Bernard O'Mahoney takes us on a journey from prosperity to poverty, describing how the drugs that infiltrated Liverpool through the port helped to make it one of the worst cities in Britain for criminal convictions.

Episode 1, Liverpool

Factual

True Crime

The best-selling true-crime author and former Essex Boys gang member Bernard O'Mahoney travels to Liverpool, Birmingham, Belfast, Dublin and Essex and guides us through tales of drugs, gangs, political terrorism and, ultimately, consequences.

Gangsters: Faces of the Underworld

Series 1

Bernard O'Mahoney interviews some of the most notorious criminals in recent history.

One of the great cities of the Industrial Revolution, Birmingham became a breeding ground for violent young gangs of a kind never seen before. They were the product of overcrowded slums, where life was cheap and many died in infancy. The only way to survive was to band together. 

Episode 2, Birmingham

We explore the infiltration of drugs into Ireland plus the relationship between terrorists, politics and organised crime in this highly emotional and shocking episode. 

Episode 3, Alternative Ulster

With a huge existing club scene and an entrepreneurial culture, Birmingham was the natural environment for the rave culture, and new and old criminals could see that there was a fortune to made.

Episode 4, Essex

Bernie explores injustices suffered by those who surrounded themselves with criminals. Do they deserve to become victims of a sometimes flawed judicial system because of an association with the wrong people and should society turn its back on them? 

Episode 5, Live by the Sword

When innocent people are jailed for crimes they did not commit, what effect does it have on their lives and the lives of their loved ones? Bernie talks to a victim of one of the most high-profile cases in UK crime history, the Birmingham Six. 

Episode 6, Die by the Sword

Bernie looks at the effect of time on gangs and their origins. Whether it be organised motorcycle groups or Irish travellers, the roots are dying out with every new generation, but how does this affect the older and more traditional members?

Episode 7, My Generation

Bernie explores how the media has been used to build celebrities out of men, without checking facts. Is it possible to create a gangland persona based purely on a false reputation built by the press? Yes, but there are extremely costly consequences…