Secrets of the Krays

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Sociopolitical Documentary hosted by Richard Sanders, published by ITV in 2021 - English narration

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The start of the most definite account yet of the rise, reign and fall of Britain's most notorious gangsters begins with their ascent to power and the influences that shaped them.

[edit] Ch1. Rise

Features exclusive interviews with friends, former gangsters and relatives of the twins, plus rarely seen archive footage and items including Reg Kray's personal scrapbook, charting their crimes and court appearances as if they were prized possessions.

The story of the Kray twins begins in Bethnal Green in the East End of London in 1933 – their love of Hollywood gangster films and their desire to be both feared and famous.

It also reveals the bond that could never be broken between them but would ultimately lead to their downfall. Follows their path through protection rackets, thuggery and violence to their arrival as national figures following their move into the West End in 1964.

Interviews include discussions with world-famous photographer David Bailey; Krays family friend Maureen Flanagan; Kim Peat - the twins' neighbour and cousin; former gangster Chris Lambrianou, who was sentenced to 15 years alongside the Krays; 89-year old Nemone Lethbridge, who was the Krays' barrister and Fred Dinenage, who co-wrote the twins autobiography.

It tracks their first tentative steps into the world of crime and their emergence as protection racketeers in the mid-50s.

We tell the story of Ron's imprisonment in 1956 and his confinement in a mental hospital where he was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic - and of his extraordinary escape after he and Reg exploited their identical appearance to deceive hospital staff.

We look at how their East End clubs became the in-place for the West End set, many of whom enjoyed the frisson of rubbing shoulders with gangsters. And we follow their move into a world of power, scandal and influence as they met leading political figures of the time.

This episode ends with the Krays rise to the top complete. In the words of Ron Kray "In the 60s, the Beatles and the Stones ruled the music world; Carnaby Street ruled the fashion world and me and Reg ruled London. We were fu**ing untouchable."

[edit] Ch2. Fear and Fame

Charts Ronnie and Reggie Kray's rise to the very height of their powers before it all came murderously crashing down. The cast is joined by Tom Mangold, journalist and one time friend of the Krays in the mid-60s, Pat Read, wife of police officer Leonard "Nipper" Read who was tasked with bringing the Krays to justice, Sir Ivan Lawrence, who defended the Krays on charges of blackmail with threats of violence at the Old Bailey, and Michael Emmett, who befriended Reggie Kray in prison in the 1990s.

The film begins in 1964 with the Kray twins doubling down on their business of extortion. Having been met with a terrified wall of silence for months, Nipper's relentless pursuit is rewarded with a lucky break when one Soho club owner decides he's had enough and is willing to stand up and testify that he is being extorted by the Krays.

Staring down the barrel of up to 14 years in prison, we learn how the twins flip the key prosecution witness, leading the trial to collapse and allowing the twins to reach new heights of fame and power away from the attention of the defeated police.

Through his onetime prison friend Michael Emmett, we discover that Reggie Kray's desire for a normal life led him to marry his childhood sweetheart Frances, but that the marriage would prove to be a disaster and unconsummated – bringing Reggie's closeted homosexuality to the surface.

As Reggie's marriage fails, we reveal how he is drawn ever closer to his increasingly unstable, violent and dominant brother whose gangster fantasy culminates in his slaying of George Cornell in front of drinkers in an East End pub. The Krays become increasingly out of control as their springing of prisoner and friend Frank Mitchell from Dartmoor ends in yet another murder before the twins' cousin Kim Peat reveals the devastating impact of the suicide of Reggie's estranged wife Frances.

Culminates with Ronnie seizing on his grieving brother's weakness to pressure him into committing his own murder screaming "I've killed mine, now your kill yours!"

[edit] Ch3. Fall

Tells the story of their dramatic downfall, and how the twins' subsequent decades in prison saw the legend of the Krays grow.

Features exclusive interviews with friends, family, former gangsters, police officers involved in their capture, prison mates and business associates.

After charting their rise from local East End thugs to national figures and revealing how they combined the worlds of showbusiness, politics, business and organised crime, this episode begins in 1967 with the Krays on the edge of self-destruction.

This chapter includes the murder of Jack 'The Hat' McVitie, the gangster plots to kill the Krays, the twins' eventual arrest, and their trial which saw them found guilty of murder and sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison. But this is far from the end of their story.

Over the years the legend of the twins only grows. We speak to fellow inmates about their incredible prison years, a time full of violence, money making schemes, tabloid sensations and celebrity visits. From behind bars they carefully cultivated, and profited from, their growing reputation, with new generations of fans emerging.

When Ronnie died in 1995, his funeral saw thousands line the streets of the East End of London. Reggie, allowed out of prison to attend, was greeted like a returning hero. It symbolised the extent to which the Krays story has passed into folklore. The twins were no longer seen by many as just old villains, but figures in the mould of Robin Hood. What is the legacy of Ronnie and Reggie Kray? Are they figures to be admired or reviled? More than 50 years after they went to prison, why has their name endured? What is it that makes the Krays so fascinating?