In recent years, Dundee writer Neil Forsyth has been making a name for himself as one of the best television dramatists working in the UK.
The creator of the much loved Brian Cox led sitcom 'Bob Servant Independent,' he caught a lot of critics' attention with the BBC4 television film 'Eric, Ernie and Me' in which Stephen Tomkinson played the comedy Eddie Braben who worked for Morecambe and Wise.
Fellow Scot Mark Bonnar, who played Eric Morecambe in that drama, teamed up with Forsyth again for three series of the dark BBC Scotland comedy drama 'Guilt' with Jamie Sives, Emun Elliott and Ruth Bradley.
A show about two brothers in Leith who get sucked into Edinburgh's underworld after being involved in a hit and run accident, it was both a critical and ratings success.
Forsyth further cemented his place as one of British television's best contemporary dramatists with 'The Gold' on BBC1 with Hugh Bonneville, Emun Elliott, Charlotte Spencer, Tom Cullen and Jack Lowden.
A drama about the fallout from the Brinks Mat robbery in 1983, it was a gripping tale of cops trying to nab robbers who were always several steps ahead of them.
Running for two series to huge acclaim, 'The Gold' made Forsyth the perfect person to dramatise the real story of how undercover British customs officers tried to disrupt a major heroin importation into the UK in the early 1990s.
That story is told in 'Legends' - a six episode crime drama which in the past would have sat comfortably in the primetime schedules of BBC1 or ITV but has landed on Netflix.
Steve Coogan plays a former undercover cop Don Clarke who heads an 'Untouchables' style group of customs officers trying to infiltrate two drugs gangs in London and Liverpool.
Don knows what it's like to go undercover and immerse yourself in the criminal world.
He knows the sacrifices and the risks undercover officers take and he literally bears the scars.
Summoned by Alex Jennings' Home Secretary along with Douglas Hodge's mandarin Blake, they are both told Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is keen to have a big PR coup around smashing drug supply lines into Britain.
Prime Minister Thatcher needs a win as she battles discontent within her own party ranks with her leadership.
After convincing the Home Secretary that customs officers could do the job,Blake and Clarke begin a recruitment drive and a rigorous selection process which identifies four prime candidates.
Tom Burke's Guy is married to a fellow customs officer Charlotte Ritchie's Sophie but is identified by Don as having the nerves of steel required to infiltrate a London gang with Turkish connections.
Hayley Squires' Kate and Aml Ameen's Bailey are tasked with finding a way into a Liverpudlian gang, headed by Tom Hughes' Carter and his sidekick Johnny Harris' Eddie McKee.
Jasmine Blackborow's Erin is chosen because of her ability to quickly disseminate statistical information and read between the lines to see what it really says about gang activity.
Assuming a new identity, Guy moves to London and manages to win over the Turkish gang headed by Numan Acar's Hakan after being introduced by Gerald Kyd's underworld figure Mylonas with whom he has struck a deal.
In Liverpool, Kate and Bailey stumble upon Thomas Coombes' Scouser Shaun, a fellow customs officer who twigs what they are doing.
Recruiting him to infiltrate Carter's gang, his route into the criminal underworld is through Stephen Walters' Jed.
Can Shaun and Guy avoid being rumbled as undercover customs officers?
And will the Government have the patience to allow the customs team to see their operations through?
'Legends' play
S out like a English version of 'The Untouchables,' catapulting an inexperienced gang of unlikely crime fighter into a dangerous battle with wily gangsters.
Like Brian de Palma's film, we see how the team are recruited and are then mentored by Don.
As the officers take on the challenge, the show gets unbearably tense at times as the operation encounters unexpected twists and undercover officers run the risk of being exposed.
Forsyth's writing is terrific and the show's cast are sublime.
Burke seizes his chance to be in a lead role with relish, bringing a Ray Winstone quality to the role.
Squires, Ameen, Blackborow and Coombes are superb as characters who often find themselves having to think on the hoof.
Coogan is excellent as the sharp tongues boss who frets over his charges.
Hughes, Acar, Walters and Kyd are note perfect as various underworld figures, while Harris adds real depth to a character who in other writers' hands might be a cliche.
Hodge and Jennings also provide robust support.
Directors Brady Hood and Julian Holmes orchestrate events brilliantly, knowing when and how to ratchet up the tension and then squeeze out the humour.
Based on a true story, 'Legends' isn't just a good small screen adaptation.
It exceeds audience expectations.
Don't be shocked st the end of 2026 to find it sitting proudly in the list of the year's best TV shows.
It's that good and it will really make you excited to see what Forsyth does next.
('Legends' was made available for streaming on Netflix on May 7, 2026(
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