Kicking off Rialto Channel’s month of Crime Documentaries on Thursday evenings at 8.30pm, is the remarkable tale of a modern day gangster, Manchester’s Dominic Noonan. Directed by investigative reporter Donal MacIntyre who is well known for his hard hitting investigations and undercover exposes, A Very British Gangster is a film that confirms your perception of a modern day gangster, and then tears down those perceptions with some unexpected twists.

Noonan is a fascinating subject; a character full of contradictions with a colourful family and a gang of wanna-be young followers. At times his operations in the North West of England comes across as amateurish, and yet it’s clear from the fact that Noonan has spent 23 years of his relatively young life in prison he’s a dangerous career criminal.

The question is, how did MacIntyre manage to convince Noonan to open up about his operation, his illegitimate children, his faith and sexuality? According to an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, it all came down to timing.

“When I first met Dominic he was at a low ebb. He was facing a major spell in prison for another drug trial and it looked very bad. He thought he was going down and thought that he would spend the rest of his adult life in jail. He used me as a confessional or a video last will and testament, and then he got off and the conversation continued” says MacIntyre.
 
And it would seem that by this time MacIntyre was hooked too, but the shoot wasn’t without it’s difficulties. The Manchester Police went to the High Court in an attempt to ban the show as they were concerned the documentary is about them (which it isn’t), and it was reported that Dominic’s brother had threatened to kill MacIntyre (although he seemed very happy to be interviewed by him), and yet the intrepid MacIntyre’s biggest concern was an ethical one.

As he explains “My greatest fear was…that we might hear or witness something that we would be bound or morally required (if not legally) to report. It was a very difficult film to make because of this. We felt that our team of robust current affairs journalists were up to the task...and my war zone experience and that of my producers also helped enormously in this regard”.

There’s no doubt that Noonan enjoys being the centre of attention and is masterful at making sure we see his softer side, his generosity and the way in which he serves his community.

As MacIntyre sums up, “He is a very bright and very damaged individual. Charming and dangerous - the type of character who would be running a top finance house if given middle class opportunities, I have no doubt”.

A Very British Gangster premieres tonight at 8.30pm.