‘Joan’ review: Sophie Turner shines as a quintessential, diamond-stealing anti-hero

“Mother. Lover. Liar. Thief.” That’s the undeniably truthful tagline for Joan, ITVs latest crime drama. The six-part series, starring Sophie Turner and Franke Dillane, tells the real-life tale of master jewel thief and desperate mother, Joan Hannington.

After Joan’s soon-to-be ex-boyfriend, Gary (Nick Blood), leaves Joan and their daughter Kelly behind to avoid a run-in with some terribly frightening people, Joan decides enough is enough. She drops Kelly off with social services and sets out for the capital, determined to create a new life for herself and her daughter in London. Once there, though, she can’t avoid the siren call of the diamonds in her handsy employer’s safe, and when she subsequently meets Boisie (Dillane), a charming, handsome, and soft-spoken “antiquities dealer,” Joan becomes the queen of disguise and deception she was clearly born to be.

Before the show officially premiered on ITV in the U.K.—all episodes are available to stream now on ITVX —The Mary Sue was invited to a press screening and moderated Q&A panel. Both the real Joan and the show’s Joan were in attendance, and when Turner was asked what it was like to step into the shoes of such a complicated woman, she said:

“It was amazing, the thrill of my career, I feel. I think to be able to play someone like Joan, who is so multifaceted … so funny, but she’s gone through so much trauma, and she’s so ambitious. She’s all these things—mother, lover, liar, thief—retired thief. She really is so much in one person and I just felt it would be the biggest treat to play her.”

On the whole, though, Joan is so much more than those four words, and Turner plays her beautifully, injecting this larger-than-life character with wit, charm, glamour, anger, and emotional depth. Against the grimy yet enticing backdrop of 1980s London, Joan’s life is a spiral of glitz, money, love, pain, and desperation. What she really wants is a family—a life with her daughter and new husband Boisie—but what she also wants is money; while much of what she does is driven by love, she’s also driven by greed, a desire for all things shiny, expensive, and soft.

Joan is not a hero, but she’s not an outright villain, either. She’s the quintessential anti-hero—a woman who loves to steal but abhors violence, and who loves her daughter but is undeniably selfish, too.

Inspired by the real Joan Hannington’s self-penned memoir (Hannington also worked closely with creator and writer Anna Symon) there was no shortage of material to draw from, and Joan is only a brief snapshot of this woman’s extraordinary life. TV as a storytelling medium has different needs than the written word, however. Change and compromise are the name of the game when it comes to adaptations, and this has inevitably meant that some episodes feel slightly slower than others, and a few plot threads and dangerous situations are resolved a little too easily. Several scenes feel somewhat repetitive—a way to remind the audience just how much Joan loves Kelly—but all in all, it doesn’t really matter. You came for Joan and you’ll stay for her, too.

This is more than just a crime drama. It’s also a family drama, a romance, and a thriller. If you’re a fan of even one of those genres, chances are you’ll enjoy Joan.

Joan premieres in the U.S. on The CW on October 2. The full series will also be available to stream on BritBox from December 5, with two episodes airing weekly until December 19.