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Johnny Keyes (played by Stanley Townsend) appears in "Confessions".
He is a prominent restaurateur and celebrity chef in London, but has a notorious gangland past, having learnt his cooking skills while he was on kitchen duty in the prison.
His restaurant, "Keyes" is a highly fashionable spot, with an eight-week waiting list for a table. Keyes also harbours deep feelings for his long-lost son, kidnapped at a very young age, prompting him to search for his missing son when he learned that he was dying.
The crew found their "in" by having Danny impersonate the missing son after Albert acts as a priest overhearing Keyes' confession that he was looking for his son, Mickey posing as the member of an agency who put children in touch with their biological parents. Recognising that Keyes would need to believe that giving 'James' the money was his idea rather than making it a request, the gang created the impression of 'James' as an aspiring chef who lacked the talent to really go far. The team got their 'in' by using Keyes' interest in fancy wine, with Ash creating a fake bottle of an apparently expensive wine that James had apparently brought along from his adoptive parents' house after he trashed the place.
Keyes had planned to buy the bottle from his son to serve as a start-up for James's business, but this plan was cut short when Keyes' condition caught up with him while he was walking with Danny. As Keyes collapsed, his last words were to apologise to his 'son' for not paying the ransom, with Danny forgiving Keyes for his past act as the gangster-turned-chef died.
After Keyes' death, Danny mused that, while the man had a dark history, he regretted lying to him about something that personal. Mickey concluded that, in the end, Keyes died believing a good lie, which was what grifters often aspired to do.
His suspicious wife, Juliette, is played by Rebecca Lacey.