Legends
From the writer of The Gold, a pair of series with a focus on what happens after a gold bullion robbery, this new Netflix series shifts to 1990 and the dying months of the Thatcher government amid a heroin flood. In response Customs mounts an undercover operation to nail the drug trade.
There’s a wry cynicism running through the story, from the way the team is assembled to its triggering incident, a Cabinet Minister’s daughter overdoses, to politicians heedless of operational or practical realities. At the same time there’s a sharper edge to the nature of undercover work.
Like with The Gold, Forsyth has a keen eye for everyone getting their due, albeit sometimes in very quiet, limited ways. There’s a hanging plot thread of what happens after time spent undercover, as the criminal underworld has a long memory.