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.

Watched this episode earlier on iPlayer on my tv and a lot of the scenes were dark . I didn't know how to alter the brightness while it was on so lost my way a little . Back to watching it next week on my chromebook !

There is a good podcast on BBC sounds called Gangster all about Palmer. He sounds much worse in real life than portrayed in this. His poor wife really suffered.

Just finished the podcast this morning. The most astonishing thing, to me, was his death. I hadn't heard about it, other than he was shot by unknown whoever, take your pick of many, standard gangster stuff. But the initial reaction of the police to his death will take your breath away.

Hope someone can answer this for me! Is this series suitable for watching with children? I don't feel comfortable watching nudity or sexual scenes or too much violence with my teen DC. Would really appreciate if someone can give an idea.

It should be fine for teenagers @Snowfalling from what I can remember. No sex, apart from implied in one very tame sequence within a happy relationship (it comes after the karaoke scene if you need a cue!). No toplessness or nudity. I don't remember there being any overt violence either although again some is implied.

It has been a couple of weeks since I watched it so I hope I've got this right!

@Blondeshavemorefun I'm struggling to keep up ,is there a link to episode recaps anywhere ?
TIA

I gave up with this after e1

Sorry

still watching, just caught up with episode 4

We are enjoying it but taking it at weekly pace.

Thanks @Blondeshavemorefun !
I'm still watching ,have found I'm enjoying it more as it progresses .

I may when bored /have nothing to watch never gonna happen. Always have stuff 😂 I may try again but just didn't catch me

The characters are all just so boring, there isn't charisma or excitement. I've only half watched it as it is so dull, I thought it might be decent if Lord Grantham is in it but nope.

The holiday scenes in Eldorado are excruciatingly boring, and what was the point of the scene in the art gallery shop?

The cinematography etc all so very impressive but just a terrible cast. Much like Better. On a positive note I'm quite liking The Bay.

It was ok, but not great.

John Palmer was the only interesting character (the most interesting in real life as well)

What I don't quite understand, has it ever been established who the original six guys in the van were? Obviously a number of them have been identified, but have all six ever been found?

"4 of the robbers haven’t been identified, much less charged for their involvement."
www.dannydutch.com/post/the-heist-of-the-century-how-the-brinks-mat-robbery-has-been-a-curse-to-all-those-involved

Who was the young boy on the Silverwood estate at the end of episode 5 ? Cooper looks at him as he's driven off in the police car .Cooper's son ?

I thought he just reminded Cooper of himself as a child on that estate.

Yeah I was wondering this too, but I think he just reminded him of himself when he was younger.

Ah thank you! Fascinating that they were never identified. And John Palmer who is shown to be quite innocent-ish in the series actually became a big-time mafia boss.

the young boy was helping in the garden or with the land somehow, at least that was episode 3, not got up to episode 5

Sorry crumpet ,hope my little ref to episode 5 hasn't spoilt anything!

@XelaM - there's a lot on line about the robbery ,actually having read some of it I think a better drama could have been produced ,
Anyway here's an extract

Anthony Black, the security guard who gave the robbers access to the warehouse, was sentenced to six years in prison for his part in the heist.

Micky McAvoy was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for armed robbery in 1984. He was also held responsible for repaying the entire amount stolen - he was released from prison in 2000 and died this January, aged 71.

Kenneth Noye was found guilty of conspiracy to handle the stolen goods - he was fined £500,000, with an additional £200,000 in costs, and sentenced to 14 years in prison in 1986. He was released after serving half his sentence. This wasn’t the end of Noye’s life of crime - in 1996 he killed a man in a road rage incident in Spain - he was extradited to the UK and given a life sentence for the killing in 2000. He was released on parole in 2019.

George Francis, who is believed to have become involved with the robbers after the heist, laundering hundreds of thousands of pounds for them, was shot dead whilst getting out of his car in south London in 2003, aged 63 - McAvoy was a suspect in the killing though his guilt was never proven.

Michael Relton, a solicitor, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his part in laundering the money.

Kathleen McAvoy, Micky’s wife, was charged with handling stolen money and given an 18 month suspended sentence - she was also ordered to hand over £250,000 which had been found at a farmhouse in Kent.

Brian Reader was given an eight year prison sentence for conspiracy to handle stolen goods. He was later involved in the Hatton Garden raid in 2015 which was the subject of the 2017 film The Hatton Garden Job, where Reader was played by Larry Lamb, and the 2018 movie King of Thieves where he was played by Michael Caine.

In 1992, a further four people who had helped to launder the gold - Gordon John Parry, Brian Perry, Patrick Clark, and Jean Savage - were sentenced to between five and 10 years in prison.

thank you @amberedover
dont worry, it doesnt seem to

the programme is not an easy watch, i am sticking with it though its a bit slow

I think it gets better crumpet .But it's hard to follow IMO.And although I love Hugh Bonneville I'm finding his character's little speeches and homilies are beginning to grate ,Too many of them .