‘When legends don’t work, people die…’
There are some people in the arts who act as a comforting seal of quality. Certain actors, directors or writers that instantly elevate anything in which they are involved. Steve Coogan is one of them. Bob Servant creator Neil Forsythe is another. To see them combine on Legends, along with an all star cast and the backing of Netflix suggested something very exciting indeed. Sure enough, Legends doesn’t disappoint…
Based on The Betrayer: How An Undercover Unit Infiltrated The Global Drug Trade by Guy Stanton, Legends presents us with the true story of a group of undercover customs officers who infiltrated the drug world in the early 1990s. Don Clarke (Steve Coogan), an old head who has retreated from the world of undercover work, is the groups leader; Guy (Tom Burke), a married but unfulfilled undercover agent is at the forefront of the investigation with Kate (Hayley Squires), Bailey (Aml Ameen) and Erin (Jasmine Blackborow) providing backup. Charlotte Ritchie, Tom Hughes and Alex Jennings appear in supporting roles.
Forsythe takes advantage of his ’90s setting with nods to the political climate at the time and an absolutely banging soundtrack. Coogan, as ever, is excellent – both avuncular but severe (when he needs to be). Burke, too, in a role that could easily have slipped into cliche is both convincing and effective. The plot builds nicely across six exhilarating episodes culminating in a genuinely heart-pounding finale that confirms Legends as one of 2026’s most watchable TV shows.
Legends, unsurprising given the talent involved, is one of those TV shows that I can’t imagine anyone disliking. It’s the Kinder Bueno in television form. Reliable. Occasionally exciting. Always satisfying.
