Sheridan Smith: 'Playing Ronnie Biggs' Wife Made Me Broody'

The actress Sheridan Smith will play the wife of Ronnie Biggs in a forthcoming ITV drama and has revealed that the role made her broody. The new drama - entitled Mrs Biggs - sees Sheridan play the role of Charmian Biggs, the young wife of Ronnie Biggs, who was imprisoned for his part in the Great Train robbery. Charmian and Ronnie had three children together and Sheridan has admitted that working with the children on the show has made her broody "They all write me cards now. On my birthday I got lots of Mum cards," she revealed to Digital Spy and added "I never get broody but after this I am!"

The real Charmian Biggs has added her support to the dramatization of her personal tale. "I wanted the story to be told truthfully and from the point of view of the family. A dramatisation allows the emotions to come through in a way that a documentary never does," she told The Telegraph. "Watching it made me cry on several occasions because it brought the memories back so vividly."

Daniel Mayes plays the role of Ronnie Biggs and stresses the sad nature of the tale. "There's a real tragedy to the story. He got 30 years even though he never actually touched a mailbag. Of course they all took their cut, but I think the prison sentence was excessive and there was no parole at the time. You wouldn't get that for murder now."