Free Daily Podcast Summary
Gangster: Daily Summaries Delivered
by BBC Radio 5 Live
New Series: Gangster Presents: Sex, Drugs & Cell Block Parties.A secret and dangerous affair. An out-of-control addiction. It ends with the smashing of the UK's biggest prison smuggling gang, but it all begins with a love story...Journalist Amber Haque untangles what happens when mental health nurse Amy Hatfield meets convicted criminal Joe Whittingham. Her investigation leads into a world of blackmail and manipulation, where you never quite know who to trust or who's watching.
Latest Episodes
The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- Jun 11, 202638 min
6. The White Cliffs of Dover
The Great Train Robber fugitive faces a stark choice: depression, debt and death in Rio ... or surrender to the UK justice system.Twenty-five years ago, Britain Most Wanted septuagenarian ceremoniously flew home on a private jet chartered by The Sun newspaper, after 35 years on the run. Some celebrated him as a hero, others demanded he live the rest of his days in Belmarsh Prison. As the series comes to a close, actor Daniel Mays reflects on how and why Britain built-up the Ronnie Biggs myth.Credits: Presenter - Daniel Mays Producers - Phoebe McIndoe & Jude Shapiro Executive Producer - Jack Howson Associate Exec - Chris Pickard Mix Engineering - Will Fitzpatrick Commissioning Producer - Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor - Richard MaddockContributors include: Ursula and Chris Crocker, ex-housemates of Biggs Professor Dick Hobbs, criminologist Colin MacKenzie, crime reporter for the Daily Express Professor Ruth Penfold-Mounce, celebrity crime expert Chris Pickard, ghostwriter for Biggs Nick Reynolds, sculptor and son of the Great Train Robbery gang leader Jim Shreim, documentarian and neighbour of Biggs Noel ‘Razor’ Smith, writer and former armed robber Brian Stone, cellmate of Biggs Mike Sullivan, crime editor for The Sun Reverend Dave Tomlinson, officiant at Biggs's funeralA Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds
- Jun 4, 202629 min
5. The Magic Balloon Gang
Buy your ticket for ‘The Ronnie Biggs Experience’. For fifty dollars you will be entitled to Brazilian barbecue, a few beers, and an intimate audience with an international celebrity fugitive. Branded T-Shirts are available upon request.Live music may be provided by the Sex Pistols or, otherwise, a pop band of adorable children. Warning: the risk of a kidnap attempt occurring within the duration of this event is high. Snakes are also a known hazard.This episode has been edited since publication.Credits: Presenter - Daniel Mays Producers - Phoebe McIndoe & Jude Shapiro Executive Producer - Jack Howson Associate Exec - Chris Pickard Mix Engineering - Will Fitzpatrick Commissioning Producer - Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor - Richard MaddockContributors include: Michael ‘Breiti’ Breitkopf & Bruce Henry Leitman, musical collaborators of Biggs Ursula Crocker, ex-housemate of Biggs Colin MacKenzie, crime reporter for the Daily Express Professor Ruth Penfold-Mounce, celebrity crime expert Chris Pickard, ghostwriter for Biggs Alex Popovics, son of Biggs’ partner Ulla Sopher John Robb, musician and punk critic Jim Shreim, documentarian and neighbour of BiggsA Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds
- May 28, 202635 min
4. The Slip-Up
Welcome to Rio in 1970. Home to the most beautiful football team the world has ever known. Home to a brutal military dictatorship. And, now, home of the last Great Train Robber at large.The Ronnie Biggs rollercoaster is about to crank up for another wild ride that takes in a Scotland Yard sting, samba, teenage pregnancy, the tabloid scoop of the decade, and an accidental legal loophole that defies the British government.Credits: Presenter - Daniel Mays Producers - Phoebe McIndoe & Jude Shapiro Executive Producer - Jack Howson Associate Exec - Chris Pickard Mix Engineering - Will Fitzpatrick Commissioning Producer - Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor - Richard MaddockContributors include: Ursula and Chris Crocker, ex-housemates of Biggs Colin MacKenzie, crime reporter for the Daily Express Chris Pickard, ghostwriter for Biggs Jim Shreim, documentarian and neighbour of Biggs Noel ‘Razor’ Smith, writer and former armed robberA Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds
- May 21, 202631 min
3. The Land of Milk and Honey
What price freedom? And why should you never wear crocodile shoes when you’re on the run?!While the rest of the Great Train Robbery gang are serving thirty-year sentences, the runaways are enjoying the delights of mid-sixties Paris and Las Vegas. But the life of an outlaw is not all about cabaret clubs, Frank Sinatra residencies, and sweet freedom … painful plastic surgery and familial misery is part of the package too. Credits: Presenter - Daniel Mays Producers - Phoebe McIndoe & Jude Shapiro Executive Producer - Jack Howson Associate Exec - Chris Pickard Mix Engineering - Will Fitzpatrick Additional Production Support - Ashley Clivery Commissioning Producer - Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor - Richard MaddockContributors include: Ian Dowding, nephew of Biggs Doctor Sharonna Pearl, historian and face theorist Nick Reynolds, sculptor and son of the Great Train Robbery gang leader Noel ‘Razor’ Smith, writer and former armed robber Brian Stone, cellmate of BiggsA Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds
- May 14, 202634 min
2. The Hate Factory
This episode contains reference to self harm.We’re in Wandsworth Prison, where the lights never go out. And where freedom for Ronnie Biggs might only be a chess game or a rope climb away … Meanwhile - outside the jail walls - the British establishment is shaking under the weight of working-class anger, the Profumo affair, the Swinging Sixties, and a media frenzy at the severe sentences handed down to the Great Train Robbers. If you or someone you know has been affected by any of the issues raised in this programme, details of organisations offering information and support can be found at bbc.co.uk/actionlineCredits: Presenter - Daniel Mays Producers - Phoebe McIndoe & Jude Shapiro Executive Producer - Jack Howson Associate Exec - Chris Pickard Mix Engineering - Will Fitzpatrick Additional Production Support - Ashley Clivery Commissioning Producer - Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor - Richard Maddock Contributors include: Professor Dick Hobbs, criminologist Noel ‘Razor’ Smith, writer and former armed robber Brian Stone, cellmate of Biggs A Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds
- May 7, 202630 min
1. The Big One
In 1963, a small-time South London carpenter joins the biggest robbery in British history for one reason - he knows a retired train driver who is semi-competent. And yet Ronnie Biggs will, for the next fifty years, be far more famous than the man who planned it, the rest of the gang who pulled it off, the train driver who was so brutally attacked, or the Scotland Yard detectives who solved the case. How exactly is a criminal ‘legend’ born? Actor Daniel Mays delves into unheard Ronnie Biggs tapes and takes us back to the rubble of post-war London to find out …Credits: Presenter - Daniel Mays Producers - Phoebe McIndoe & Jude Shapiro Executive Producer - Jack Howson Associate Exec - Chris Pickard Mix Engineering - Will Fitzpatrick Additional Production Support - Ashley Clivery Commissioning Producer - Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor - Richard MaddockContributors include: Professor Dick Hobbs, criminologist Nick Reynolds, sculptor and son of the Great Train Robbery gang leader Noel ‘Razor’ Smith, writer and former armed robber Brian Stone, cellmate of BiggsA Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds
- Apr 9, 202628 min
6. Losing Face
It’s the 1990s and Wo Shing Wo gangsters think they’re untouchable. Georgie Pai is fighting yet another deportation order after being caught in the UK again. He’s granted bail on the condition that he reports weekly to a local police station.Meanwhile, a team of television journalists set up a sting in Manchester, aiming to expose how the Triads operate. The broadcast is devastating, a huge ‘loss of face’, which in the eyes of many in the Chinese community turns Georgie Pai from a feared villain to laughingstock overnight. Georgie Pai ends up fleeing to Cheltenham, leaving the Triad life behind him. But in the gang world, there’s always someone waiting in the wings to become top dog.Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editor and Executive Producer: Clare FordhamArchive: The Cook Report: Meet The Triads (Central Television, ITV)
- Apr 2, 202630 min
5. Video Wars
A video war is raging across Britain’s Chinatowns, fuelled by a booming market for Hong Kong films and soaps, copied and rented out for huge profit. In Manchester, Wo Shing Wo quickly seizes control, establishing a near-monopoly on the lucrative video rental trade.But where money flows, so does violence. In Glasgow, restaurant owner Philip Wong is brutally murdered by contract killers wielding machetes. Police suspect his death came after he refused to cooperate with Wo Shing Wo, who demanded a share of his profitable Chinese video business. Despite investigations, the three men wanted for the murder have never been traced.Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning producer: Sam Proffitt Commissioning executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock Editor and Executive Producer: Clare FordhamArchive: The Cook Report: Meet The Triads (Central Television, ITV)
Get Gangster summaries in your inbox
Free AI-powered daily recaps. Key takeaways, quotes, and mentions — in a 5-minute read.
Get Free Summaries →Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.
You Might Also Like
Listeners also like.
Bad People
Explores the psychology behind criminal and antisocial behavior through real cases and scientific research.
Cover
Investigates true stories of individuals living double lives, from a fugitive Olympic coach to a secret British agent within the IRA.
Crime Next Door
True crime stories from UK neighborhoods, uncovering shocking local mysteries and real-life investigations.
True Criminals
A weekly exploration of historic and contemporary crime stories through firsthand accounts from investigators and journalists.
Sport's Strangest Crimes
A podcast exploring true crime stories connected to the world of sports.
The Burden
A documentary series exploring corruption in law enforcement and the criminal justice system through real investigations and insider accounts.
I'm Not a Monster
An investigative journalist traces the story of Shamima Begum, a London schoolgirl who joined ISIS and became a figure of global controversy.
Intrigue
Dramatic true stories and investigations revealing how the world really works.
Australian True Crime
Explores Australia’s most disturbing true crime cases through expert interviews and firsthand accounts.
Shadow World
A BBC investigation into prescription drugs that trigger dangerous compulsive behaviors like hypersexuality and gambling.
The Dougherty Gang
Three siblings' armed eight-day, fifteen-state bank robbery spree in 2011 and the events leading to their capture.
Stalked
A woman teams up with an investigative journalist to identify her tech-savvy stalker after police fail to act.
About Gangster
New Series: Gangster Presents: Sex, Drugs & Cell Block Parties.A secret and dangerous affair. An out-of-control addiction. It ends with the smashing of the UK's biggest prison smuggling gang, but it all begins with a love story...Journalist Amber Haque untangles what happens when mental health nurse Amy Hatfield meets convicted criminal Joe Whittingham. Her investigation leads into a world of blackmail and manipulation, where you never quite know who to trust or who's watching.
Customized Recaps
AI-powered recaps with compact key takeaways, quotes, and insights.
Straight to Your Inbox
Get key takeaways from Gangster in a 5-minute read.
Save Hours Every Week
Stay current on your favorite podcasts without falling behind.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Podzilla's Gangster daily summary?
It's a free AI-powered email that summarizes new episodes of Gangster as soon as they're published. You get the key takeaways, notable quotes, and links & mentions — all in a quick read.
How does the Gangster podcast summary work?
When a new episode drops, our AI transcribes and analyzes it, then generates a personalized summary tailored to your interests and profession. It's delivered to your inbox every morning.
Is this an official Gangster product?
No. Podzilla is an independent service that summarizes publicly available podcast content. We're not affiliated with or endorsed by BBC Radio 5 Live.
Can I get summaries of other podcasts too?
Absolutely! The free plan covers up to 3 podcasts. Upgrade to Pro for 15, or Premium for 50. Browse our full catalog at /podcasts.
How often does Gangster release new episodes?
Gangster publishes weekly. Our AI generates a summary within hours of each new episode.
What topics does Gangster cover?
Gangster covers topics including True Crime, Documentary, Culture, Society & Culture. Our AI identifies the specific themes in each episode and highlights what matters most to you.
Start getting Gangster summaries tomorrow morning.
Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.
Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.