It looks like Netflix subscribers are discovering a Sheridan Smith crime drama that first aired on ITV in 2012.
Mrs Biggs is climbing up the streamer’s ranking of the platform’s top 10 TV shows – making a convincing argument for a mid-August weekend watch.
Smith – who has so many British dramas to her name it can be easy to let one slip – stars in this five-part drama, which is based on the true story of the Great Train Robbery.
The drama focuses on the relationship between Charmian, played by Smith, and Ronnie Biggs, played by Daniel Mays. It follows everything from their first lovestruck meeting and the fateful 1963 train heist, to its aftermath and their eventual divorce in 1976, after Biggs fathered a child in Brazil.
We see the petty crook meet his soon-to-be wife on, of all places, a train. ‘The future is full of possibilities,’ he tells her. ‘The past will only drag you down.’
With that, the Biggs couple set off on a crime spree before they eventually decide to settle down for a quiet married life. That is, until the ‘one last job’ pops up in the chance to join the train robbers.
![TELEVISION PROGRAMME: MRS BIGGS SHERIDAN SMITH stars in the title role of Charmian Biggs in the five-part ITV drama Mrs Biggs produced by ITV Studios. She is joined by DANNY MAYS who assumes the iconic role of Charmian s infamous ex-husband Ronnie Biggs. PICTURED: SHERIDAN SMITH as Mrs Biggs and DANIEL MAYS as Ronnie Biggs. This photograph is (C) ITV and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes directly in connection with the programme or event mentioned above, or ITV plc. Once made available by ITV plc Picture Desk, this photograph can be reproduced once only up until the transmission [TX] date and no reproduction fee will be charged. Any subsequent usage may incur a fee. This photograph must not be manipulated [excluding basic cropping] in a manner which alters the visual appearance of the person photographed deemed detrimental or inappropriate by ITV plc Picture Desk. This photograph must not be syndicated to any other company, publication or website, or permanently archived, without the express written permission of ITV Plc Picture Desk. Embargoed until 28th August](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/AY_92022018-c32f.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
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Some labelled the drama a sanitised version of events, but it was inspired by a letter Biggs sent to his wife following the death of their son Nicholas. Biggs’s former wife Charmian was also a consultant on the show.
The show’s writer and executive producer Jeff Pope said he wanted to set out a romantic tale, rather than a romanticised one.
‘We show Ron as perhaps a little too wilfully optimistic and Charmian is the cold voice of reason throughout. It absolutely would be a danger of a piece like this to romanticise it,’ he told The Guardian.
‘It will get laughed out of court if it’s a slushfest. In the first episode, they steal, he strikes her, we acknowledge the fact he had a criminal record; further down the line, Charmian has an abortion by another man. We don’t pull back, we don’t flinch.’
What else can you watch from the Netflix top 10 TV?
- Plebs. Touted as Horrible Histories meets The Inbetweeners, the show is chock-full of puerile humour centred around a group of hapless friends living circa 26BC amid the Roman Empire.
- Wednesday. The iconic ur-goth Wednesday Addams is back for season two. Read our four star review here.
- Loch Ness. The show follows a local detective, DCI Lauren Quigley, who ‘tackles a disturbing double homicide in the hills of the Scottish Highlands as she searches for a serial killers in the quiet community’.
- Untamed. Set in the vast expanse of Yosemite National Park, Eric Bana is a parks special agent investigating a death.
![Television Programme: MRS BIGGS. SHERIDAN SMITH as Mrs Biggs and DANIEL MAYS as Ronnie Biggs. ITV STUDIOS PRESENT SHERIDAN SMITH stars in the title role of Charmian Biggs in the five-part ITV drama Mrs Biggs produced by ITV Studios. She is joined by DANNY MAYS who assumes the iconic role of Charmian s infamous ex-husband Ronnie Biggs. PICTURED: SHERIDAN SMITH as Mrs Biggs and DANIEL MAYS as Ronnie Biggs. This photograph is (C) ITV and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes directly in connection with the programme or event mentioned above, or ITV plc. Once made available by ITV plc Picture Desk, this photograph can be reproduced once only up until the transmission [TX] date and no reproduction fee will be charged. Any subsequent usage may incur a fee. This photograph must not be manipulated [excluding basic cropping] in a manner which alters the visual appearance of the person photographed deemed detrimental or inappropriate by ITV plc Picture Desk. This photograph must not be syndicated to any other company, publication or website, or permanently archived, without the express written permission of ITV Plc Picture Desk.](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/AY_92506175-9b07.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Praised at the time of its release for the quality of the acting and the excitement of the episodes, TV viewers have shared their positive reception over the years, as Mrs Biggs has been available on ITVX as well as Netflix.
Taking to X, @AshWoody90 praised: ‘Mrs Biggs on Netflix, possibly one the best things I have ever watched.’
@elliot_gonzalez commended the creative partnership between the show’s writer and star, writing: ‘Jeff Pope and Sheridan Smith should always work together. Mrs Biggs, The Widower, Cilla and now The Moorside. All outstanding work.’
@TVChatty wrote: ‘All week I’ve been watching Mrs Biggs on ITV3. Why did I not watch it first time? Fantastic story and great acting. Really enjoyed it.’
@lizcurran echoed: ‘Sheridan Smith is wonderful in Mrs Biggs – she is one of my favourite actors. Utterly mesmerising – always.’
Mrs Biggs is available on Netflix and ITVX.
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