Gangster

How did a small-time carpenter with a minor and fumbled role in a 1963 violent heist become Britain’s most famous fugitive and - for many - an unlikely folk hero? From gangland tea boy to Brazilian playboy, this series recounts the controversial rollercoaster life of Ronnie Biggs in his own words, through previously unheard recordings.
Actor Daniel Mays, who portrayed the Great Train Robber in a major ITV drama, hosts the podcast, marking the 25th anniversary of Biggs’ return to Britain to face justice after 36 years on the run.
Listen first on BBC Sounds from May 7th, 2026.
A Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

It’s the 1990s and Wo Shing Wo gangsters think they’re untouchable. Georgie Pai is fighting yet another deportation order after being caught in the UK again. He’s granted bail on the condition that he reports weekly to a local police station.
Meanwhile, a team of television journalists set up a sting in Manchester, aiming to expose how the Triads operate. The broadcast is devastating, a huge ‘loss of face’, which in the eyes of many in the Chinese community turns Georgie Pai from a feared villain to laughingstock overnight. Georgie Pai ends up fleeing to Cheltenham, leaving the Triad life behind him. But in the gang world, there’s always someone waiting in the wings to become top dog.
Presenter: Livvy Haydock
Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer
Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford
Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson
Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan
Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music
Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover
Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt 
Commissioning Executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn
Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock
Editor and Executive Producer: Clare Fordham
Archive: The Cook Report: Meet The Triads (Central Television, ITV)

A video war is raging across Britain’s Chinatowns, fuelled by a booming market for Hong Kong films and soaps, copied and rented out for huge profit. In Manchester, Wo Shing Wo quickly seizes control, establishing a near-monopoly on the lucrative video rental trade.
But where money flows, so does violence. In Glasgow, restaurant owner Philip Wong is brutally murdered by contract killers wielding machetes. Police suspect his death came after he refused to cooperate with Wo Shing Wo, who demanded a share of his profitable Chinese video business. Despite investigations, the three men wanted for the murder have never been traced.
Presenter: Livvy Haydock
Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer
Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford
Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson
Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan
Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music
Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover
Commissioning producer: Sam Proffitt 
Commissioning executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn
Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock
Editor and Executive Producer: Clare Fordham
Archive: The Cook Report: Meet The Triads (Central Television, ITV)

By the 1980s, Georgie Pai has been arrested in Glastonbury for overstaying a tourist visa, found guilty of terrorising Chinese communities in Southampton, and deported back to Hong Kong. But borders are no barrier for a man with the right connections. He slips back into Britain and continues to expand his empire.
Manchester becomes his nerve centre as police begin building a database of suspected Triad gangsters. But with Wo Shing Wo’s growing power comes a rising tide of violence. One of Georgie Pai’s associates is brutally attacked with machetes, a warning that it is far from an isolated incident. Across the UK, violent clashes between rival Triad factions are becoming alarmingly common, each gang carving up territory in a bloody, escalating turf war.
Presenter: Livvy Haydock
Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer
Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford
Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson
Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan
Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music
Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover
Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt 
Commissioning Executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn
Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock
Editor and Executive Producer: Clare Fordham

Two Hong Kong nationals are arrested in Southampton after guns are found in a vehicle. One of them speaks to police, revealing that a flourishing protection racket is operating right under their noses. He also provides the name of their gang leader – Georgie Pai. Hampshire Constabulary sets up a Triad squad but quickly encounters a wall of silence. The terrified community fears not only for themselves but also for their relatives back in Hong Kong.
Four hundred miles away in Glasgow, detectives hear similar reports of businesses being extorted and they hear that name again… Georgie Pai. He’s now on the radar of police across the country and under scrutiny from immigration authorities. But as his criminal empire grows, he forgets to renew his tourist visa. Georgie Pai is deported back to Hong Kong for the first time, but even in exile, he continues pulling the strings.
Presenter: Livvy Haydock
Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer
Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford
Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson
Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan
Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music
Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover
Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt 
Commissioning Executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn
Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock
Editor and Executive Producer: Clare Fordham