1. The Big One

The Great Train Robbery of 1963 remains a defining moment in British criminal history, blurring the lines between violent crime and romanticized legend. Orchestrated by Bruce Reynolds, the heist targeted a Royal Mail train carrying millions in cash, utilizing meticulous planning and an inside tip to stop the locomotive in rural Buckinghamshire. While the operation was intended to be non-violent, the brutal assault on train driver Jack Mills transformed the event into a national scandal. Ronnie Biggs, a peripheral participant who became the face of the crime, leveraged his notoriety to evade justice for decades. The robbery’s enduring fascination stems from its cinematic scale, the audacity of the "gentleman thief" persona adopted by the perpetrators, and the profound challenge it posed to the post-war British establishment’s sense of order and security.