Defined by shoulder pads, cut-crease eyeshadow, stone-washed denim and statement haircuts, the unmistakable 1980s aesthetic is a gift for television. We’ve seen 80s Bristol in The Fence, London’s 80s gay scene in It’s a Sin and the early Diana years in The Crown. Now it’s the turn of London’s elite criminals in Joan.

The ITV series is inspired by the true story of Joan Hannington, one of Britain’s most notorious jewel thieves. Hannington – played by Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones, The Staircase) – is desperate to make money quickly when social workers take her daughter, Kelly, into care. A life of crime presents itself when she begins work in an exclusive jewellery store and meets master criminal Boisie (Frank Dillane of Fear the Walking Dead fame).

 “If I’m going to get Kelly back, I need money,” Hannington tells Boisie in the first episode’s closing scene. “Proper money. I want to buy a house, six bedrooms, books in all the shelves, horse outside – fuck it, two horses. Money-money. Know what I mean?” Over five more high-octane episodes, we all find out what she means.

The idea of turning Hannington’s autobiography into a series began in 2018 after Snowed-in Productions made Mrs Wilson, BBC One’s three-part series about actor Ruth Wilson’s real-life grandmother, who uncovers her husband’s secret life. Energised by its success, the creative trio of producer Ruth Kenley-Letts, writer Anna Symon and director Richard Laxton wanted to work together again. Adapting Hannington’s book, I Am What I Am, proved just the ticket.

“Joan’s story was one of a kind,” explains Symon, whose credits include Apple TV’s The Essex Serpent and ITV’s Deep Water. “The words ‘mother’ and ‘thief’ don’t really go together in our society. The fact it was a female criminal and set in the 1980s, and was full of fashion and music, made me think people would enjoy it. Also, it had a strong emotional storyline that I thought audiences would respond to.

“I also found Joan a fascinating character, because she’s impulsive, dangerous and vulnerable – all mixed into one flawed character.”

Rather than stick closely to fact, the series is “loosely inspired” by the book, says Symon. She took creative licence with the crimes Hannington commits to up the ante: “No one wants to watch someone do chequebook fraud over and over again!”

So Symon went beyond what Hannington actually did, like swallowing diamonds and switching rings. To create more drama, she added heists at key points. “The guiding point was that I wanted it to fit the emotional truth of her as a person. It was nerve-racking when the real-life Joan read the scripts, because I wanted it to feel representative of the person, even if I played with the events and chronology.”

The series was initially developed with the BBC, which commissioned a script for the first episode. In the end, it opted not to go further. Kenley-Letts explains: “They develop a lot of shows and there was a lot of love for it, but they can’t make them all. It’s like when you go clothes shopping and have to pick between two dresses you want. In the end, you can only go with one.”

Instead, they took it to ITV Head of Drama Polly Hill, who “loved it from the off”. Kenley-Letts says: “It’s a show that could work on so many different channels – it’s not a specifically ITV or BBC show. It could have worked on Netflix, too. It’s got a great protagonist at its centre: a complex character who’s good at stealing diamonds. That’s an attractive story to tell.”

Yet it’s also expensive to tell. The glamour of Hannington’s high-flying life needed to be reflected in production values; period dramas require extra resources for aspects such as costume and location. Laxton, who also directed Rain Dogs and Him & Her, says: “We knew the real Joan loved clothes. She sent us some of her snaps, and she was on point for the 80s. But that meant we had a main character who was incredibly stylish. She was in every scene except 10 across six hours, and she changes her look all the time.”

The 80s setting meant painstaking care had to be taken on both interior and exterior shots, and, given Hannington’s many escapades, “the money was hoovered up”, says Laxton. The production team sourced locations in Birmingham to act as inner-London, which steadied the budget.

Still, there were some difficult decisions, like the inclusion of a trip to Spain for Hannington’s first taste of the high life. Kenley-Letts says: “At one point, I thought we might not be able to afford to do it. But we fought to keep elements in because it was important. It’s where Joan and Boisie fall in love, and it gives a sense of scale you don’t get if you’re wandering around Birmingham, making it look like Mayfair. It meant we could get some glamour into the show, which, for under £3m an hour, is an achievement.”

ITV’s blanket licence with the Performing Rights Society meant they could go to town with the soundtrack, so the onscreen action is set to a delectable mix of classic and 80s hits. The sultry Wicked Game by Chris Isaak plays when Hannington meets Boisie in a pub. Club Tropicana by Wham! fills the air as they sun themselves in Spain; they dance to ABC’s Poison Arrow in a nightclub. “Everyone’s falling in love with the soundtrack as part of the tapestry of the series,” says Laxton.

Indeed, American broadcaster the CW Network came onboard as a junior partner during the production and ordered an alternate version with fewer big-name songs to match their budget. But it eventually struck a deal with BritBox in the US, who wanted to keep the original soundtrack, “so they’re coughing up for all of the tracks”, says Kenley-Letts.

Heading up a cast that also includes Gershwyn Eustache Jr (I May Destroy You, A Spy Among Friends), Sophie Turner has so much onscreen time that the series largely hangs on her performance. Happily, her ease in shape-shifting is evident. There’s precision in the way she adopts her many dual roles, like that of a high-flying thief and loving mother, or ballsy con artist and travel novice, in addition to the many personas she uses in her criminal exploits. “Sophie was delightful,” says Laxton. “She fluffed just two lines in 90 days of filming. In my opinion, she’s a superpower.”

As the first series goes to air, there’s potential for the show to continue beyond the real-life source material, as we’ve seen with Gomorrah and Call the Midwife. The only creative caveat is from Hannington herself. Kenley-Letts says: “She said that if the series was successful and we went off piste with new storylines, she didn’t want the onscreen Joan to get involved in drugs or prostitution. She would be uncomfortable with that.”

Even with that proviso, the unique character of Joan is still rich enough to draw from. “I’m coming up with new ideas at the moment: new worlds for her, new characters to interact with, new crimes to commit,” says Symon. “There’s so much more that Joan is capable of.”

Joan is due to air later In September 2024 on ITV1 and ITVX.