THE GOLD - SUNDAY 9pm Sunday - TV PACE. NO SPOILERS !!!!

[Blondeshavemorefun]

And looks like we finally have The Gold On for next Sunday

Been waiting for this

Seen ads. Looks great

So the loss of hv gains something good on a Sunday night - well hopefully

Based on a true life story

The drama explores one of the most remarkable true crime cases and its impact on the world after the event. Taking place on 26th November 1983, six armed men broke into the Brink’s-Mat security depot near London’s Heathrow Airport.

What was supposed to be a 'routine' armed robbery, actually ended up being one of the seminal events of British criminal history because the six men inadvertently stumbled across gold bullion worth £26m.

Known as the "Brink's-Mat robbery" or the "Brink's-Mat bullion heist", the largest gold heist in British history happened on 26th November 1983, like in The Gold.

At most, the gang of south London criminals thought that they would come away from the robbery with £3 million. But in reality, they actually ended up finding £26 million worth of gold bars, uncut diamonds and cash.

After the event proved even more wild, with the gang having to onboard the help of an expert jeweller to dispose of the gold, counterfeit stolen gold bars, the collapse of Johnson Matthey Bankers (where the bullion was stolen from) and the so-called "curse", which refers to the fact that several of those involved were shot and killed.

It was just supposed to be "a typical Old Kent Road armed robbery", according to detectives at the time. But it soon went on to be a massively remarkable event, not only due to the scale of the theft – at the time, the biggest in global history – but for its wider legacy.

The cast for The Gold is a star-studded one, to say the least. It's written by Neil Forsyth (Eric, Ernie & Me) and directed by Academy Award-winning Aneil Karia (The Long Goodbye) along with Lawrence Gough (The Last Bus, Snatch, Misfits).

The cast is led by Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey (www.radiotimes.com/going-out/best-downton-abbey-tours-uk/)) as Brian Boyce, Jack Lowden (Small Axe (www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/small-axe-release-date-cast-trailer-bbc/): Mangrove) also stars as Kenneth Noye, Dominic Cooper (The Preacher) as Edwyn Cooper, Charlotte Spencer (The Duke) as Nicki Jennings, Tom Cullen (Becoming Elizabeth) as John Palmer and Emun Elliott (Guilt (www.radiotimes.com/programme/b-6qlfuh/guilt/)
, Old) as Tony Brightwell.

The cast also includes Sean Harris (Southcliffe), Ellora Torchia (Ali and Ava) and Stefanie Martini (
Prime Suspect (www.radiotimes.com/programme/b-jtsagk/prime-suspect/)
) in the real-life drama.

Wow @nicetoseetgesunsout thanks for telling that.

@Northernsouloldies yes, I think I read Noye got off claiming self defence.
He has a book out now and it made my blood boil to see him quoted as saying he ‘forgives’ Danielle, that her testimony against him in the road rage trial, was fair: he doesn’t pose any threat to her. That’s big of him. I believe the poor girl had to go into witness protection, her life changed forever.

That was such an interesting read @nicetoseetgesunsout

Just thought.... my aunt and uncle moved to Devon when I was about 17(1988) so now wondering how they afforded the huge house they moved to....going to call and ask my mum! Never gave it a thought back then, just enjoyed staying there.....now I'm thinking about it.
Also called my friend earlier who was friends with Brian Reader's daughter too aand still in touch via the horsey world. Apparently she still has a stable yard. Dad isn't well.
There's a lot of SE London criminals around here. My friends hotel was a regular meeting place for his dad and his crowneys in Stansted Kent. He can tell many tales.

Back then you could buy houses with cash. So no questions asked

SE London and Kent. Its a different world.

Yes Dannielle went into life witness protection after testifying against Noye. She was only a young kid.
I think she had to cut off all contact with family as a consequence, for everyone’s protection.

He was a nasty bastard

Yes blondes and he walks among us once more. I hope he doesn't get a Kray brother makeover with the book and the tv series. 2 'accidental and/or unfortunate' deaths by his hand, one of whom was a police officer. Yet there he is. Its disturbing.

Oh this series is Brilliant! My attention hasn't wavered once. One ep to go.

Halfway through watching this.

Enjoying it but it bugs me that they have framed it around the class system being the ultimate evil.

The upper class lady is portrayed by far the least sympathetically (so far) of any of them!

Maybe she develops but she is one dimensional so far, and portrayed to be far less likeable than the cheeky-crappy villains. Bit unfair I think.

Surprised there is not more love for this series. I have found it gripping and am rationing myself to one episode a day.

Me too! And it means I go off to sleep dreaming of Lord Gillingham (John Palmer)

I really enjoyed this. The constant class system speeches got a bit annoying after a while but apart from that I thought it was really good. I dont think Noye was portrayed as a 'lovable rogue' at all, quite the opposite.

I'm not that invested in it, but I like the female detective a lot. She is very good
She has 90s type hair though !! 😂
( only because I had horrible perms in the 80s and most people I know did )
She seems very natural
I bought a cheap wedding ring in 89 and had it upsized recently , I was saying I wonder if it was part of this gold .. it probably wasn't though!

Mixed feelings about this. I liked the relationship between the two police officers, especially because there was no sexual tension element, just colleagues who got on and worked well together. I also thought the style was good; there’s a tendency with 80s-set pieces to put everyone in shoulder pads and blue eyeshadow but middle aged coppers and dodgy villains aren’t going to be dressed in the height of fashion. Cooper’s wife’s low-key Sloane Ranger style was especially well done.

That said, I thought the whole South London villain thing was very overdone and Noye’s speech at the end with the dramatic staring at the camera was daft. Plus he looks too much like Simon Pegg for me to take him seriously 😐

Possibly because it’s a TV pace thread and most of us have only seen the first episode?

Yes, I understand this is a tv pace thread, so I avoided making any reference to the content (unlike others). I meant I was surprised at the number of people who said it was boring and slow. So I expected a greater level of love, not necessarily more of it.

I doubt this thread will get more than a couple of hundred posts in total by the time the series ends next month.

The dynamic between the three detectives is good : I know his a baddie, but I fancy the actor playing Noye! It's a Shame his so vile and ruthless though

@Unfortunatelyitseemsnot I wasn't being snippy, I just felt it wasn't an immediate must watch more, so it probably needs time to hook some of us in. When TV pace people start to catch up a bit there might be more plaudits?

Both my Engagement and wedding ring were bought in Hatton Garden 1988/89. Must have brinks mat gold in it surely!

I binge watched this and really enjoyed it. I thought the portrayal of Noye was so wrong though. He appeared to be a loveable rogue when in fact he is a vicious murdering thug.

Who were the (6?) men in the van at the beginning?

Do we ever find out?

Is it even known?

No four of them were never caught, and half the gold never recovered!

I find it amazing to think that London Docklands was financed through the money laundered as part of this. And that every bit of gold jewellery post-raid has likely got some Brinks Mat gold in it.

To think of all the security checks we have to go through these days, when back then you could launder money through banks and they couldn't do anything much about it.

I've massively enjoyed this series even if it does romanticise things somewhat.

The same happened with the great train robbers of 1963. Ronnie Biggs was something of an anti-hero in the 70s, 80s and 90s

No four of them were never caught,

Bloody hell!

I suppose the ones who were were hoping that the money would be kept for them & their families looked after in the meantime.