BBC The Gold star admits personal connection to £26m Brink's-Mat scandal
The mystery of the Brink's-Mat robbery may have been solved in the first series of BBC One's The Gold – but the case is far from sealed shut.
Hugh Bonneville and Charlotte Spencer return as London detectives in the drama's second series, inspired by the real-life 1983 robbery in which £26 million worth of gold bullion was stolen from a warehouse in Heathrow. While Micky McAvoy's gang were convicted over the theft in series one, only half of the missing gold was found.
'A lot of people have said, 'Oh my God, why is there a second series?'' says Charlotte, who plays detective Jennings. 'A lot of people don't realise that they actually only found half of the gold.
'There's a whole other half – a whole other story. There are many stories that happen from this and I think people are going to be amazed at just how far it spreads and how much this web keeps growing.'
Jennings' relationship with her criminal dad is a source of conflict for her – however, in real life, Charlotte's father has his own link to the Brink's-Mat gold case. She reveals that her dad knew Neil Murphy, one of the police officers involved in the investigation, and mentioned the connection when he read the script.
'It was such a passing comment that I just thought it was amazing – and you tend to find that a lot of people knew people involved in whatever way,' she says.
'My dad hasn't spoken to that man for years but it's very rare that you get any kind of connection to a real story.
'For me, that was like, 'Wow – this was really ingrained in British culture.''
Despite filming the show's first series over two years ago, it didn't take long for Charlotte, 33, to get back into character as the unflappable Nicki Jennings who's incorruptible despite her family's criminal roots.
'This is the second time that I've done a series where my character has come back and there's just a really lovely feeling of going in and knowing the character,' she says. 'There's none of this panic about, 'Have I found it?' because I know where she is now. It's really lovely.'
With several convictions now under her belt, Nicki is no longer trying to prove herself to boss Brian Boyce – played by Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville.
'We find her a bit more solidified in where she is now. She's already proved herself and she is a good detective,' she says. 'She's getting her head down and concentrating on finding these people.'
The likes of Malpractice's Tom Hughes, Criminal Record's Stephen Campbell Moore, Cheaters' Joshua McGuire and The Witcher's Lorna Brown join the drama for the new series. Meanwhile, fans can expect to see Jack Lowden and Tom Cullen reprise their roles as criminal gold dealers Kenneth Noye and John Palmer.
Despite playing cops and robbers on camera with The Gold's stellar cast, Charlotte and her co-stars were sunning it up during their downtime on location in Tenerife.
'It was so wholesome – a load of us would go out for dinner together and some people have young children so brought them out,' she reveals.
Ahead of shooting intense scenes, Charlotte would listen to a playlist that she created specifically for Jennings – something that she does for every character she plays.
'I make the playlist and it might be really random stuff – whatever gets me into that mood for some reason or what I think they'd listen to. I listen to that on set and it gets me in the headspace,' she reveals.
'There was a lot of 1980s stuff – David Bowie and Queen's Under Pressure… even things like the Beatles that maybe she would have listened to with her dad growing up.'
As for whether The Gold could return for a third series, Charlotte says, 'The story finishes after this otherwise we'd be in the realms of fiction, so this is the last series but I think that's right.
'I'll miss the fact that she genuinely wants to do good and there are people like that out there.
'There are police officers and all sorts and we don't see enough of them. Wholly good people who can make mistakes but the drive is for justice.'
The Gold begins tonight at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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