Joan review – Sophie Turner sparkles in this wild true story of a rags-to-riches jewel thief

The former Game of Thrones star is so glam in this tale of the 80s criminal known as the Godmother that she wears more furs than even Sansa Stark. It’s a hefty slice of fun

Joan Hannington’s story makes you ask what on earth you have been doing with your time. How does someone manage to overcome a loveless childhood, an abusive marriage and penurious single parenthood to become a successful jewel thief and then an influential player in the criminal underworld known as the Godmother? It’s all I can do to manage a shower three times a week.

Hannington told her tale in her 2002 autobiography, I Am What I Am (since republished as Joan), which has been turned into this six-part drama. At heart, the adaptation is a crime caper, but with enough of the protagonist’s background sketched in – including Joan’s need to provide for her daughter, Kelly (Mia Millichamp-Long) – to keep you emotionally invested. The stolen jewellery is gorgeous, though. Joan’s adventures begin in the 1980s, when greed was good and we knew how to flaunt it.

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