’s borders. This is where Don comes in, spearheading the charge to bring everyday Customs employees into a top-secret operation.
The initial key point of intrigue in Legends is why Don chose to recruit untrained operatives rather than experienced spies, which will be explained in the early moments of the series once it drops on Netflix next week. Another interesting aspect is why this story has been essentially buried for so long, even though it depicts events that occurred in the 1990s, some 30+ years ago. Since the story has hidden under the cover of darkness for decades, it will be just as compelling and unexpected as a new fiction series, which is a rare feat for a modern show based on real people and times.
Series creator Neil Forsyth, best known for The Gold, spoke with Netflix about the rarity of making a show like Legends that actually benefits from being a relatively unknown true crime story. “I’ve written shows in the past that are about well-known events. You then tell the story behind it that isn’t so well known. This is unique, in that the work of the Legends is barely known at all.” Legends is based on the 2022 book The Betrayer: How an Undercover Unit Infiltrated the Global Drug Trade by Guy Stanton, who inspired Burke’s protagonist, as well as extensive interviews with some of the actual undercover operatives.
Guy Stanton is just one of the ordinary Customs employees who became “legends” in reality. While Guy takes on the identity of a respected drug importer who deals in the shadows with a Turkish criminal gang, Kate (Hayley Squires) and Bailey (Aml Ameen) are tasked with following the serpentine drug trails in Liverpool, which is run by the revered kingpin Carter, played by Tom Hughes. In real life, Guy worked undercover for 11 years of his 35-year career in Customs, and lived every day with the fear that he could be exposed and his family killed.
