The series covers the 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery in which £26 million (equivalent to £111 million in 2023[3]) worth of gold bullion, diamonds, and cash was stolen from a warehouse near Heathrow Airport, and the widespread events that followed over the following decade. At the time it was the biggest robbery in history, and led to a number of international criminal investigations.[4]
A gang led by Micky McAvoy successfully steal gold from the Brinks-Mat warehouse at Heathrow. The gang approach gold dealer Kenneth Noye, who subsequently engages lawyer Edwyn Cooper, a fellow Freemason, to help them fence the gold. DCI Boyce takes the investigation out of the hands of the Flying Squad but reluctantly allows DI Nicki Jennings (Charlotte Spencer) and DI Tony Brightwell to join his team.[5]
2
"There's Something Going on in Kent"
Lawrence Gough
Neil Forsyth
19 February 2023 (2023-02-19)
4.97
The police find intelligence via Customs officers that the gang have purchased a portable smelter. They also use Bristol-based gold dealer John Palmer to melt down the gold with cheap jewellery to disguise its purity. Cooper and gang associate Gordon Perry fence the money. Cooper decides to invest it in property, buying a new flat in Chelsea and a wing of his daughter's school.
3
"The Consequences Are Mine"
Aneil Karia
Neil Forsyth
26 February 2023 (2023-02-26)
4.93
Palmer flees to Tenerife with his family from where he cannot be extradited. The police arrest Noye at his home after he fatally stabs John Fordham, one of the officers involved in his surveillance.
4
"Vengeance Is Easy, Justice Is Hard"
Aneil Karia
Neil Forsyth
5 March 2023 (2023-03-05)
4.92
After a trial including a jury visit to his home to reconstruct the crime scene, Noye is found not guilty of murder.
5
"The Boy You Were"
Lawrence Gough
Neil Forsyth
12 March 2023 (2023-03-12)
5.07
Boyce travels to Switzerland where he bonds with a Swiss policeman over their wartime experiences in the Spanish Civil War and the Cyprus Emergency respectively. The official allows him to attend a court session which reveals the Swiss bank accounts used by the gang. Following a failed attempt by the Spanish police to arrest Palmer in Tenerife, the UK extradites him from Brazil. Cooper returns to Rotherhithe where he is also arrested although Parry escapes in a car.
6
"I'll Be Remembered"
Lawrence Gough
Neil Forsyth
19 March 2023 (2023-03-19)
5.24
Cooper provides information to the police, resulting in the conviction of Noye and the other gang members in relation to the gold theft. McAvoy marries his fiancee in prison and Parry is arrested in Spain. It transpires that the gang only took half of the missing gold.
The series was commissioned by the BBC in August 2021.[6]
The project was announced to have started principal photography in April 2022 with Bonneville, Lowden, Spencer, Cooper and Harris all revealed to be cast and Karia announced as director and Forsyth's Tannadice Pictures producing.[7] Filming took place in the UK and Spain and locations included Dorchester Prison in July 2022.[8]
The show was renewed for a second series in November 2023 with filming scheduled to start in January 2024. Returning cast members include Hugh Bonneville, Charlotte Spencer, Emun Elliott, Tom Cullen, Stefanie Martini and Sam Spruell.[9]
Broadcast
The BBC released the first trailer for the show in on 20 January 2023.[10] The first episode aired in the UK on BBC One on 12 February 2023 with all episodes immediately available on BBC iPlayer in UHD picture quality.[11]
Reception
Hugo Rifkind of The Times remarked of the series, "it's tremendous. I'm not sure there's been a drama like it in years".[12]
In the Sunday Times, Camilla Long said The Gold was “astonishingly, lavishly, well realised”,[13] while Esquire said that The Gold was “British TV at its best” and had “all the hallmarks of a crime classic”.[14]
Radio Times said it was "an intricately crafted crime drama".[15] Euan Franklin of Culture Whisper said The Gold "proves that shows dealing in largely British matters are just as ambitious as prestige American television".[16]
The New Statesman called it "outstandingly enjoyable TV",[17] with the Evening Standard calling it "a truly smart British crime drama with a classic feel and a knockout cast".[18]
Ellen E. Jones of The Guardian dubbed it an "ever-enjoyable ride".[19] Nick Hilton of The Independent remarked the show was "a lively, creative piece of work from writer-creator Neil Forsyth, which bubbles away with the vigour of a red-hot crucible".[20]
There was some criticism of the perceived sympathetic portrayal of Kenneth Noye from the family of the man he murdered and one of the police officers involved in his conviction.[21][22]
Neil Forsyth was nominated for Best Writer Film and TV at the 2023 Scottish BAFTAS.[25]
Book
Screenwriter Neil Forsyth co-wrote a book with Thomas Turner entitled The Gold: The real story behind Brink's-Mat: Britain's biggest heist and published by Penguin Random House, which had involved extensive interviews with some of the major characters involved.[26] Forsyth commented on the morality of the story, saying they were not seeking "a black-and-white reading of it. No-one in the show is an out-and-out criminal living in a world dictated by criminality. They've got families and lives". Forsyth gives historical context and says, "Social mobility is an interesting aspect, because it was obviously a theme of the time in the 1980s. I think we examine that...Criminality is a tool which they're trying to use to achieve something".[27]
