Why does the notorious highwayman Dick Turpin have such an extraordinary reputation today? How come his criminal career has inspired a profusion of often misleading literature and film?

Dr Jonathan Oates is the Ealing Borough Archivist and Local History Librarian, and he has written and lectured on the Jacobite rebellions and on aspects of the history of London, including its criminal past. He is also well known as an expert on family history and has written several introductory books on the subject including Tracing Your London Ancestors, Tracing Your Ancestors From 1066 to 1837 and Tracing Villains and Their Victims.