Mrs Biggs


Mrs Biggs is a 2012 British television series based on the true story of the wife of the Great Train Robber, Ronnie Biggs. The series covers Mrs Charmian Biggs' journey from naïve young woman to Biggs' wife and the mother of three young sons. Money worries force her husband to ask for a loan from Bruce Reynolds, planner of the most famous crime in British history, the Great Train Robbery of August 1963. The aftermath of the train robbery and Biggs subsequent escape from prison leads to a life of flight for Charmian and her children as she tries to keep the family together.
Charmian Biggs is played by Sheridan Smith; Ronnie Biggs is played by Daniel Mays. The series was written by Jeff Pope, in co-operation with the real Charmian Biggs. Smith's performance as Charmian received widespread critical acclaim, and she ultimately won the 2013 BAFTA Television Award for Best Actress.

Cast

The series was filmed in London, Surrey, Buckinghamshire, Manchester, Adelaide and Melbourne.
Scenes of the Great Train Robbery were recreated on the East Lancashire Railway using a locomotive from the same batch of engines involved in the 1963 raid.
Charmian Biggs acted as a consultant on the series and flew to Britain from Australia in February 2012, just before filming began. She also visited Ronnie, who was ill; the couple had divorced in 1976 but remain on good terms. Some of the names in the series were changed for legal reasons.
Charmian met actress Sheridan Smith and sat with her at the manuscript read-through.
While filming in Australia, Sheridan Smith and Daniel Mays spent an evening at Charmian’s house, where she showed them her archive of personal letters and scrapbooks.
Charmian herself appears in the background of one of the scenes in the public gallery of the Australian court when the lawyer is arguing for her to be released.

Episode list

DVD

A region 2, two disc set of the series was released on 15 October 2012.