Turner (Game of Thrones) will star as Joan Hannington, a woman who catapults herself from penniless young mother to notorious jewel thief.

Joan is a bold and brash mother in her twenties, trapped in a catastrophically unsuccessful marriage with a violent criminal named Gary. When Gary’s criminal activities go a step too far and he is forced to go on the run, Joan takes the chance for a new life with her daughter.

The six-part series will follow Joan’s unusual rags to riches story, through different personas, disguises, and high-stakes robberies, to her position as an infamous member of London’s criminal underworld. Nicknamed ‘The Godmother’, Joan balances a series of exhilarating diamond robberies with trying to create a safe home her six-year-old.

The series has been adapted from the memoirs of Joan Hannington by Anna Symon (The Essex Serpent) who met with Joan whilst writing the screenplay.

Starring alongside her is Kirsty J. Curtis (Match Not Found) who will play Joan’s older sister and salon worker, Nancy. Frank Dillane (The Essex Serpent) will play Bosie, an antiques dealer. Gershwyn Eustache Jnr (I May Destroy You) and Laura Aikman (Not Going Out) take the roles of married couple Albie and Val, old friends of Bosie who’ve begun new lives in Spain.

Ensemble cast includes Dorothy Atkinson (The Gold), Alex Blake (The Crown), Nick Blood (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D), Caroline Faber (Grantchester), and Jack Greenlees (Harlots).  

Sophie Turner says: “I’m so excited to be bringing Joan Hannington’s fascinating life story to screen in Joan. She is one of the most notorious figures in the criminal underworld of London, earning her the nickname “The Godmother.” A woman who goes between her thriving and daring career as a jewel thief, all whilst trying to get her daughter back from social services, we see a mother in despair swept up in the exhilarating world of crime.” 

Joan will premiere on ITVX, with no release date set at present.