Netflix British Crime Drama ‘Legends’ Confirms Release Date and Star-Studded Cast In First Looks

Picture Credit: Netflix

We’ve been tracking the development of Legends for quite some time here at What’s on Netflix, and today, Netflix has finally pulled back the curtain. We’ve got our first look images, a brand new trailer, and most importantly, a confirmed release date: Thursday, May 7th, 2026.

Coming from writer and creator Neil Forsyth (The Gold, Guilt), Legends looks set to be your next British crime drama obsession. Inspired by one of the most remarkable criminal investigations ever conducted in the UK, the six-part series uncovers a practically unknown chapter in British history.

If you missed our extensive preview for the series, the show takes us back to the early 1990s. Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise is losing its battle against illegal drug smuggling, prompting a truly extraordinary, top-secret operation. A group of ordinary, completely untrained Customs employees are plucked from their normal lives, given a basic training regime, and sent undercover to infiltrate Britain’s most dangerous drug gangs. To survive, they have to build brand new identities in the criminal underworld—these identities were called their ‘Legends’.

Picture Credit: Netflix 

In a new statement today, alongside first looks, Neil Forsyth spoke about why this story needed to be told via a press release from Netflix UK today, saying:

“I’ve written shows in the past that are about well-known events. You then tell the story behind it, that isn’t so well known. This is unique, in that the work of the Legends is barely known at all. There was this core team of people that did all of this, and they did it almost without any public recognition.”

Forsyth said he conducted extensive research interviews with real-life undercover operatives, including the inspiration for the show’s lead, Guy Stanton. “A lot of them are from working-class backgrounds without any kind of financial support underpinning their decisions,” Forsyth shared. “Suddenly, they have this opportunity to do something completely different that satisfies a lot of their unique personal motivations and hopes and dreams, but with it comes an enormous danger, and they can’t resist plunging into that.”

Meet the Cast of Legends

Legends. (L to R) Tom Burke as Guy, Jasmine Blackborow as Erin, Steve Coogan as Don, Aml Ameen as Bailey, Hayley Squires as Kate, in Legends. Cr. Courtesy of Sally Mais/Netflix © 2026

Leading the pack is Tom Burke (Strike, The Musketeers) who plays Guy, a dissatisfied Heathrow suitcase inspector and frustrated family man who feels he’s capable of more. Speaking on his character’s dangerous pivot to becoming a “Legend,” Burke said:

“His draw to the recruitment poster asking ‘Could you offer more?’ feels quite universal … There’s a feeling that he’s never quite done what he needed to do; a side of him that he’s pushed down, or which has been pushed down by his environment. There’s an adrenaline junkie in there somewhere. Perhaps somebody else would just go and do a bungee jump, but he needs a bit more than that. It’s like it’s something he’s got to do, to be able to get on with the rest of his life.”

Joining him is British comedy and acting royalty Steve Coogan (Alan Partridge, The Reckoning), who plays Head of Operations, Don. Coogan notes that the series is not just an engaging yarn, but a deep dive into the psychology of undercover work:

“Probably a lot of people would love to reinvent themselves as somebody else, just even as a sort of fantasy. If you spend most of your time being someone else, how do you know who you are anymore, and who you’re supposed to be? How we present ourselves professionally, how we act when we’re not in a professional space. All that stuff is examined in Legends in a really thought-provoking way.”

Rounding out the incredibly stacked cast for the series are:

• Hayley Squires as Kate
• Tom Hughes as Carter
• Aml Ameen as Bailey
• Jasmine Blackborow as Erin
• Douglas Hodge as Blake
• Johnny Harris as Eddie
• Gerald Kyd as Mylonas
• Numan Acar as Hakan
• Charlotte Ritchie as Sophie
• Joshua Samuels as Zeki
• Kem Hassan as Aziz
• Thomas Coombes as Shaun

Of course, eagle-eyed readers will remember we also exclusively revealed that Con O’Neill, Paddy Rowan, and Robbie O’Neill had joined the cast as filming moved to Liverpool, alongside the additions of Sonny Walker and Joshua Barry.

OK, let’s dig into some more of the first looks ahead of its premiere in just a few short weeks:

Picture Credit: Netflix

Picture Credit: Netflix

Picture Credit: Netflix

Picture Credit: Netflix

Picture Credit: Netflix

Picture Credit: Netflix

Legend is directed by Brady Hood and Jualian Holmes with the former directing episodes 1 through 4 and the latter 5 and 6. The series is produced by Tannadice Pictures, with Ben Farrell and Neil Forsyth serving as Executive Producers for Tannadice alongside Richard Bradley for Lion Television. Charlie Leech acts as series producer.

Will you be checking out Legends when it drops on Netflix on May 7th? Let us know in the comments, and you can add the new series to your Netflix queue here.