Joan’s ending explained as viewers captivated by ITV’s true story | Television & Radio | Showbiz and television

Viewers have been captivated by new ITV crime series Joan, which follows the life of Britain’s most notorious jewel thief.

Joan Hannington, also known as “The Godmother”, was a prolific criminal in the criminal underworld of 1980s London who began stealing diamonds to have fun and raise money to get her daughter out of care.

The series recreates the events of why Hannington lost her foster child, her first theft of impulsive jewels, and her life of crime.

Written by Anna Symon, the series first aired on ITV1, with the full series available to watch on ITVX. In episode five, Joan plans her escape with husband Boisie (Fred Dillane), obtains a passport for her daughter Kelly (Mia Millichamp-Long) and carries out one final robbery – her boss’s jewelry store.

Since some scenes are inspired by real-life events, fans of the series will wonder how the series ends, whether Joan was successful, and whether the events of the finale actually happened.

In the sixth episode, Joan carried out her plan to rob Bernard’s (Alex Blake) jewelry store and steal the entire premiere collection.

Joan was informed by Boisie that Paul was withdrawing from the raid and called for a rethink, but Joan insisted that he be replaced and the raid continued. Just as Bernard and Joan are at the safe, Boisie and Paul’s deputy Gary – also Kelly’s father and Joan’s ex – storms the store.

Boisie holds Bernard at gunpoint while Gary continues to raid the store by banging on the cabinets with a loaded shotgun. After Bernard learns that Joan is responsible for the robbery, the shocked businessman turns his gun on Josie and a jumping Boisie is shot in the leg.

Meanwhile, Gary runs to the van with Albie and they drive away while Joan carries a seriously injured Boisie out of the store and into the alley. Boisie tells Joan to get her daughter Kelly and leave him as he is bleeding out and dying in the alley.

Joan continues her plan to take Kelly with her, posing as an American journalist who wants to write an article about British schoolchildren at Kelly’s school.

Kelly is thrilled to see her mother, but Joan tells her to keep the secret and meet her at the gate. They drive away together and Joan learns from Albie’s heartbroken partner Val that he has fled the country.

Joan and Kelly head to the previously arranged hideout trailer, but Joan is still reeling from Boisie’s death and is struggling to stay calm. Kelly is unable to make her mother happy and later finds a gun in her mother’s suitcase.

Joan stops Kelly from firing the gun, but realizes she cannot care for Kelly and takes her to foster care. Joan turns herself in to the police and is sent to prison.

A flashback four years later shows Joan looking over the Spanish cliffs she first visited with Boisie. With tattoos covering her childhood scars, Albie greets Joan with a suitcase full of money for her.

Joan reveals that she was released early from prison for good behavior and shares that she is going back to work but is leaving her criminal lifestyle behind. She tells Albie to leave, but when he walks away and tells her to be careful, she says, “And you. Watch your damn king.”

The ITV drama is largely based on Joan Hannington’s memoir I Am What I Am, which is about her jewel heists and criminal lifestyle. You can buy a new edition of the book via Amazon or Waterstones.

While the book served as material for the six-part drama, some elements in the ITV drama were changed. For example, the violent robbery at Bernard’s jewelry store never happened, nor did Boisie’s death from a shot in the leg.

The real Boisie Hannington died, but he was killed trying to burn down a house to collect insurance money. In an exclusive interview with the Scottish Daily Record in 2003, the real Joan recounted her time with Boisie: “He wasn’t good-looking, but he was smart and treated me with respect.”

“Benny was officially an antiques dealer, but he made his money as a high-class thief. We fell in love and within a few weeks he had moved in.”

Joan was never jailed for an armed jewelry raid, but was sentenced to 30 months in prison for stealing a checkbook. The imprisonment came before she became a diamond thief.

Although Joan had a daughter called Debbie, she was renamed Kelly in the ITV drama. Joan’s ex-husband and Debbie’s father, Ray Pavey, was also renamed Gary.

In reality, Boisie’s death caused Joan to reconsider her criminal career, selling her husband’s antiques business and moving to Islington, north London. She started a business renovating old council houses and stuck to the straight and narrow.

Joan Hannington first told her story in her memoir “I Am What I Am” in the early 2000s and quickly became a bestseller. She currently has two children and a granddaughter and lives on the south coast with her two dogs.