Train robber wife has 'no regrets' over fleeing with Biggs

Sheridan Smith will play Charmian Biggs in a new ITV drama (Getty Images)

The ex-wife of train robber Ronnie Biggs said she had no regrets about her life on the run and would "probably do it all over again".

Charmian Biggs, whose life forms the basis of the new ITV1 show Mrs Biggs, is played by Sheridan Smith in the five-part drama.

It follows the couple from their first meeting on a train in 1957 to the infamous 1963 robbery, their life on the run in Australia and Ronnie's flight to Rio with the police closing in.

Speaking at a press conference to launch the five-part drama, she said: "Being me I'd probably do it all over again. There have been some fantastic times as well as very sad ones but that's life.

"You have to have the lows to appreciate the highs."

The show is written by Jeff Pope, the man behind the award-winning Appropriate Adult and stars Ashes to Ashes star Danny Mays as the notorious villain.

Ronnie left Charmian and their three sons in Australia after he fled to Brazil where he fathered a child with another woman.

Charmian said she hoped the show would "allow the emotions" of the time to come across better than a documentary.

Asked if she still loved Ronnie, she said: "When you get to my age you get a lot wiser."

Pope said Ronnie, who is now very ill, had seen the show and given it the "double thumbs up".