The ITV miniseriesJoanstars the eponymous Joan Hannington, a prolific jewel thief in London during the 1980s, and the six-episode show hews pretty closely to the real story. StarringSophie Turner in one of her biggest roles sinceGame of Thrones,Joanpremiered on August 24, 2025, adapting Hannington’s 2002 memoir,I Am What I Am: The True Story of Britain’s Most Notorious Jewel Thief. With an 80% onRotten Tomatoes,Joanhas been roundly celebrated by critics, with particular praise going towards Turner’s performance.
One of the most exciting parts ofthe True Crime TV showcomes from knowing most of it happened in real life.Joandoes an impressive job weaving in the facts of the real story with fascinating details, and some great dramatic acting and storytelling. The show follows Joan’s life from her early years as a penniless mother looking for any way to support her small family, to the height of her success, wearing fur coats and driving around expensive cars.Truth may be stranger than fiction inJune, but fiction is still a brilliantly fun time.
Joan Hannington Was A Real Life Jewel Thief In 1980s London
Hannington Escaped Two Abusive Households To Protect Herself And Her Daughter
Joan Hannington (née O’Connell), the eponymous “Joan” of the series, was indeed a real-life jewel thief who operated during the 1980s in London (viaPeople). Once referring to herself as “Britain’s most notorious jewel thief,” Hannington’s life has always been something that would have made an excellent adaptation. When Hannington was 13, she ran away from home and her five siblings, allegedly escaping her physically abusive father in doing so (viaCosmopolitan).
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She wound up getting married to convicted armed robber Ray Pavey, named Gary (Nick Blood) in the show, and the two had a daughter, Debbie, named Kelly (Mia Millichamp-Long) inJoan. Pavey and Hannington eventually split, as Pavey was allegedly growing more abusive, but their daughter was sent to foster care.to turn her life around and regain custody of her daughter, Joan applied for a job at a high-class jeweler in London’s West End, lying about her minor criminal history to land the job (viaTheSun).
Sophie Turner Plays Joan In The Miniseries
This Is Turner’s Best Role Since Playing Sansa On Game Of Thrones
Sophie Turner, who had not done much save forappear as Jean Greyin a forgettable installment of theX-Menfranchise,Dark Phoenix, stars as Joan Hannington in the series, proving why she capably held upGame of Thrones, particularly towards the later seasons of the show. It’s a rich part and one that Turner is able to wrap her hands around easily.She can play all facets of the character, from Hannington’s fear in the face of losing her daughter, to her bewildering confidence when it comes to criminality.
Turner went through her own difficult divorce and child custody issues with her former husband, Joe Jonas (viaBBC). So Turner always understood the core of the character and why Hannington decided to turn to theft, saying (viaHarpersBazaar),
“Joan, at her core, is a mother who loves her child and will do anything for her. I think any mother who watches it will be able to relate to it.”
Hannington was pleased with Turner’s portrayal, saying,
“[Turner had] done a wonderful job… I hope the public will be as happy with the series as I am.”
It’s a part that requires an intimate knowledge of motherhood to get exactly right, and Turner has that history to draw from.
What Joan Gets Right And Wrong About The True Story Of Joan Hannington
Joan Sticks Closely To The Real Story Of Joan Hannington
For the most part,Joandoes an accurate job depicting the real story of Joan Hannington. The only major difference comes in the first episode of the series, which depicts Joan’s first theft. InJoan, Hannington steals the diamonds and quits her job on the spot. In reality, she stuck around for a few months afterward, committing some more thefts for good measure. Hannington describes that first theft in her 2024 book,Joan,
“One day, I was sent to the safe at the back of the shop, where the CCTV cameras didn’t operate, to collect some loose diamonds. I opened the safe and trays of brilliant white stones glittered back at me. My heart galloping, I grabbed a handful of diamonds off each tray and swallowed them. I didn’t know it at the time, but I’d swallowed about £800,000 of stones.”
When Hannigton passed the stones through her system, she sanitized them in a bowl of gin and the jeweler was none the wiser. From that point on, Hannington’s story and the one inJoanare more or less the same.Screenwriter Anna Symon met with Hannington while writing the showand said she used some specific stories from the woman’s past to help craft the series,
“I took a lot of anecdotes from the book, but I really hope—and I think I did from Joan’s reaction when she saw it—[we] capture the emotional truth of her as a character, and I could then use that truth and that spirit of Joan but turn it into what I hope is a compelling, entertaining television series.”
It was a few months after her first robbery that Hannington met the antiques dealer and skilled thief, Boise Hannington (Frank Dillane). Though 17 years her senior, Boise and Joan began a romance that was also a teacher/student relationship as Boise taught Joan all the finer points of fencing jewelry. The partners-in-crime wound up forming a multi-million dollar criminal enterprise that was built on credit card fraud, check counterfeiting, and the age-old trick of Joan swallowing jewelry and replacing it with fakes in the store.
Hannington claims she at one point owned 11 fur coats and 2,000 pairs of shoes.
As depicted in the show, Joan went to jail twice, once for using a stolen checkbook and another time for stealing a car to visit her daughter in foster care. She and Boise married when Joan was 24, but the marriage would not last long as their crimes eventually caught up to them.Boise was killed in an explosion while allegedly attempting to burn down a housefor insurance money. Hannington decided that she needed to exit the criminal life, in part because of the birth of her son Benny, who she and Boise welcomed in 1987.
Where Is Joan Hannington Now?
Joan Now Lives On The South Coast Of England
These days, Joan Hannington is enjoying a much simpler life. Sadly, she never regained custody of her daughter Debbie, but she’s begun anew after serving time for her jewel thefts.Hannington now lives on the south coast of England with her two dogs and remains close with Benny, as well as Benny’s daughter. She still suffers from ulcers after years of swallowing diamonds (viaLuxuryLondon). It’s been a whirlwind life for Joan Hannington and, thanks toJoan, audiences everywhere can have a little taste of what that life was like.
Joan
Cast
Joan follows a penniless mother who makes an impulsive decision at the jewellery shop where she works, leading her into an entirely different world.
