British Villains

In 1963, a multimillion-dollar heist forever changed England’s history. The thieves called the job the train, the papers called it the Great Train Robbery, and the police called it the crime of the ce…

Follow the podcast:

14 clip(s) in playlist

The Guv'nor
In the London crime circles of the 50s, 60s and 70s no one was more influential than Freddie Foreman. As a freelance enforcer, he worked with all of them — from gentleman robbers like Bruce Reynolds to the dark violence of The Krays. We spent an afternoon in his guv’nor’s flat reminiscing about th…
44:31
The New Breed, Pt. 2
In part two of our interview with actor and ex villain Tamer Hassan, we hear how Tamer got his start as a London villain and then worked his way up the criminal ranks — then he’ll talk about how difficult it was to walk away from it all and start over. Learn more about your ad-choices at https:/…
31:59
The New Breed, Pt. 1
After the train, the life of a villain became a lot more treacherous. In this exclusive interview with actor and ex villain Tamer Hassan, we get his take on what happened over the next few decades that led to this increase in violence. He'll share some deeply personal stories about his former stree…
35:42
Life After the Train
The Great Train Robbery with its harsh sentences and daring prison breaks changed Britain in unforeseen ways. As the story unfolds over decades many of the robbers became respectable household names, while others stepped back into a life of crime and ended up back inside, or worse. Does crime pay? …
42:04
Run
In between all the prison breaks, botched plastic surgeries, international kidnappings — not to mention all that missing money — life on the run was not a life worth living, not to mention it came with a hefty price tag and everyone was running out of cash. Learn more about your ad-choices at h…
27:12
The Flying Squad
Scotland Yard dispatches its finest detective, Tommy Butler, and his infamous Flying Squad to hunt down the crew. This career-defining opportunity would mean that Butler would stop at nothing to bring the crew to justice - no matter whether they were guilty or not. Arrest first, prove later. Lea…
30:31
The Best Laid Plan
They did it. They pulled off The Crime of the Century now they just have to get away with it. Again and again and again and every day for the rest of their lives. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
33:27
The Crime of the Century
They’ve got an airtight plan, the tools, the uniforms, the muscle, they’ve even brought their own train driver. Now, it’s time to see if they have what it really takes to do what no other British crew has done before - steal the Queen’s train and its contents. Learn more about your ad-choices at…
27:22
The Robbery
To pull off the crime of the century, you need one hell of a plan. And to pull off one hell of a plan, you need a crew of villains who can follow it to a tee. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
21:44
The Crew
Turns out that stopping a speeding train might not be as easy as Bruce Reynolds first thought. Bruce reluctantly agrees to recruit some small-time villains who happened to have some experience robbing from trains - introducing the South Coast Raiders, and one pair of cheap, black, leather gloves. …
27:33