Is Joan based on a true story? Inspiration behind ITV drama

From swallowing diamonds to pulling off huge heists, there are plenty of dramatic moments in the series, which have naturally left fans wondering just how much of the show is fact versus fiction.

So, who is the real Joan Hannington and how accurate is the series? Read on for everything you need to know about the true story behind the ITV drama.

Is Joan a true story?

Yes, the drama is inspired by the real-life Joan Hannington, who became known as 'The Godmother' and was one of Britain's most notorious jewel thieves in the 1980s.

Turner told Harper's Bazaar that one of the central reasons she was drawn to the scripts was because it's "a real story, and the most unbelievable one".

"It's about resilience and ambition – this woman is so infectious, you can't help but love her," she added. "I couldn't give her up to anyone else."

Now retired, Hannington worked with the production to bring her story to life, something that producer Ruth Kenley-Letts (Stonehouse) admitted was an integral part of the process.

"I really wanted Joan to be happy with the scripts we wrote. I always have felt a huge responsibility to make sure that we sort of stay true to her story," she said at a press conference for the series.

"It was really important to me personally that she was happy with the work we did. The way we went about that was Joan read the scripts.

"We had quite a fun time reading them because her agent and I would go round to Joan's flat every time there was a new script and we would read it out, the three of us. Joan always got to play Joan, I got to play all the other parts and Lucy, her agent, got to read the stage directions.

"For me, I think if you’re doing someone’s story, it's their story. I would be devastated if, at the end of it, Joan didn't feel we had been true to her memoir."

Set in the '80s, the series - which is inspired by Hannington's 2002 memoir, I am What I am: The True Story of Britain's Most Notorious Jewel Thief - takes us on a whirlwind journey through Joan's first criminal escapades as her and her six-year-old daughter Kelly run away from their previous home in Kent.

In that first episode, we see that Joan moves to London to work with her sister, and makes the difficult decision to put Kelly in foster care while she gets her life sorted so that they can be reunited again soon.

But when she moves to London, she meets Boisie, who runs an antiques shop and starts teaching her the tricks of the trade.

At the same time, we see Joan take a vested interest in all things diamond-related, as she starts working in a jewellery store and swallows some whole diamonds to be sold off later.

And it turns out that while those scenes may appear to be something that only a good screenwriter could make up, it all actually happened.

Speaking about those intriguing first episode scenes, Joan series creator and writer Anna Symon said: "I wanted to tell the truth of her character, the truth of the unbelievable complexity within her character, but I also wanted the latitude to move away from the chronology of everything she’d done.

"We decided the best way to do that would be to use the book as an inspiration; I could cherry-pick some of the most incredible bits that you wouldn’t believe if you wrote it in a fictional script.

"Like Boisie ironing his bank notes – that’s the kind of thing I’d write in a script and someone would go, 'Well, that’s ridiculous, nobody would do that.' Or Joan swallowing diamonds at the stock-taking.

"So, I took a lot of anecdotes from the book, but I really hope – and I think I did from Joan’s reaction when she saw it – [we] capture the emotional truth of her as a character, and I could then use that truth and that spirit of Joan but turn it into what I hope is a compelling, entertaining television series."

Where is the real Joan Hannington now?

After her release, Joan started a new job managing a jewellery store, and revealed in her book that, during her time there, she swallowed approximately 20 diamond rings and swapped about half a million pounds' worth of diamond bracelets for counterfeits.

Together, Joan and Boisie had a son named Benny, but Boisie died in an arson attack after trying to set fire to a house to claim an insurance payout.

After Boisie's death, Joan turned away from her life of crime and sold Boisie's antiques shops.

Joan currently has two children, a granddaughter, and is living on the South coast with her two dogs.

Speaking about meeting the real Joan Hannington before filming the series, lead actress Sophie Turner said at a press conference: "We actually didn’t meet until really quite close to filming started, I think it was maybe a week or so [before], something like that.

"So I kind of had an idea of what I was doing with the character, I pretty much had it. There’s so much in Joan’s book and it’s so written in her own voice, I kind of soaked that up – I read it like nine or 10 times, I think.

"So really, the last piece of the puzzle was meeting Joan.

"The moment Joan walks into a room, she is the star of that room, she’s the diamond. It was her mannerisms that I hadn’t quite got, and it was just the essence of her that I was missing.

"When I finally met her, I saw this kind of magnetic woman, and I really truly understood why Boisie, why so many people, were drawn to her the way she was drawn to her jewels."

Hannington, who was also in attendance at the press conference, said of Turner's role: "Well, they couldn’t have gotten anyone better. For me, the good part was, I’d never seen Sophie in anything – I go to bed at 7 o’clock every night, I’m addicted to TikTok, so I don’t watch much telly.

"Which was a good thing, because I didn’t have anything to compare her to; I didn’t know her, didn’t know Frank [Dillane], didn’t know any of the actors, which was great.

"Bit jealous because she’s slimmer and younger but, you know, I think everyone here knows that if I didn’t like something, I’d say so.

"It’s fantastic, all the actors – the big parts, the little parts. I’m not complacent about it. I lived a certain life, I’ve been retired almost 40 years. To be sitting here at 68 with my son and granddaughter, I find it a bit... I’m not a showbiz person, I’m a very private person. I just find it amazing."

Did Joan really swallow diamonds?

Speaking of swallowing diamonds, Symon revealed that that "actually happened" in real life.

"So many things in that first episode in particular were absolutely straight from, ripped from the real world," she added.

Turner also revealed that she was given "gummy diamonds" at first because the crew didn't want any unfortunate accidents.

"But they were so sticky, they didn't come off the paper," she added. "So I ended up just putting the real ones in my mouth. But they were cubic zirconia, so I didn’t swallow them [laughs]."

Hannington's own book chronicles her life, including marrying convicted armed robber Ray Pavey when she was 17, having a daughter named Debbie that was put into foster care, and the decision to start working as a jewel thief.

Hannington would often dress up - as depicted in the series - in all manner of disguises to pull off elaborate schemes, admitting that she didn't only swallow jewels once, but several times.

As she penned in her book: "Best bank in the world is your tummy. Best safety-deposit box invented."

Read more:

• Joan star Sophie Turner explains real-life episode 1 Easter egg
• Joan soundtrack: All the songs in the ITV drama

What happened to Joan's daughter Kelly in real life?

In real life, Joan’s daughter is called Debbie, but was renamed for the series.

Joan speaks about the pair’s story in her memoir I Am What I Am.

Just like in the first episode of the show, Joan really did leave her daughter Debbie in care in order to ensure she could have a better life.

The status of Joan’s relationship with Debbie remains unclear.

Was Joan Hannington ever caught?

Joan has never been sent to prison for her involvement in jewellery thefts.

However, when she was 24, Joan was arrested for using a stolen cheque book.

It was when she was out on bail that she and Boisie got married, but she was then sentenced to serve a 30-month sentence in Holloway prison.

Joan is available on ITVX.

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