Sophie Turner, famed for her role in Game of Thrones, is set to dazzle audiences as Joan Hannington, one of Britain’s most infamous jewel thieves, in ITV’s upcoming drama Joan. The series, which was partly shot in Birmingham, takes us back to the gritty 1980s London and charts Turner’s character on a thrilling journey of survival and transformation.
The six-part series made its debut on ITV1 and ITVX on Sunday, September 29 at 9pm. In the gripping show, we see Joan, a dedicated young mum, fleeing a catastrophic relationship with her daughter in tow.
She plunges headfirst into the criminal underbelly to provide for her child, earning herself the moniker “The Godmother.”
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The riveting narrative draws inspiration from the real-life escapades of diamond thief Joan Hannington. Here’s the lowdown on Hannington’s exploits as Britain’s top jewel thief, reports Birmingham Live.
ITV’s Joan takes its cues from the memoir penned by Joan Hannington herself, titled I Am What I Am: The True Story of Britain’s Most Notorious Jewel Thief. In this tell-all book, Joan delves into her foray into the criminal world, driven by necessity after breaking free from her lawbreaking spouse, Ray.
Hannington, who grew up as one of six siblings, looks back at her impoverished early years. She left school at the tender age of 13 and at 17, she wed her first husband, Ray Pavey, a man already known to the authorities as an armed robber. Just seven months on, she welcomed her daughter, Debbie, into the world.
(Image: James Manning/PA Wire)
By the age of four, Debbie was entrusted to foster care as her mum, Pavey, was banged up in jail. In a desperate bid to see her young’un again, Hannington nicked a car to pop over for a visit but promptly got collared by the old bill.
Fast forward to the swanky ’80s, and Hannington snagged herself a gig at a posh London jewellery shop. Dead set on earning dosh to win back her lass from the social services, Joan went all in gobbling a bunch of diamonds to flog them later through some shady dealers.
At her peak, the diamond filcher bragged about owning a whopping 11 fur coats and 2,000 pairs of shoes, boasting, “I would say in the morning, ‘Let’s go to New York! ‘ By lunchtime, we would be sitting in first-class seats, sipping champagne, with £20,000 cash lining our pockets,” blinged up to the nines.
Joan, also known as “The Godmother”, shot up the criminal ladder to become top dog with her hubby Boisie (Benny) Hannington, who wasn’t just dealing antiques but had his fingers in the same dodgy pies.
Later down the line, things went pear-shaped with Benny. When he vanished on a job for a couple of days, Joan found out he’d copped it in an accident while trying to torch a house for insurance dough.
Finding herself a widow at 33 and a chapter closed, Joan took a long hard look at her capers. She ditched her life of crime and spent the next two decades patching things up with Debbie, her daughter.
Now aged 68 and having left her criminal past behind for four decades, Joan is thought to be residing on England’s south coast with her two beloved dogs. She recently stepped back into the limelight, posing for snaps with actress Sophie Turner ahead of the ITV drama ‘Joan’.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
