First glimpse of 'The Great Train Robbery'

What you’re witnessing here is the crime of the century, as 15 men hold up a mail train in Buckinghamshire and escape with a haul equivalent to £41m.

But don’t go calling Crimewatch yet – it happened half a century ago and this is merely the first still from a BBC drama about the infamous heist.

Screenwriter Chris Chibnall is currently TV’s golden boy after his hit whodunit Broadchurch, and has structured his script as two 90-minute films, telling the story from different perspectives: A Robber’s Tale and A Copper’s Tale.

The first instalment, from which our exclusive picture is taken, stars Luke Evans as gang leader Bruce Reynolds. “It was easy to adapt to the Sixties wardrobe,” Evans told ShortList. “Some of the suits I wore in the film I’d absolutely wear off-screen.” As for a Welshman playing a Cockney, Evans says: “I’ve lived in London for 17 years, so I hope my accent’s convincing. I acted alongside some real Cockneys and it majorly rubbed off, to the extent that I ended up keeping the accent for weeks.”

The second part follows ‘thief-taker’ DCI Tommy Butler (played by Jim Broadbent) and his quest to bring the robbers to justice. Both dramas will be broadcast on BBC One later this year and should banish memories of 1988’s ‘comedy’ version Buster – starring a certain Phil Collins – for good.

The Great Train Robbery is on BBC One later this year