The true story behind Sophie Turner's new crime drama Joan

Sophie Turner is Joan Hannington in ITV's new true crime drama, Joan, which is inspired by the life of the infamous criminal.

The six-part series is based on Hannington's 2002 memoir I Am What I Am, which recounts her experiences of abuse as a child, and her hardships as an adult, that led to her becoming Britain's most notorious jewel thief in the 1980s. Hannington became a prime figure in London's criminal underworld, and she even became know as "The Godmother" in her time.

Created by Ann Symon, the series begins with Hannington's experience with first partner Gary who she shared her daughter Kelly with. When he crosses the wrong people Hannington is forced to put their daughter into foster care for protection, with her subsequent delving into crime a result of her desire to get her child back.

Whilst trying to make ends meet to get her daughter out of foster care she meets Boisie Hannington (Frank Dillane), an antiques dealer who had dealings in the criminal underworld, and the pair instantly hit it off, fall in love and get married.

But what is the true story behind the drama? Read on to learn more.

In her memoir, Hannington explained that stealing diamonds was something of a thrill: "Swallowing diamonds was my life, my buzz, my drug". She explained it was her way of messing with the system after "the system f**ked [her]" by taking her daughter away from her.

Hannington would steal diamonds through a complex sting operation where she'd go in disguise to visit a jeweller and learn all she could about a ring before getting an exact replica made, it would be a fake diamond in a real gold or platinum band. Her elaborate ruse would continue as she'd travel to a high-end hotel, book a room for a night and call the jewellers pretending to be looking for a ring.

Read more: Sophie Turner says playing ex-thief Joan Hannington was the 'thrill of her career'

Disguising herself as a high-class American through expensive clothes and an elaborate accent, Hannington wrote she would take a limousine to the shop to establish her cover and when inside would flirt up a storm with staff whilst examining different rings. With the staff distracted by her demeanour she would ask to try a ring and would surreptitiously swap out the real ring with a fake, and would pretend to sneeze as she swallowed the jewel.

"Best bank in the world, is your tummy. Best safety-deposit box invented," Hannington wrote.

Some names have been changed in the series, for example Hannington's first husband was named Ray, while her daughter's name was Debbie not Kelly. But, Hannington did put her daughter into the care of social workers after being threatened by people Ray had crossed.

When Hannington stole a car in order to visit her daughter she was arrested and sent to Holloway Prison, this prison stint led social workers deciding to keep Debbie where she was rather than let Hannington take her back when she did have the income to support them both. Her inability to get her daughter back is what led Hannington to become a jewel thief, her memoir reveals.

Hannington's first time stealing diamonds came when she had a job at a jewellers and, during a stock take, she decided to swallow a handful of precious stones that were being kept in a safe and weren't recorded in the system.

"I didn't know at the time, but I'd swallowed about £800,000 worth of stones," Hannington recalled of the incident.

It was several months after this that she met Boisie Hannington, who she describes as being "the best fence, the best thief, the best jeweller, antiques dealer". The pair were together for eleven years, nine of which they were married, and it was during this time that Boisie taught Hannington the antiques trade, as well as what it took to be a professional thief.

Hannington and her husband worked closely together, with Hannington doing jobs with Boisie at nighttime and in the day "working dodgy cheques and credit cards" for herself, a period that the retired thief says was like being "Robbery Incorporated".

She served multiple short prison sentences in the early days of her relationship with Boisie, but wrote that their criminal partnership thrived in the 1980s.

"Probably we had millions —several millions— going through our hands. That's not a lot of money in this day and age, nothing on the drug deal. But in the Eighties we were among those early criminals to be in the millionaire league without getting it over the pavement," she wrote, referencing crimes like armed robbery.

The pair remained together until Boisie's death after he was caught in an explosion when an arson attack went wrong. It was shortly thereafter that Hannington retired from criminal life, the couple share a son together, Benny, who is a musician known by his moniker Benny Banks.

Joan premieres on Sunday, 29 September at 9pm on ITV1, and it will be available on ITVX.

This article originally appeared on Yahoo TV UK at https://uk.news.yahoo.com/joan-sophie-turner-itv-true-story-140505261.html