TV legend Fred Dinenage takes to stage wih inside story of Kray twins and Mad Frankie Fraser

And as Fred, veteran of children’s favourite How!, Meridian Tonight and a host of other TV shows, gets used to being the interviewee – the one answering the questions for a change – the subject matter is a fascinating one.

For Fred is taking to the stage in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to talk about the work he has done with Ronnie and Reggie Kray and other notorious names from the same underworld of criminal gangs.

He can tell the stories like no-one else – for this definitive insight into the real life of Britain's most notorious gangsters comes from their trusted official biographer.

For decades they were feared as the ultimate gang lords of the London underworld, but their reign of terror came crashing to an end when in 1969 both Ronnie and Reggie were given life sentences by a judge at the Old Bailey.

Reggie went on to serve decades in some of the toughest prisons in the country, while Ronnie became a patient at Broadmoor with an insanity that was only kept under control by massive doses of drugs.

TV legend Fred was chosen by the twins to tell their official story and he became one of the very few people allowed into their inner circle. Fred gained an unparalleled insight into the real lives of the legendary kings of crime, and in this show he reveals stories and incidents for the first time that have never been aired publicly before.

Fred told us he was looking forward to telling the story – and stories – to a new audience at the Concorde Club, Eastleigh, on Tuesday, October 17 and the Shanklin Theatre, Isle of Wight, on Thursday 19. Presenting the show will be another broadcasting giant, stalwart DJ Alex Dyke, known to radio listeners across the south.

On the night Fred will disclose what it was like to venture into some of Britain's toughest institutions and meet the most foreboding twins in criminal history – who other journalists just couldn’t get close to.

You'll hear stories that will fascinate and intrigue, while learning about the gritty reality of being a gangster in the criminal underworld of the swinging 60s – from the only man they trusted to tell their tale.

We caught up with Fred ahead of his shows and he told us how his unlikely, unexpected entry into that world began.

“I got involved with Reg and Ron because when I was at TVS presenting Coast To Coast, one of our reporters went and did a piece on the Maguire family in Gosport, whose daughter had had a life-saving transplant at the famous Addenbrooke’s Hospital and her parents wanted to raise as much money as they could for the unit.

"Some days later I received a letter which was franked ‘HMP Parkhurst’ – it was from Reggie and in it he said he and others at the jail had seen the report and wanted to help raise money. They had some very talented artists there and wanted to do some paintings that could be auctioned off.

"When we saw the paintings some of them were very good indeed, but one was really like a child’s drawing, very simple. But it was signed by Reggie and it was the one that went on to raise a really large sum.

"That was how my relationship with them started but I never imagined I’d remain friends with them until they both passed on (Ronnie died in 1995, Reggie five years later).

"It took me three years to write their life story because I could only see them once every month – and they kept changing their minds about who’d been loyal to them and who hadn’t!”

How does Fred feel about being on the other side of an interview to the one he has been used to in six decades on the TV?

"Over sixty years on the telly I’ve interviewed pop stars, film stars and politicians, including every Prime Minister since the mid-1960s – and I find it easier to ask questions rather than answer them! But I can talk about the Kray twins and other top villains forever!”

He promises some wonderful anecdotes in the show – he almost has too many to tell in one night on stage, but will cram in as many as he can.

Here’s an example: "When I first went to meet Ronnie at Broadmoor I was walking towards the huge black gates at Broadmoor when I became aware of a chauffeur-driven white Rolls Royce with blackened windows alongside me. One of the rear windows opened and a puff of cigar smoke came out,” Fred recalled.

"I heard a voice say: “Fred Dinenage?” I replied ‘yes’. The voice said: ‘I believe you are writing a book about Ron Kray?’ ‘That’s correct,’ I said. Well I’m a close friend of Ron’s,’ the voice said, ‘and I hope your book will be fair and honest.’ ‘It will,’ I replied. ‘I hope so,’ the voice said, ‘because I will be watching.’

“With that, the car drove off. I later discovered I’d been talking to the boss of London’s underworld! Did he contact me again? Did he like the book? Or was I in serious trouble? Find out by joining me at the Concorde Club or Shanklin Theatre!”

Fred Dinenage’s Ultimate Gangsters

Concorde Club, Stoneham Lane, Eastleigh, SO50 9HQ.023 8061 3989 / [email protected] / www.theconcordeclub.com/

Tuesday, October 17

T ickets £20

Ronnie, Reggie and Me - with Fred Dinenage

Shanklin Theatre, Prospect Road, Shanklin, Isle of Wight, PO37 6AJ

01983 868000 / https://www.shanklintheatre.com/

Thursday, October 19

T ickets £20