Neil Forsyth (left) and Brady Hood (right) – Picture: Objective Fiction / Alamy
Netflix is gearing up for production on its new British crime drama series called Legends, which was first commissioned in August 2024. It’s a drama inspired by a real-life criminal investigation involving British Customs employees going undercover to bust dangerous criminal drug gangs.
The new series stems from Tannadice Pictures, which works in partnership with Objective Fiction. It’s the production label of Neil Forsyth, who serves as the writer and creator of Legends. Forsyth is best known for working on TV projects like Guilt and The Gold. Upon the initial announcement of the show, Forsyth said, “I’m very excited to be able to tell this incredible story, along with everyone at Tannadice Pictures. I think Legends is a fascinating, gripping, unknown British story that deserves to be told in full. I’m delighted that Netflix agreed.”
Brady Hood is set to direct the series, bringing experience from his work on the recent BBC/FX adaptation of Great Expectations. He has previously collaborated with Netflix on Top Boy and The One, serving as the lead director for Top Boy.
The official synopsis of the series is as follows:
“Based on extensive research and interviews with those involved, the story follows an unlikely group of British Customs employees sent undercover to infiltrate some of the country’s most dangerous criminal drug gangs.
They were not trained spies, they were ordinary men and women, plucked from ordinary lives around the U.K, put through a basic training regime then told to build new identities in the criminal underworld. These identities were called Legends.”
Netflix’s director of UK content, Mona Qureshi, said about the new show, “As such fans of Neil’s The Gold, we were immediately excited by the prospect of the extraordinary story of Legends in his hands. Transporting us back to 1990s Britain, where the government was losing its battle in what was a global war on drugs, Neil’s scripts introduce us to a compelling ensemble of characters, whose unexpected journeys into the dangerous labyrinth of undercover operations promise a gripping, action-filled series that sits in the best tradition of UK crime stories. We can’t wait for Legends to come to life on Netflix.”
When will filming start on Netflix’s Legends?
Production, according to ProductionIntelligence provided by The Knowledge Online, is set to kick off on March 24th, 2025, for 17 weeks, meaning it’ll wrap production in late July 2025. The shoot is set to take place predominantly in the United Kingdom in the northwest of London, but there’s also reportedly a filming set to take place in Morocco.
No word on a release date just yet, although given the production start and the fact the series wasn’t mentioned at the recent Next on Netflix UK event, we probably will see a 2026 release. For more on what’s coming up from Netflix UK over the next few years, keep it locked here on What’s on Netflix.
Richard Bradley and Ben Farrell are executive producers on the series, and Charlie Leech produces. Olivia Scott-Web is the casting director.
Are you looking forward to Legends on Netflix? Keep this post bookmarked for the latest updates, and let us know in the comments if you’ll be watching.
