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New Statesman
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New Statesman
The Gold loses its shine
Photo by BBC / Tannadice Pictures The BBC's second series of its crime drama The Gold, about the 1983 Brink's-Mat heist, picks up where things left off: about half the loot that the robbers stole from a security depot near Heathrow remains unaccounted for. The gold – worth over £110m in today's money – turned out to be rather more than the six lads could handle, and in the first series they all (more or less) ended up paying for their greed. The show's creator, Neil Forsyth, took a calculated risk in choosing to concentrate on the robbery's aftermath, rather than the theft itself – which was dealt with in about five propulsive minutes. Instead, he homed in on the gangsters' increasingly convoluted attempts to convert the bars into the lavish lives they'd always dreamed of. This time round, the investigation is being led again by DCI Boyce (a sturdy but rather dull Hugh Bonneville), with help from perky DIs Jennings (Charlotte Spencer) and Brightwell (Emun Elliott), plus a new addition, DI Lundy (a classy Stephen Campbell Moore). In the last series, Boyce was sceptical of the talents of his underlings but came round; now, they get along famously. Still, the investigation is under threat from paper-pushers higher up, who feel it's dragging on too long, costing too much and failing to produce any wins that can be published in the newspapers. Amid a few irritating tics is the series' insistent use of the word 'villain'. Do criminals really self-identify as villains, as they do here? Do coppers chasing such villains also refer to them as villains? It seems unlikely, but they do here, over and over. On that note, the villains in our sights are John Palmer (Tom Cullen), a gold-dealer-turned-fraudster living it large in Tenerife, and Charlie Miller (Sam Spruell), a run-of-the-mill crook who, unlike Palmer, isn't a real person but an amalgam of various people. Also in play, most enjoyably, is disgraced lawyer Douglas Baxter, a fictional character played with delicious waspishness by Joshua McGuire. Baxter has been struck off, we learn, after being caught taking cocaine at a steakhouse, and he is soon persuaded by Miller to start laundering huge wodges of cash for him. More than any other character, Baxter feels decidedly imaginary: he is, he believes, one of the finest legal minds of his generation; aged eight, he was accepted into Mensa. It's hard to believe such a clever-clogs would ever consort with a low-life so obviously doomed as Miller – but Baxter is excellent company, so his lack of credibility is quickly forgiven. The series is, like its predecessor, easy on the eye, with an invigorating soundtrack and solid performances. But the script tends towards the grandiose (DCI Boyce loves a little speech), and as the action flits between London, the Caribbean, the Isle of Man, Cornwall and Tenerife, it can be hard to follow. When a bunch of dead-eyed Russians turn up in Tenerife, wanting their money laundered too, you just want them to go away and stop complicating things. After being criticised for presenting gangsters with a rosy tint in the first series, particularly the robber and killer Kenneth Noye (played with dash by Slow Horses'Jack Lowden), the second series tries to darken Noye's portrayal. In the first, Lowden's Noye was a Robin Hood type inclined to see his trade in class terms: 'That's how England works,' he remarked at one point. 'That lot have it and us lot nick it.' Noye's killing of a police officer was covered but felt random and underpowered, and the series didn't go up to 1996, when he murdered a 21-year-old on an M25 slip road. Even so, Palmer comes across as rather appealing: a 'villain', to be sure, but a warm and handsome one, who bids his colleagues goodbye at the end of the working day, loves his kids and gives his wife thoughtful presents. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Forsyth has confirmed that there will not be a third series, and the Brink's-Mat lemon does feel sucked dry by the end of this one. Still, taken together, both series are a real achievement: not particularly innovative television, but dependable and made with palpable craft and commitment. The Gold BBC One [See also: The People's Republic of iPhone] Related
BBC News
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
New trailer and further pictures for second series of hit BBC drama The Gold
The BBC has announced that the critically-acclaimed factual drama The Gold will return for its second series on Sunday 8 June. All episodes will be available to stream on BBC iPlayer from 6am, ahead of the series starting on BBC One at 9pm that night. The Gold is inspired by the true story and theories of the 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery, which saw the theft of £26 million worth of gold bullion, and the decades-long chain of events that followed. The six-part series is from award-winning writer Neil Forsyth (Guilt, Eric, Ernie & Me) and is produced by Tannadice Pictures, in association with All3Media International, for the BBC. The first series of The Gold aired in February 2023 with 8.7 million viewers for episode one. Following multiple court cases and convictions of some of those involved in the theft and handling of the Brink's-Mat gold, the police realised that they had only ever been on the trail of half of the Brink's-Mat gold. Series two is inspired by some of the theories around what happened to the other half. As the police investigation continues, it becomes a tense, high-stakes journey into international money laundering and organised crime. The Brink's-Mat Task Force embark on a series of dramatic manhunts as they desperately try to solve the longest and most expensive investigation in the history of the Metropolitan Police. The brand-new trailer, released today, gives a first glimpse into series two and how the investigation unravels on an international scale. The trailer also shows BAFTA-nominated actor Jack Lowden (Slow Horses) reprise his role as Kenneth Noye. He will feature from episode three onwards. Returning cast include: Hugh Bonneville (Brian Boyce), Charlotte Spencer (Nicki Jennings), Emun Elliott (Tony Brightwell), Tom Cullen (John Palmer), Stefanie Martini (Marnie Palmer) and Sam Spruell (Charlie Miller) as the investigation around what happened to the gold continues to unfold. Additional returning cast includes Peter Davison (Assistant Commissioner Gordon Stewart), Amanda Drew(CS Cath McClean), Silas Carson (Harry Bowman) and James Nelson-Joyce (Brian Reader). New cast include: Tom Hughes (The English, Victoria), Stephen Campbell Moore (Masters of the Air, Criminal Record), Joshua McGuire (Cheaters, Blitz), Tamsin Topolski (The Madness, Slow Horses), Joshua Samuels (Saltburn, Sexy Beast), Rochelle Neil (Three Little Birds, The Nevers), Antonia Desplat (Shantaram, Modi), Lorna Brown (The Witcher, Vampire Academy), Thomas Coombes (Baby Reindeer, Boiling Point), Sean Teale (Doctor Odyssey, Rosaline) and Olivia Grant (Stardust, All the Money in the World). International distribution is being handled by All3Media International. The Gold is back on BBC iPlayer and BBC One on Sunday 8th June at 9pm The first series of The Gold is available to watch on BBC iPlayer now More: First look at The Gold series two EJ
