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Legends and lies: The perilous life of an undercover cop

Before he became an actor, Liam Thomas spent years as an undercover detective, infiltrating dangerous criminal gangs. Creating convincing characters would save his life.

Liam Thomas is an expert at pretending to be someone else. For many years he was an undercover detective, creating characters – or legends – to infiltrate criminal gangs. It was dangerous work – if his cover was blown, he could be killed. These days Liam is an actor. But creating convincing characters was a skill he’d learned as a little boy, trying to survive in an abusive home.

Liam’s written a book called The Buyer: The making and breaking of an undercover detective.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Maryam Maruf

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

(Photo: Liam Thomas in a still from his film, The Tide. Credit: Courtesy of Liam Thomas)

Available now

41 minutes

Broadcasts

  • Wed 26 Apr 2023 11:06GMT
  • Wed 26 Apr 2023 17:06GMT
  • Wed 26 Apr 2023 21:06GMT
  • Thu 27 Apr 2023 02:06GMT

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