“Legends” is now streaming on Netflix, and though it may seem too crazy to believe, there’s actually quite a bit of truth to this story.
Created by Neil Forsyth, the 6-episode series takes place in early ’90s U.K. as Britain is struggling with drugs being illegally smuggled into the country and killing users. In an effort to stop what’s happening, Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise department starts a secret operation, sending Customs employees undercover to infiltrate gangs spreading the drugs.
But these aren’t trained experts, they’re just normal people who happen to work for Customs. They’re given basic training, then given new personas that they have to commit to fully — becoming “legends.”
So, how much of this is real?
This is actually a true story?
Yes and no, but mostly yes. “Legends” is inspired by a real-life group of people who really were recruited to help out their government. The characters are based on real people, at least one of whom consulted on the series.
“This is unique, in that the work of the Legends is barely known at all … There was this core team of people that did all of this, and they did it almost without any public recognition,” Forsyth told Netflix.
The death of a student that is depicted at the start of the series is also based on a real incident, and the speech by Margaret Thatcher is real, too. That said, like many screen adaptations of true stories, there are elements that are fictionalized. Given the secretive nature of the legends’ work, it’s likely that they’re the only ones who know everything that actually happened.
Who were the real legends?
Tom Burke plays Guy in “Legends,” and his character is based on one of the real legends named Guy Stanton, who worked undercover for more than a decade. In fact, if you want to hear his direct retelling, he wrote about his experiences in a book called “The Betrayer: How an Undercover Unit Infiltrated the Global Drug Trade.”
Stanton’s wife was also one of the Legends, and she’s played by Charlotte Ritchie in the series. Guy Stanton actually spoke with Forsyth about the show and consulted on getting things right.
As far as the other Legends go, it’s unclear who their real-life counterparts are. But according to Forsyth, “A lot of [the Legends] are from working-class backgrounds without any kind of financial support underpinning their decisions.”
“Legends” is now streaming on Netflix.
