Sheridan Smith plays Mrs Biggs

Sheridan Smith is to play the wife of the train robber Ronnie Biggs in a five-part television drama based on her life.

The actress, who starred in the West End in Legally Blonde, The Musical, will play Charmian Biggs alongside the Ashes to Ashes star Daniel Mays, who will play the fugitive thief.

Charmian Biggs, who fled to Australia with her husband when he escaped from jail in 1965, is working with the makers of the programme on the show, which is called Mrs Biggs. She said: "I wanted it to be done as accurately as possible ... this was an opportunity to convey the rollercoaster of emotions involved."